Happy New Year to everyone out there. We are slowly but surely creeping closer to the start of spring training, which means it is time to catch everyone up to speed on roster movements that have taken place between the last playoff game of 2022 and the beginning of official team workouts in 2023! Here…
Name (Japanese): アーロン・ウィルカーソン Date of Birth: May 24, 1989 Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas, USA High School: Midway High School (Waco, TX) University: Cumberland U (Tennessee) Family Status: Married, four children Height: 191 cm (6’3″) Weight: 95 kg (209 lbs) Threw/Batted: Right/Right Position: Pitcher Wore #: 52 Originally signed by: Undrafted (Boston Red Sox bought contract in…
After a Tuesday rainout, the Tigers prepared themselves to continue to defy the odds. Dating back to the 2020 season, they have now won 11 straight games that immediately follow rainouts. (The Carp have also lost six straight in such situations.) Well, it looked like a series sweep until a few lucky hits and a…
After downing the Swallows 8-0 on Friday night, then sitting around for two days (plus the day off Monday) because of a Covid explosion in the Yakult camp, the Tigers were raring to go on Tuesday. Donning arguably the ugliest uniforms they have worn in ages, they laid a (goose) egg, completely unable to push…
Everyone who has followed the Tigers for the past 10 (or fewer) years knows that Yokohama Stadium is the team’s favorite ballpark to play at, even more than Koshien. Their record there is outstanding, year in and year out. This season appears to be different, though, and this series in particular showed us that wins…
Oh, the ways we choose to lose. On Sunday, it was disappointing to not sweep the Baystars, but the team was just getting started with letdowns. Tuesday saw them create a huge chance (down two in the ninth, runners on first and second with no outs) but not make it. Wednesday saw them fight back…
Life has been extremely busy for me, but not so busy that I can’t take in the occasional game at Koshien Stadium. This was, in fact, my first one since a disappointing 0-1 loss to the Hiroshima Carp back on April 10. When the starter was announced yesterday as Aaron Wilkerson I was stoked. When…
From Daily Sports Column (Japanese) / デイリースポーツオンラインの連載コラムから The Tigers’ woes continue in large part due to their lack of run support for the excellent pitching staff they have fielded this year. After their twenty-one-game streak of allowing 3 runs or fewer came to an end on May 20, they have had two games of giving…
OK, there was so much more to the series than just keeping young phenom Roki Sasaki out of the win column. The ace did, after all, shut out our team for six innings. The good news is that he “only” struck out 7 and we did get guys into scoring position against him. Also, Aaron…
It has been quite the rough go of things this season. Perhaps the truest telling of the state the team was in came during their series in Yokohama in April, in which they got swept. We NEVER get swept by the Baystars on the road. Their ballpark is our place to party, to hit like…