It seems like some weeks the Tigers get you excited for the playoffs, while others make you wonder if they even deserve to make it. This week had a little of both. Not terribly surprising when you go 2-2, winning in exciting fashion twice and losing badly to inferior opponents twice. This was supposed to…
There’s something special about being in attendance at a Tigers game. Arriving early on a train full of fellow Tigers fans, walking towards the stadium in great anticipation, checking out all the shops/vendors, buying the requisite meal for the evening (game time is typically 6pm), getting into the stadium nice and early to watch the…
The original article can be found here. Murton went three-for-four to pick up his twelfth “modasho*” of the year. Murton’s outburst accounted for three of the team’s five hits, as he improved his batting average to .337 on the year, surpassing Luna (Chunichi) for the league lead. “I felt good up there, but unfortunately…
The original article can be found here. (Central League, Hiroshima Carp 6, Hanshin Tigers 1) Wada’s mad. The Tigers’ lacklustre play on offence and defence resulted in a 6-1 blowout at the hands of Hiroshima. Manager Yutaka Wada, 51, was fuming as he could not figure out what caused pitcher Randy Messenger’s lack of hustle…
Heading into the All-Star Break, the Tigers were the hottest team in Japanese baseball. They took 11 of their 13 matches in the first half of July. Waiting for them out of the gates for the second half were key matchups against the Giants at home and the Carp on the road. Let’s look at…
When the baseball game ends in a loss, another game starts immediately following the last out. Why did we lose? Who fell short? The name of the game is “Find the Scapegoat.” After watching last night’s unfortunate loss to the first place Giants, it was easy to join in the game and look for the…
Article Translation – Seung-Hwan Oh Reaches 300 Saves The original article was found here. Hanshin Tigers closer Seung-Hwan Oh, who recorded 277 career saves in Korean professional baseball, reached 300 career saves in Korea and Japan combined. “Today is a special day,” Oh said in one breath, while continuing, “But I didn’t come to Japan to…
Matt Murton was asked about his beard at the Mazda All-Star game at Koshien on Saturday evening. Said Murton: “It’s really hot. But the buzz on Twitter says people are highly in favor of me keeping it. So 2014 will be the Year of the Beard!”
Randy Messenger – Hero Interview (July 16, 2014) Note: The transcript for the interview was taken from this website. I did not hear the original, so I do not know exactly what Randy said in English. Congratulations on the big win, Randy. “Arigato, arigato!” You pitched really well, but what made it all click tonight?…
This week was a short one because of the all-star break. The Tigers had just one 3-game series on the road against the Chunichi Dragons. It wasn’t long ago that they got humiliated by this very team and lost their tenuous hold on third place, falling out of the playoff picture for the first time…