Tigers

@ Swallows – August 14-16, 2015

@ Swallows – August 14-16, 2015

August is usually a fair barometer for how the Hanshin Tigers’ season will develop. Typically the team gets one series at Koshien Stadium to start the month, and one at the end to finish it. The rest, they travel to nearly all Central League parks, playing a few interspersed “home” series at Kyocera Dome (home…

Series Recap – August 7-9, 2015

Series Recap – August 7-9, 2015

Two straight huge wins over the Hiroshima Carp had the Tigers looking great and remaining in the thick of the Central League race. The weekend series in Yokohama would feature their two legitimate aces and a chance to move into first place if all the cards got dealt in their favor. How would they fare…

Podcast Episode 02

Podcast Episode 02

Episode 02 of the H-TEN Podcast features co-hosts T-Ray and Mike. This time we talked about first two weeks of post-All-Star Break action, who the fifth and sixth starting pitchers should be, what Wada did wrong, how Taiga Egoshi will fare from here on, and our predictions for the week of action to come. Recorded…

Series Recap – August 4-6, 2015

Series Recap – August 4-6, 2015

The “Road Trip of Death” (which hardly deserves that name anymore) has officially begun. Not only will the Tigers spend the month away from the confines of Koshien Stadium (where they boast a great record this year), but they will suffer through the heat of summer while trying to remain close to the top of…

Series Recap: July 31-August 2, 2015

Series Recap: July 31-August 2, 2015

The tightly-packed Central League is starting to loosen up a little bit. Ten short days ago, just two games separated first from fifth, and no team was over the .500 mark. But collapses by the Chunichi Dragons and DeNA Baystars, along with the continued mediocre play of the Hiroshima Carp, have turned things (at least for this week) into…

Mini-Series Recap – July 28-29, 2015

Mini-Series Recap – July 28-29, 2015

With the Road Trip of Death looming and a quick series in Nagoya on tap, the Tigers needed to sneak in a couple of road wins before coming home for one last Koshien Ultra Summer series. They were facing the last place Chunichi Dragons with just one problem: a history of losing at Nagoya Dome….

The Evolution of Messenger: East-West Fusion Pitching

The Evolution of Messenger: East-West Fusion Pitching

Original article can be found here 元の記事はこちら   Hanshin pitcher Randy Messenger (33) earned his seventh win on the 26th by throwing 7 innings of 5-hit shutout ball against the DeNA Baystars at Koshien. He showed no signs of fatigue despite going on 4 days’ rest. His contributions to the team’s jump into second place,…

Series Recap – July 24-26, 2015

Series Recap – July 24-26, 2015

It is completely illogical and unfathomable, and in all ways inconceivable that two .500 teams should be tied for the league lead as summer vacation started here in Japan. And yet that is exactly where the Central League found itself – the Yakult Swallows and Hanshin Tigers sat at the top, a game ahead of…

Game Commentary – Friday, July 24, 2015

Game Commentary – Friday, July 24, 2015

 On Friday night, the Tigers began their “Ultra Summer” (ウル虎の夏) campaign at Koshien Stadium. They gave out free yellow replica jerseys to all in attendance, and will do so for the remainder of this series, as well as the entire next series (July 31-August 2, vs. Yakult Swallows). It is a wonderful way to “color…