September 13th Standridge v Akagawa - No timely hits

Indeed Tigers won this game with no one driving in a run. These came from sacrifices and poor fielding by the Swallows of which there were enough examples to give Tigers a comfortable victory. Standridge didn't pitch that well this game but this time picked up the victory. As he said in the hero interview after the game - 'That's baseball'. The word is that both Standridge and Messenger will be asked back for 2013 which is encouraging. Brazell is unlikely to be back though no definitive word has yet emerged on his future. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Swallows
1. Yuhei (Centre)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Balentien (Right)
4. Milledge (Left)
5. Kawabata (First)
6. Miyamoto (Third)
7. Morioka (Short)
8. Nakamura (Catcher)
9. Akagawa (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Uemoto (Second)
2. Yamato (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Ryota Arai (Third)
5. Murton (Left)
6. Takahiro Arai (First)
7. Hirano (Right)
8. Komiyama (Catcher)
9. Standridge (Pitcher)

Things started interestingly - at least from the Swallows point of view. Standridge wasn't at his best and gave up a lead off single to Yuhei. Tanaka hit to right instead of bunting and set up runners on first and second. Balentien then hit into a double play with Toritani being the initiator. He would be mostly off his game and this was a rare piece of excellent work for the evening. Yuhei was able to take third and Milledge walked. This was looking dangerous but Kawabata was able to hit to second for the final out. Tigers had avoided a score and Standridge referred to this piece of good fortune in the hero interview. Tigers first started with Akagawa striking out Uemoto. Yamato singled nicely to left and then Toritani hit deep to right. It was deep enough to allow Yamato to take third - runners on first and third. Wada signaled the steal and Toritani set off. Swallows were aware and Nakamura threw to second. Swallows then chased Toritani down as he stopped and reversed direction but while they were doing that Yamato raced home 1-0 Tigers. Swallows had taken their eye off the ball with this one. The final batter was Ryota Arai who struck out swinging. Swallows second saw some better pitching by Standridge though Nakamura did single to second with two out. Uemoto was unable to get the throw away in time. However, the next batter was Akagawa and he could only ground out to end the innings. Murton led off Tigers second with a single. Takahiro Arai and Hirano both did nothing which left things down to Komiyama. He struck out looking without Murton having left the security of first. Swallows finally managed to get to Standridge in their third. Hiyane led the innings off with a nice double into left centre. He was bunted to third by Tanaka - the bunt being very proficiently laid down. Balentien was next and hit towards centre - not really getting hold of the ball. Toritani was a bit slow on his dive and missed the ball completely diving over it. A single which brought the runner home 1-1 scores tied, runner on first. Milledge tried to hit right but the ball was snagged by Uemoto who threw to Toritani for the double play to end the innings. Tigers lead had gone but Swallows had only been able to draw level. Tigers third was led off by Standridge who struck out swinging. Neither Uemoto nor Yamato could get on base either and the innings was quiet.

With one out in Swallows fourth, Miyamoto hit to Ryota Arai who couldn't hold and Miyamoto was safe on first. Then Morioka hit left and Swallows had runners on first and second. Something special was needed and this came the very next pitch with a double play from Nakamura to end the innings. Another escape for Tigers. Tigers fourth was Akagawa's turn to get into trouble. With Toritani out, Ryota Arai hit to centre. Murton struck out but Takahiro Arai hit to short who dropped the ball. This was an error that was ruled a hit. A wild pitch took the runners to second and third and then Hirano walked to load the bases. Akagawa was in trouble and it just needed a coach to have a word with Komiyama to calm him down and advise him to try and work the walk. No one did so - another indication of the uselessness of the coaching team. Komiyama took two balls and then swung but mistimed it and flew out to second to end the innings and the chance. With one out in Swallows fifth Yuhei singled to centre. He then tried to steal second but the throw by Komiyama was good and Toritani had all the time in the world to tag him out. Tanaka then hit back to Standridge for the final out. Standridge led Tigers off with a neat single to left - easily beating the rather slow Miyamoto. Tigers wasted the chance with some poor batting. Uemoto instead of bunting tried to hit deep to left but flew out. Yamato popped up to second and then Toritani hit a liner to Miyamoto and the innings was over. Balentien struck out swinging to lead off Swallows sixth. He seemed aggrieved about something though the strike out looked perfectly legitimate, Balentien being lured into swinging at an outside pitch. Milledge grounded out to short and then Kawabata was able to single right. Next was Miyamoto who hit deep to third but Ryota Arai had plenty of time to throw to first for the out. Tigers finally managed to take advantage of Akagawa in their sixth. Ryota Arai led off the innings by walking. Then Murton hit to short who dropped the ball - once again an error that wasn't called as such. Runners on first and second. Takahiro Arai hit to Morioka who fielded well and threw to second for the force out but it was all a bit too slow and Takahiro Arai was able to take first safely - runners first and third. Next Hirano hit his first pitch straight to Tanaka who dropped the ball. He was able to pick it up and throw to second for the force out but Hirano had made first safely. Ryota Arai on third was able to take home as well 2-1 Tigers, runner on first. Two failed double plays and some poor fielding had given Tigers the lead back. Komiyama hit deep to right - a nice shot but Balentien was well positioned and took the catch for the out.

Swallows seventh was the first innings Standridge pitched without a runner on. Morioka grounded out to short, Nakamura flew out to right and finally Fukuuchi (pinch hitter) grounded out to short as well. With Akagawa having been pinch hit for, Oshimoto took over for the Tigers seventh. He struck out Sekimoto (pinch hitter) who swung wildly at one way outside the zone and then got Uemoto and Yamato to ground out. Katoh took over for Swallows eighth in what would prove an innings of musical pitchers. Firstly Yuhei hit to Toritani who dropped the ball - this one being ruled a hit as well. Then Wada decided to switch pitchers and brought Fukuhara on. Tanaka bunted Yuhei to second for the first out and then Fukuhara struck out Balentien looking for the second out. Next was Milledge and for some reason Fukuhara lost the zone his third pitch bouncing in front of Komiyama. Even though the catcher was able to block the ball Yuhei took third. Milledge walked and Wada decided that another pitcher was needed for the final out. This was Tsutsui who with a nod from Komiyama left one a bit higher. Kawabata went for it and hit it straight down the throat of Murton for the final out. Hidaka took over for Tigers eighth and immediately gave up a single to Toritani. He was replaced by Matsui who gave up consecutive singles to left to Ryota Arai and Murton. Bases loaded with no outs. Takahiro Arai was completely out of his depth here and flew out to first in foul ground. A shot best forgotten. Shoda took over for Hirano who was pinch hit for by Kanemoto. He worked the count full and then in Kanemoto style worked a walk - oshidashi 3-1 Tigers, bases loaded. Kanemoto was pinch run for by Tagami. Komiyama was pinch hit for by Asai who hit a shallow fly to centre. The throw came in but Ryota Arai had scampered home 4-1. Tagami tagged up and tried to take second but was caught off base and the final out of the innings. Fujikawa closed the game out. He pitched to Fujii as Komiyama had been pinch hit for. Miyamoto worked a walk and was pinch run for by Miwa. Miwa went to steal second - something that Fujii didn't even bother to respond to. Fujikawa then struck out Morioka. Nakamura popped the ball up to second and finally, Takeuchi hit to second for an easy ground out to end the game. Tigers victory.

Fujikawa picked up his 23rd save and the victory went to Standridge of course. It had been an interesting game and Tigers had produced 10 hits without any runs resulting from those hits. Swallows also produced 10 hits with only one run resulting. Poor production from both sides but Tigers had been sharp and able to take advantage of poor fielding. The crowd was around 25,500 which is a pity as this was a very entertaining contest but one can understand their thoughts as well. Kanemoto's retirement game isn't fixed but talk is either the final game against the Carp at Koshien on 29th September or the final game of the season. which is against the Swallows at Koshien on 5th October.

I didn't plan on going to Koshien again this year, but ran out right after the Kanemoto announcement to get tickets for the October 5th game. We've been hard on Kanemoto here and wondering when he will finally call it quits, but it will still be a sad feeling to sit in the 3-rui Alps next season and not see him there. I've been going to Koshien regularly just since 2004, but he's given me a lot of great memories and he's the greatest Tiger I've seen in my time here in Kansai. So I at least have to be out there to say goodbye on the 5th.

I agree entirely - but I do feel he should have retired the previous season. It is difficult for a sportsman who has played at the level Kanemoto has to admit that it is perhaps time for him to step down. The competitive spirit and the will to overcome obstacles are still there it is just that the body cannot respond anymore. Both the games for the 29th and 5th are pretty much sold out but there is no indication yet as to which is going to be the retirement game.

Maybe by not making the announcement they can sell more tickets! The 5th seems the obvious choice, but since the 29th is against the Carp that might be doubly nostalgic.

Yeah, part of me has also wanted him to retire for the past couple seasons. When you compare him with other Tigers batters this year his numbers aren't actually that bad. But, again, everyone is having a down year. It's obvious that he shouldn't be an everyday player and with so many years batting clean up I'm not sure he can accept a smaller role. It's a bit different with someone like Hiyama, who accepted such a role long ago. Has there been any mention of Kanemoto being kept on in a coaching capacity?

Yes there was a plan for him to become a player coach/manager which I suppose would have led to Wada being dumped. This was only half worked out so the retirement avoided the difficulties. He may still be asked back as a batting coach.