September 17th Kubo v Kenta Maeda - Kanoh is back

Kanoh finally got his wish and was used as a catcher though only for one innings in this game. Still it's a start and a sign that wiser heads are beginning to make themselves heard. Most of the match was actually called by Komiyama with Fujii being replaced after the second innings (another failure to his name). It seems he and Kubo don't get on at all though Kubo's pitching in the first earned him a trip to ni-gun. Brazell also made his return but was a bit anonymous.
What is becoming clear is that some of the coaching team who haven't been connecting with the players will be let go after end of the season. The front office listened to Mayumi after 2010 and kept the coaching team intact but no longer. Tigers also have a plan which involves Nishida who has just become available. At the moment this does involve Mayumi retaining a position in the team but with the real power resting with Nishida. Of course, Mayumi would not be offered a new contract after 2012 and Nishida would be in total charge. Of course Tigers front office might be hoping that Mayumi could do the honourable thing and jump before he's edged off the parapet but this is not likely at the moment. Nishida at Tigers is a mouth watering prospect and would be very popular but dumping Mayumi is a must. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  5 0
Carp    4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 5 10 0

Starting lineups

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

Carp
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Kimura (Short)
3. Barden (Third)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Matsuyama (Left)
6. Hirose (Right)
7. Maru (Centre)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Kenta Maeda (Pitcher)

With Mayumi just having to play his favourite, Shibata, the expected return of Murton to lead off didn't happen and he was dropped down to sixth to make way for Brazell. Still Hirano has been making a good job of leadoff so it wasn't such a bad move. Tigers first innings started with Shibata hitting to centre with one out. Toritani grounded out to second forcing out Shibata but made first safely himself. Arai hit left and Toritani took third but then Brazell flew out in foul ground to end the innings. Kubo has not been working well recently and seems to be having trouble communicating with Fujii. He got Higashide to fly out to right and then Kimura to fly out to left but things went badly wrong after that. Barden hit to left centre - a two base hit. Still nothing to worry about but Kurihara singled to centre bringing home Barden 1-0 Carp, runner on first. Matsuyama hit to left which put runners on first and second. Then Hirose went deep into right centre for a two base timely hit which brought both runners home 3-0 Carp, runner on second. A disastrous start but worse was to follow. Maru hit to left which brought in Hirose 4-0 Carp, runner on first. Ishihara hit left to set up runners on first and third with the next batter being Maeda. He did the decent thing and struck out swinging to end the innings. This time it would be Kubo that exited first (last time was Fujii) and be replaced by Kojima. Tigers second was quiet and the three batters went down in order. Things hadn't improved in the second even though Komiyama had replaced Fujii. Higashide led off with a hit to centre and made second on a pass ball. Kimura's ground out took Higashide to third and then Barden hit a two base to left bringing in Higashde 5-0 Carp. Kurihara struck out looking and then Matsuyama flew out to end the innings. Maeda wasn't likely to blow a five run lead so Tigers were looking at a defeat. Komiyama struck out swinging to lead off Tigers third but Hirano hit a two base to right. Shibata's ground out took Hirano to third but then Toritani grounded out to short to end the innings. Kojima and Komiyama combined superbly in Carp's third and Kojima struck out all three batters he faced.

Tigers fourth was also quiet, four five and six not being able to do anything. Carp's fourth was similarly uninteresting as Kojima kept the Carp bottom of the order quiet. Tigers fifth saw Maeda still in control and Tigers couldn't get anyone on base. Nishimura replaced Kojima for Carp's fifth and with one out gave up a hit to Kurihara. Matsuyama then hit into a double play to end the innings. Toritani walked in Tigers sixth but neither Arai nor Brazell did anything and there was no score. Carp's sxith was likewise quiet with the Nishimura Komiyama team functioning well.

Tigers seventh saw Murton hit with one out but nothing came of this and the final batter of the innings, Hiyama (pinch hitter) grounded out to short. Fujihara took over for Carp's seventh and started by walking Maeda - some poor pitching here. Higashide though hit into a double play to extinguish the runner and then Kimura struck out swinging to end the innings. Kanoh led off Tigers eighth by swinging and flying out to short but then Nomura replaced Maeda with Aoki. He got Hirano to ground out to him and then Asai (pinch hitter) grounded out to second. With one out in Carp's eighth Kurihara hit but then Mukae (pinch hitter) hit into a double play and Kanoh had finished his first innings back as a catcher in style. Toyoda pitched Tigers ninth and gave up a lead off home run to Toritani 5-1 Carp. This was merely compensation as the next three batters all fell easily and the game was over. Carp victory.

Once Tigers had given up the runs in the first innings they really had no way back. Maeda wasn't going to let them back into the game and they struggled to assert themselves. Changes do need to happen but the pig headed stuborness of Sakai owner in hanging onto Mayumi needs to be circumvented in some way. If Tigers are going to make a play for Nishida then they need to dump the dead wood. This means Mayumi.

If the Tigers don't make the CS this season, one would wish Mayumi would make it easy on everyone and just do the noble thing and step down. Seems unlikely, but just would be nice!

This is what elements of the front office are hoping - he's affecting the bottom line.

When Okada stepped down, I thought it was the wrong thing to do and bad timing. With Mayumi, it's definitely the right thing to do. He's had three years to lead a team loaded with talent, but has gotten very disappointing results.