July 30th Cheng v Suda - A good Sledging

Once again Mayumi left a pitcher in too long and paid the price. He also compounded the error by using a very rusty left hander. Tigers were beginning to build up some momentum but our manager's incompetence has taken the wing out the team's sales. He doesn't know how to use pitching or the relief and it shows frequently. He leaves people in too long when he should be using his relief pitchers. Consequently they can't respond when needed. But make no mistake the day belonged to Sledge who drove in eitght runs and made a superb catch in left field. One has to salute a magnificent performance. Brazell had two home runs but was overshadowed. It would be nice to have Sledge in left field in place of Kanemoto - maybe next year?

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
BayStars  0 0 2 0 0 0 4 3 0 9 17 0
Tigers    0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 5  9 0

Starting lineups

BayStars
1. Shimozono (Right)
2. Ishikawa (Short)
3. Sledge (Left)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Harper (First)
6. Kinjoh (Centre)
7. Fujita (Second)
8. Niinuma (Catcher)
9. Suda (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Murton (Right)
2. Hirano (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Kanemoto (Left)
7. Uemoto (Second)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Cheng (Pitcher)

Against the lamentable Suda you really fancied Tigers chances. They should be able to hammer BayStars into the ground but as it was someone else did the hammering. Suda was as lamentable as expected but Cheng wasn't much better - he had so many runners on it was unbelievable. Fujii was mediocre in the extreme but even so BayStars needed their foreigners to generate the victory. The game started with Shimozono grounding out to Cheng. Then Ishikawa hit but Cheng could only deflect it. Sledge hit to centre to put runners on first and third. Here Murata flew out in foul ground and then Harper flew out to right. Surprisingly Suda did well in Tigers first - he retired the batters in order but you felt it was only a matter of time. With the way Cheng was pitching unfortunately you had the same feeling. Kinjoh hit to short and whilst Toritani's stop was excellent - he couldn't get the throw away in time. Kinjoh emboldened by his successful steal of the night before tried to steal second but was thrown out. However, Fujita hit to right - another runner on. Niinuma flew out but then amazingly Suda's first swing produced a hit - runners on first and second with two outs but Shimozono struck out looking to a superb pitch. Arai led off Tigers second with a two base hit. Surely, something would come from this Brazell flew out to the catcher which exposed the lightweights, Kanemoto and Uemoto - both failed and the innings was scoreless. Cheng couldn't continue to ride his luck though and in BayStars third he finally failed. With one out he faced Sledge who hit a big home run over the centre fence 1-0 BayStars. Murata hit to left for a two base hit which brought up Harper. He drove to right bringing home Murata 2-0 BayStars, runner on first. Harper stayed on first as neither Kinjoh nor Fujita could move him round. Cheng was finished. He had given up 2 runs on eight hits and clearly couldn't pitch another innings. Even Mayumi could see that. Suda though would continue beyond his limit. He started Tigers third with a hit to Fujii. Next was Morita who excites me more than Uemoto - Morita has power and aggression. In his second at bat he hit to right to set up runners on first and second. Murton flew out but Suda was beginning to disintergrate. Two wild pitches brought Fujii home 2-1 BayStars, runner on third and Hirano walked to set up runners on the corner. A great chance against a struggling pitcher but Toritani hit into a double play - a real waste.

Cheng's replacement was Kojima who started well retiring the batters in order in BayStars fourth. Suda returned for Tigers fourth and one wondered what Obana had been smoking. He walked Arai which brought up Brazell. He hasn't been hitting home runs recently but today was different. His third pitch was driven to right for a two run home run 3-2 Tigers. Kanemoto flew out but then Uemoto hit to left. For once his speed was used and he stole second. Fujii hit to left centre - a nice two base which brought the runner home 4-2 Tigers. Here a bunt would have been nice but all Kojima could do was ground out to Suda. Finally, Murton flew out to second just as Kanemoto had done. Still Tigers had a useful lead. BayStars fifth was quiet with Kojima striking out Ishikawa. The unstoppable Sledge singled to right but then Kojima struck out both Murata and Harper to end the innings. Fujie pitched Tigers fifth, Obana having realised that any more of Suda would put the game beyond reach. Ohhara replaced Suda. He did well retiring the batters in order. BayStars sixth was also quiet - Kojima had been excellent with only one hit over three innings. Ohhara started Tigers sixth and with one out gave up a hit to Kanemoto. Kanemoto was pinch run for by Shunsuke and Fujie was replaced by Fujie. At this point Shunsuke tried to steal second but was thrown out. The final batter of the innings. was Uemoto who flew out to centre.

Now if you're pitching someone in deep relief they should really only pitch three innings maximum. However, in Mayumiland, if a pitcher pitches three good innings but is tired he is still entitled to another innings. Mayumi pitched Kojima too long. He should never have started the seventh which should have been pitched by Watanabe or Fukuhara. Bakayumi is back again. He faced Shinamura (pinch hitter) who hit to centre. Then Shimozono hit to right - runners on first and third. There was still time to rescue the situation by switching pitchers but Mayumi in his stupidity kept Kojima in. Runners on first and third with no outs, Ishikawa walked to load the bases with the next batter Sledge. Still a chance to change pitchers but no. Sledge hammered the ball right - it crossed the fence. It wasn't like Uemoto's fluke but more like Arai's first grand slam for Tigers. A very good hit 6-4 BayStars. This finally produced the situation that should have happened earlier. Watanabe took the mound. Mayumi's stupidity had cost Tigers the lead. Watanabe got Murata to ground out and then struck out Harper but then Fujii interviened. His calls led to Kinjoh and Fujita both drivng right - runners on first and third. Watanabe though was fresh and struck out Niinuma to end the innings. For Tigers seventh Ejiri was the pitcher and surprise, surprise he struck out all three batters faced - this was a vital innings, giving BayStars a bit of breathing space. For BayStars eighth Mayumi put Kawasaki on the mound - why? Probably because he's a left hander but honestly he hasn't been pitching much and was pretty poor. Once again there were opportunities to remove him before the disaster which Mayumi ignored. With one out Kawasaki walked Shimozono. First opportunity to switch pitchers ignored. Then Ishikawa hit to set up runners on first and third with no outs. Here was the second opportunity. Sledge was the next batter and he blasted his first pitch over the centre fence for a three run home run 9-4 BayStars. The game had been winnable for the Tigers up until that point but after this it wasn't. Murata flew out and then Yoshimura (replacing Harper) also flew out. It's a good thing that the BayStars had Sledge as replacing Harper with Yoshimura represents the height of stupidity. Ushida pitched Tigers eighth and kept them quiet, retiring the batters in order. We saw Nishimura for BayStars ninth and with one out he gave up a two base hit to Fujita. Fujita reached third on Niinuma's ground out but then Inada grounded out to end the innings. For Tigers ninth, Obana went with Sanada as if Mayumi can be stupid so can I. Brazell slammed his first pitch over the fence for a solo home run 9-5 BayStars. Shunsuke hit to left and then Uemoto walked. Sanada was quickly switched for Yamaguchi. He was lucky - the first batter he faced was Shibata who struck out swinging. Then Hiyama hit beautifully to left centre - Yamaguchi's shoulders slumped. This was a run scoring mistake but Sledge moved round and diving took a superb catch for the second out. (damn!). The runners tagged up and moved to second and third but Murton who needed to do something over than hit flew out to right to end the game. BayStars victory.

Mayumi only had himself to blame. After three years he should know the pitching but still is totally clueless in this vital areaa. His leaving Kojima in during the seventh was pure stupidity and then his use of Kawasaki was just bizarre. Let's not take anything away from Sledge and to a lesser degree Harper - both had batted superbly and had won the game for the BayStars. Sledge had driven in 8 runs and taken a vital catch - a very fine piece of work. For the Tigers Brazell drove in three runs and hit two home runs. However, Mayumi's retirement through ill health is long overdue.

I was trying to stay optimistic, but I just no longer see this team getting over the hump. I think they can stick around .500 and make the playoffs, but I don't have much higher aspirations at this time.

Indeed bizarre with Kojima. For someone who has spent little time on the top team this year, 3 solid innings was enough. Of course he will probably now be banished to 2-gun again for his inability to handle pressure, as Tigers management likes to see it. Again, taking nothing away from Sledge. He was obviously in the zone last night and might have hit anyone. Although he struggled, I think the plug was pulled on Cheng a bit too quickly.

I have a new idea to solve our management problem. I've noticed on TV a lot they let a kid who is a member of the fan club hang out with the announcers and make some comments. Instead of this, why don't they let him manage the team for the day? I can confidently say the average 10-year-old Japanese boy has greater baseball knowledge than the current moron holding our team back.

That takes Sledge to the top of the Central League for RBIs, which is pretty impressive in such a poor team. I'd love to see him in left next year, but I suspect if Mayumi's still here next year then he'll keep sending Kanemoto out there to embarrass himself and ruin all our positive memories of him.

If we bring back all four of Murton, Brazell, Messenger, and Standridge, that's our limit for foreign players. The Tiger are on record as saying they want all four back next season. The most likely to leave is probably Murton, since he's stated he wants to go back to the bigs. We could replace him with Sledge, but that now leaves us with holes in center and right that would need to be dealt with. If only we'd gone after Uchikawa this offseason, we could be totally set in the outfield. Ah well, whatcha gonna do.

Actually I think we can have more than four on the active roster. We also have Cheng and the talk is of adding Zarate to the roster. That would give us six. The restriction IIRC is players on the bench. All our current crop are going to be approached very early and I believe that Tigers might have already spoken to MUrton . I agree we should have gone after Uchikawa - he would have slotted in well. Centre or right can be Hirano, Asai or Sakurai but left is an issue.

I'm not sure the Tigers need Brazell back. Although his average is back up, his power numbers are way down and he draws far too few walks for a power hitter. I love watching him when he's hot and he seems to be a great clubhouse guy, but I wonder how much more we can expect from him. He's just signed for this year, right?

Indeed Brazell is just signed for this year but the talk is of asking him back. One has to remember that with the new ball practically everyone's power numbers are down and this is something Tigers front office are taking into account.

I think you need to check the stats more carefully before you consider not asking Brazell back. His power numbers are down, but he's still joint leading the team for homers, and he's second for RBIs. Just on those grounds I'd ask him back - he's still contributing.

You also have to consider who we'd replace him with. We might be able to tempt Sledge (who's got better numbers), but no guarantee. So we'd probably need a new import. Out of all the new hitters in the CL this season, only Valentine's doing better than Brazell, and he's only got 3 more RBIs! If we're lucky, we'd get a guy who could get a few more RBIs. But more likely, we'd get someone worse or who fails completely. And as you pointed out, he seems to be a good influence on the clubhouse and I think he really does love playing for us.

I'd stick with Brazell.