October 7th Akiyama v Takasaki - Tigers can't win the vital ones

Matt Murton finally finished with 214 hits for the season - a great achievement and a new record for Japan. Some commentators have intimated that this is not the same value as Ichiro's earlier record (step forward Deanna) because the number of games is more. This is wrong - Murton's record is just as valuable as Ichiro's. It is the achievement of hitting over 200 hits that is valuable. Sure with more games you get more opportunities but you also have to pace yourself more and you have to ensure that you remain uninjured for longer. Ichiro's 210 hits were an explosion of joy and energy after two years of a repressive idiot as a manager. He never managed to repeat the feat but that does not make it any less important or admirable. The same with Murton - he came to Japan without any experience of Japanese baseball and was able to set a new hits record. Another magnificent achievement and lets celebrate it as such. We can also mention the Swallows Aoki - the first Japanese player to have two over 200 seasons - something which Ichiro didn't manage. Does this matter - no it doesn't, all these players have produced achievements worth celebrating. So no more of this rubbish Deanna.
This game saw Tigers fail in a vital game again - faced with a second rate pitcher the batting failed and a couple of lucky impacts enabled BayStars to win the game. Tigers now have to wait to see if the Giants beat Swallows to know if they will be second. If the Giants win then Tigers will be third and the best thing Mayumi can do is fall on his sword as Okada did. Whilst we have seen many good performances from Tigers we do need to see them carry the vital games if they are to have any chance of winning trophies. Under Mayumi this seems to be an impossibility and isn't it about time Tigers stopped their tradition of appointing old boys to be their managers but started to seriously look at outside managers every time they chose a new manager.

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tigers    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 
BayStars  0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 X 2 7 2

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Toritani (Short)
2. Hirano (Centre)
3. Murton (Left)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Johjima (Catcher)
7. Lin (Right)
8. Saka (Secpnd)
9. Akiyama (Pitcher)

BayStars
1. Ishikawa (Short)
2. Matsumoto (Centre)
3. Uchikawa (Right)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Tsutsugoh (First)
6. Shimozono (Left)
7. Castillo (Second)
8. Takeyama (Catcher)
9. Takasaki (Pitcher)

Tigers started quietly, Toritani worked but eventually grounded out and neither Hirano nor Murton could get onto base. BayStars also started quietly with the batters falling in order. Brazell hit to right in Tigers second with one out but was forced out by Johjima. Mayumi then signalled a steal for Johjima. This was a real act of folly as Johjima doesn't have the speed at all and he was out. Tsutsugoh drew a walk in BayStars second but that was all and he stayed on first. Tigers third was also quiet and they should have made more progress by now. BayStars third was in the same mode which was to be more expected.

In Tigers fourth Toritani led off with a hit - at last some action. Hirano bunted him to second (a waste of an out) but both Murton and Arai grounded out. Murton should be back as leadoff with Toritani at third. He hits better and drives in more runs. Then came BayStars first stroke of luck. Matsumoto took a swing and the ball flew over the left wall for a solo home run 1-0 BayStars. Two outs followed before Tsutsugoh picked up his second walk of the evening but the final out was Shimozono who grounded out to short. Brazell flew out to start Tigers fifth. Then Johjima hit to left and turned the hit into a three base. This was a great opportunity but Lin wasted it grounding out to first off his third pitch. What was sad was that Takasaki's pitching disintegrated at this point and if Lin had waited he could have walked or had the sacrifice fly. Saka walked and then so did Kanemoto (pinch hitter) to load the bases. Here was a great chance, an oshidashi would tie the score and the next batter would be able to hit Takasaki and drive in runs. Instead Toritani hit his second pitch to second to end the innings and waste the chance. This was a real failure - Takasaki was there for the taking and Tigers had blown it. Watanabe pitched BayStars fifth and gave up a lead off hit to Castillo. Takeyama's ground out took Castillo to second and then Takasaki flew out taking him to third. Ishikawa hit straight to Arai to end the innings. Once again Tigers generated a good chance in the their sixth and once again they blew it. With one out Murton hit a nice two base. He needed a hit from either Arai or Brazell and neither delivered. Arai swung too early and flew out to second and Brazell flew out to left. Takasaki was certainly getting a lot of let offs. Kubota pitched BayStars sixth and gave up a lead off hit to Matsumoto but Uchikawa's double play soon got rid of that threat. Finally, Murata grounded out to end the innings - the whole innings having taken four pitches. Tigers couldn't blame their pitching for not trying.

Tigers seventh was quiet - batters who should have done things doing nothing. In BayStars seventh we saw their second piece of luck. Tsutsugoh took a wild swing at Kubota's first pitch and connected sending it over the wall for his first professional home run 2-0 BayStars. Shimozono hit to centre and one out later was bunted to second by Takeyama. However, this brought up Kinjoh as pinch hitter and he of course failed miserably and the innings was over. Tigers were still in with a good chance. BayStars weak relief and a two run lead - the game wasn't over but Tigers surrendered meekly. Ushida pitched the eighth and started by walking Sekimoto (pinch hitter). Toritani flew out but then Hiyama (pinch hitter) walked. Tigers had runners on first and third. Neither Murton nor Arai did anything this innings and it ended scoreless. For BayStars eighth Mayumi threw in Kyuji Fujikawa who wasn't wonderful but was effective. He gave up a hit to Ishikawa. Matsumoto bunted him to second and then Uchikawa hit to centre to set up runners on first and third. Murata hit into a short double play to end the innings, no doubt with a sigh of relief from Kyuji. Yamaguchi was the pitcher for Tigers ninth. Brazell he struck out and Johjima he got to fly out but then Lin hit. However, Saka struck out looking to end the game. BayStars victory.

It was all too lazy and too casual. Tigers batters had not thought or batted properly against a weak side which had made two errors. They hadn't taken advantage of their chances and wasted the opportunities particularly in the fifth when Takasaki was wobbly and there for the taking. They can still finish second but rely on the Giants losing. Somehow this ending is a fitting summary of Mayumi's management - hopeless, aimless and without drive or direction.

This generation of Tigers really is getting the label of choke artists. They've had a lot of talent in the past decade, but are in danger again of coming away with nothing to show for it.
The Tigers are often compared to the Red Sox in MLB. Well, the Sox finally reversed their "curse" this decade, so come on Tigers!

Congratulations. The Giants lost (after being 1 pitch away from 2nd place) to the Swallows. So Hanshin will host the first state of the Climax Series.

Thanks very much

However, now we owe the Swallows big time.

Go Climax!!

These (hopefully) next two series will really see where the Tigers stand. Let's hope that we believe in ourselves from the start and leave nothing on the line. If we do then I really think that we can go all the way.

It will be interesting to see who the pitchers are for the Giants series as it would be good to finish it in two games. Can someone please drop a post as soon as the pitchers are announced.

Cheers!

I was curious about the rotation too. I guess Kubo, Standridge, and Nohmi are our big three right now, but I'm not sure about the best or projected order. Personally, I like Nohmi in game 1, even though he's just rejoined the rotation. I don't have the stats handy, but it seems like he has pitched the best against the Giants of the three. Akiyama is also a wild card, but I don't think he's quite ready.

I checked the Giants score at 4-1 and assumed that they'd won. Nevertheless, I just checked NPB to confirm later on.

I was so pleasantly surprised that they messed it up.
Then I went to the Giants website - Tigers could do with getting those amazing highlight streams - to watch how Yomiuri capitulated.

Kroon was languidly going through the motions, Rami-chan had one foot out of the dugout ready to run on the pitch, and probably every player was looking forward to not having to travel to Koshien.

Ha ha!! Surely they can't recover from this psychological blow. We'll see.

Come on Tigers!!!!

By the way, has there ever been a season before where the top 3 were separated by 1 game?