This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
- PL Strikes Fast, Takes Second Game by Jim Allen [www.yomiuri.co.jp]
- Powell, Matoyama Lead PL Revenge by Dan Latham [www.japantimes.co.jp]
Odd, I thought Latham-san was working for Asahi Shimbun. Oh, well. Both articles were much better than their respective papers' Game 1 coverage.
As Allen-san hinted at in his title, though, the Pacific League really did strike fast. While I missed the first inning where the Pacific struck first with two, it seemed like they had put up those two added runs in the span of just five minutes in the top of the second. Everyone was swinging at Hodges early in the count. It reminded me of Yokohama's "machine gun offense" of years gone by.
The Pacific League pitchers held on to win the game 4-2, but the best pitching performance was by the Giants' ace pitcher Uehara. His striking out Ogasawara, Rhodes, and Nakamura in order in the 5th, all on fast balls, was the pitching highlight of the night.
Godzilla failed at his attemt at home runs in six consecutive All Star Series. He hit two doubles, one midway up the right-center field fense. But as both Allen-san and Latham-san wrote, the fans were a bit disappointed.