Pro Yakyu Game of the Week: 6/27
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Re: Pro Yakyu Game of the Week: 6/27
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Jun 27, 2004 10:18 PM
| YBS Fan
]
We're treated with another pitchers' duel this evening. It all comes down to who makes the most of their chances.
After the game we had a good chat ranging from the current merging crisis to the Matsui vs. Matsui show-down.
TRANSCRIPT generated on: 2004/06/27 22:10
CHATROOM: Game of the Week/Hanshin Tigers vs. Chunichi Dragons
MODERATORS: westbaystars
17:03: westbaystars - Well, the BayStars just suffered a come-from-ahead loss 10-12 after leading 10-2.
17:04: westbaystars - I'll be getting over it with some dinner, then return by 6:00 for the game.
17:58: westbaystars - With a belly full of chicken and rice, I'm feeling a little better about Yokohama's loss.
17:58: westbaystars - Still, watching them give up nine runs in the eighth was hard.
17:58: westbaystars - ***
17:59: westbaystars - Anyway, it's a couple minutes before game time and Chunichi's Noguchi climbs the mound to start his warmup pitches.
17:59: westbaystars - Someone had asked earlier this week about Marc Valdes.
18:00: westbaystars - Well, I just saw him in the Dragons' dugout without a uniform on.
18:00: westbaystars - I'm not sure what that means, though.
18:00: westbaystars - ---
18:00: westbaystars - Top of First
18:00: westbaystars - ---
18:00: westbaystars - Noguchi's first pitch is taken up and away for all one.
18:00: westbaystars - The game is underway at 6:00 sharp.
18:00: westbaystars - First up for Hanshin is Imaoka
18:01: westbaystars - A few pitches later Imaoka lifts a high fly ball to the left side of the infield.
18:02: westbaystars - Tatsunami waits a long time and takes the ball in for the first out.
18:02: westbaystars - Next up is Akahoshi.
18:02: westbaystars - Akahoshi grounds the ball right to Ibata at short, who throws to first for out number two.
18:03: westbaystars - Sekimoto bats third.
18:04: westbaystars - On a 1-1 pitch, Sekimoto lines the ball through the left side of the infield and into left field for a base hit.
18:04: westbaystars - Hanshin has the first base runner of the game.
18:04: westbaystars - That brings up Kanemoto.
18:06: westbaystars - There's a very large yellow and black contingency in the stands cheering for Kanemoto.
18:06: westbaystars - Hanshin fans are everywhere!
18:07: westbaystars - Kanemoto lines the ball right over the first base bag, but it's stabbed by Arias for the final out.
18:07: westbaystars - Arias touched first to double up Sekimoto, but that wasn't necessary.
18:08: westbaystars - Hanshin got a base runner, but stranded him at first.
18:08: westbaystars - ---
18:08: westbaystars - Bottom of First
18:08: westbaystars - ---
18:09: westbaystars - Iguchi's first pitch to Araki is taken for strike one.
18:10: westbaystars - A couple pitches later, Araki grounds the ball to short.
18:10: westbaystars - But the speedy Araki doesn't give up, he charges up the line.
18:10: westbaystars - But is thrown out despite his effort.
18:10: westbaystars - One out.
18:11: westbaystars - That brings up Ibata.
18:11: westbaystars - Ibata goes after the Iguchi's first pitch, lifting the ball to foul territory in right.
18:11: westbaystars - Hiyama comes over and catches the ball right against the netting protecting the stands.
18:12: westbaystars - Nice catch! That's not easy to do.
18:12: westbaystars - Two quick outs.
18:12: westbaystars - That brings up Tatsunami.
18:13: westbaystars - Tatsunami slaps the ball the other way to left, bouncing in for a base hit.
18:13: westbaystars - Chunichi has a runner on with one out, a replay of the top half of the inning.
18:13: westbaystars - Number four batter Fukudome comes up next.
18:15: westbaystars - He hits a high chopper back to Igawa on the mound.
18:15: westbaystars - Igawa fields the ball, and throws wide and high to first!
18:15: westbaystars - But Arias jumps off the bag to get the ball, and returns in time for out number three.
18:16: westbaystars - Whew. That almost went into the right field corner.
18:16: westbaystars - Arias' save ends the first inning with no score.
18:16: westbaystars - ---
18:16: westbaystars - Top of Second
18:16: westbaystars - ---
18:17: westbaystars - Speaking of Arais, he leads off the second inning.
18:19: westbaystars - But he fouls out to Linares in foul territory in front of the first base dug out.
18:19: westbaystars - One out.
18:19: westbaystars - Hiyama follows by getting hit on the right hip by Noguchi.
18:20: westbaystars - He takes the base without so much as a grimace.
18:20: westbaystars - One out, runner at first, Yano up to bat.
18:21: westbaystars - The battery thinks that something is on as Noguchi throws a number of pitches over to first.
18:22: westbaystars - But nothing was going through four pitches as Yano grounds into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
18:23: westbaystars - It was three up, three down for the Tigers in the second.
18:23: westbaystars - ---
18:23: westbaystars - Bottom of Second
18:23: westbaystars - ---
18:25: westbaystars - Alex leads off the bottom of the second, batting in the number five spot.
18:25: westbaystars - After three straight balls, Alex takes strike one down the middle from Igawa.
18:25: westbaystars - The fifth pitch is taken for ball four, and Chunichi has their lead-off base runner aboard.
18:26: westbaystars - That brings up catcher Tanishige.
18:28: westbaystars - Tanishige grounds a 2-2 pitch to Fujimoto at short.
18:29: westbaystars - Fujimoto's throw to second almost goes into right field, but Imaoka saves it,
18:29: westbaystars - ... touches the bag for one, and relays to first for the double play.
18:29: westbaystars - Two down, nobody on for Linares.
18:30: westbaystars - Linares has gained some weight back since the last time I saw him, at which time I thought he looked like he had ...
18:30: westbaystars - ... lost too much weight.
18:30: westbaystars - Here, though, he goes down swinging for the final out of the inning.
18:31: westbaystars - A walk and double play strand none for the Dragons.
18:31: westbaystars - At the end of two complete, the game remains scoreless.
18:31: westbaystars - ---
18:31: westbaystars - Top of Third
18:31: westbaystars - ---
18:32: westbaystars - Fujimoto leads off the third inning for Hanshin.
18:32: westbaystars - He's swinging at the first pitch and lifts the ball to shallow center.
18:33: westbaystars - Alex comes in, and Araki goes back. It's Araki calling Alex off at the last second to make the catch.
18:33: westbaystars - Alex had the better angle, but gave way rather than colide.
18:34: westbaystars - Nonetheless, it's one out.
18:34: westbaystars - That brings up opposing pitcher Igawa.
18:34: westbaystars - Igawa looks at strike three on the inner part of the plate for out number two.
18:35: westbaystars - Back up to the top of the order in Imaoka.
18:36: westbaystars - He grounds the ball up the middle, but within Ibata's range.
18:37: westbaystars - Ibata plays the ball behind and to the left of the second base bag, throws to first, ...
18:37: westbaystars - ... and the Tigers are retired in order.
18:37: westbaystars - You can tell that we have the two staff aces facing off this evening.
18:37: westbaystars - ---
18:37: westbaystars - Bottom of Third
18:37: westbaystars - ---
18:39: westbaystars - Like Hanshin, we start with the number eight slot in the order. In this case, it's Nakamura.
18:40: westbaystars - Nakamura grounds easilly to Sekimoto at third.
18:41: westbaystars - Nakamura's sprint up the line isn't in time, one out.
18:41: westbaystars - Noguchi grounds to first for the second quick out of the inning.
18:41: westbaystars - That brings us back to the top of the order in Araki.
18:42: westbaystars - Araki hits a dribbler up the third base line.
18:43: westbaystars - Sekimoto hopes it'll go foul, but the ball passes the third base bag well within the line.
18:43: westbaystars - Infield base hit.
18:43: westbaystars - That brings up Ibata.
18:44: westbaystars - On the 1-1 pitch, Araki breaks for second, and slides in well in front of the off-line throw.
18:44: westbaystars - Runner now at second with two outs.
18:45: westbaystars - Ibata goes the other way, driving the ball to right field, a one bounder to Hiyama.
18:46: westbaystars - Araki rounds third as Hiyama comes up throwing.
18:46: westbaystars - The relay home is not in time! Araki slides in between Yano's legs safe!
18:46: westbaystars - Chunichi strikes first.
18:47: westbaystars - Ibata went to second on the throw home.
18:47: MHStevie - Konbanwa... arrived in time to see the first score... nice!
18:47: westbaystars - Tatsunami lifts Iguchi's first offering high, but Fujimoto needs only to take a couple steps in to field it.
18:48: westbaystars - That retires the side.
18:48: westbaystars - But not before Ibata drives in Araki for the first run of the game.
18:48: westbaystars - At the end of three complete, Chunichi leads 1-0.
18:48: westbaystars - ---
18:49: westbaystars - Top of Fourth
18:49: westbaystars - ---
18:49: westbaystars - Yea, that was good timing in logging in.
18:49: westbaystars - Akahoshi leads off the fourth for Hanshin.
18:50: westbaystars - He slaps a weak grounder just to Noguchi's right.
18:50: westbaystars - Ibata fields the ball and fires to first in time to get the speedy Akahoshi by a step and a half.
18:51: westbaystars - That brings up Sekimoto.
18:51: westbaystars - He grounds the ball to the right side.
18:51: westbaystars - Linares back hands the ball and throws to the covering Noguchi.
18:51: westbaystars - Out.
18:51: westbaystars - Two quick outs.
18:52: westbaystars - Next up is number four batter Kanemoto.
18:53: westbaystars - Kanemoto drives the ball up the first base line.
18:53: westbaystars - There's some confusion as to whether it's fair or not, fair!
18:54: westbaystars - Kanemoto jogs into second standing up.
18:54: westbaystars - That brings up Arais with two outs and Kanemoto on second.
18:55: westbaystars - Arias lines the ball deep to left!
18:55: westbaystars - Foul.
18:55: westbaystars - The Hanshin half of the stadium got excited for a second.
18:56: westbaystars - But Arias takes strike three on the outside corner to finish the side.
18:56: westbaystars - Hanshin got their first base runner as far as second base, but no farther.
18:57: westbaystars - Going to the bottom of the fourth, they trail 0-1.
18:57: westbaystars - ---
18:57: westbaystars - Bottom of Fourth
18:57: westbaystars - ---
18:57: MHStevie - So are we getting a choice of Sunday night games from this point on?
18:58: westbaystars - I don't have a schedule handy, but I think that more games in the cooler evenings may be in store.
18:58: MHStevie - *** Yakult leads Yomiuri 3-0 in the bottom of the 3rd.
18:58: westbaystars - Going to a domed game during the day just fields strange.
18:59: westbaystars - *** Do you have the scoring?
18:59: westbaystars - Number four batter Fukudome leads off striking out swinging on three pitches.
18:59: westbaystars - The third pitch in the dirt.
18:59: westbaystars - It looked like Igawa had his number his first at bat as well.
19:00: westbaystars - Alex comes up next.
19:01: westbaystars - Alex grounds the ball up the middle, left of second base.
19:02: westbaystars - Fujimoto dives for the ball, but comes up empty.
19:02: westbaystars - Chunichi has a one-out base runner.
19:02: westbaystars - That brings up Tanishige.
19:04: westbaystars - Igawa has become very concerned with Alex at first, throwing over a number of times.
19:04: westbaystars - Is Alex that big a running threat?
19:05: westbaystars - The Chunichi stats page says he has 0 stolen bases this season.
19:05: westbaystars - When Igawa finally goes to the plate, Tanishige slaps the ball to right.
19:05: westbaystars - Hiyama plays the ball on one bound.
19:06: westbaystars - It was close, so Alex stayed close to first, only advancing as for as second on the base hit.
19:06: westbaystars - That'll bring up Linares.
19:06: MHStevie - *** Sorry for the delay... Yakult scored all three in the bottom of the 1st.
19:07: MHStevie - *** Iwamura had a 2-run HR over the right field wall with Manaka (?) at 1st.
19:08: westbaystars - Linares shows more restraint this time at bat, working the count to 1 strike, 3 balls.
19:08: westbaystars - Then he hits a grounder through the left side of the infield.
19:08: westbaystars - Alex doesn't pause as he kicks third and heads home.
19:08: westbaystars - The throw is off line, home in!
19:08: westbaystars - Chunichi takes the lead 2-0.
19:09: MHStevie - Nice running...
19:09: westbaystars - Nakamura comes up.
19:09: westbaystars - A good throw would have had him.
19:09: westbaystars - If he were with Yokohama, he'd have been out. That's just been their luck.
19:10: MHStevie - *** Yakult's first baseman (can't read name kanji) hit a solo HR to right as well.
19:11: MHStevie - Sorry... didn't catch the off line comment... =)
19:11: westbaystars - *** Yakult's first baseman is Suzuki.
19:11: westbaystars - *** Former Seibu Lion.
19:11: MHStevie - *** That's him... I did recognize the "ki" kanji...
19:12: westbaystars - Sekiguchi swings out on a pitch right down the middle (curve?).
19:12: westbaystars - That makes two outs, runners at second and third.
19:13: westbaystars - Pitcher Noguchi goes down swinging on three pitches, and the side is retired.
19:13: westbaystars - But not before Linares drives in the Dragons' second run of the game to take a 2-0 lead.
19:14: westbaystars - ---
19:14: westbaystars - Top of Fifth
19:14: westbaystars - ---
19:15: westbaystars - Off line comment about Alex being out on a good throw?
19:16: westbaystars - It's just that I've seen so many BayStars thrown out at the plate on similar plays.
19:16: westbaystars - It's like outfielders suddenly have pin-point accuracy when playing the 'Stars.
19:16: MHStevie - Yeah... didn't see the throw was off line, so I thought he made it on good running... =)
19:16: westbaystars - Hiyama leads off the fifth for Hanshin.
19:17: westbaystars - Ah, that "off line."
19:17: westbaystars - Hiyama grounds the ball back to Noguchi on the mound.
19:17: westbaystars - The ball gets past him, Noguchi runs back, turns, fire, high!
19:18: westbaystars - Linares keeps a toe on the bag, jumping with his right leg to get the ball.
19:18: westbaystars - Linares comes back down and falls to the ground.
19:18: westbaystars - The umpire rings Hiyama out.
19:19: westbaystars - Hiyama and the first base coach both appeal, but it looks like Linares did a great job keeping to the bag.
19:19: westbaystars - One out.
19:19: westbaystars - Yano comes up.
19:19: westbaystars - And Yano draws a walk on five pitches.
19:20: westbaystars - Did that come-backer shake Noguchi up a big?
19:20: westbaystars - ... up a bit?
19:20: westbaystars - Fujimoto stands in.
19:21: westbaystars - Noguchi goes no strikes, three balls to number eight batting Fujimoto.
19:22: westbaystars - Tanishige and Tatsunami both come out and give Noguchi a pep talk.
19:22: westbaystars - Before throwing home, Noguchi tries to throw the ball away to first. Linares saves it.
19:23: westbaystars - The next pitch is hit right at Noguchi!
19:23: westbaystars - The ball is deflected off his glove to short.
19:23: westbaystars - By the time Ibata gets to the ball, everyone is safe.
19:24: westbaystars - Runners at first and second, one out.
19:24: westbaystars - That brings Ochiai out of the dugout to make sure that Noguchi is OK.
19:24: westbaystars - The umpire goes out to say that the meeting is taking too long, and Ochiai heads back to the dugout.
19:25: westbaystars - Pitcher Igawa squares and bunts up the first base line on the first pitch.
19:25: westbaystars - Linares plays the ball and throws him out, while Tanishige was telling him to let it go foul.
19:25: westbaystars - I don't know if it would have gone foul, but runners are now at second and third with two outs.
19:26: westbaystars - Tanishige now stands up and they're walking Imaoka intentionally, to the cries of Hanshin fans.
19:26: westbaystars - Ochiai is moving.
19:26: westbaystars - He's chaning Nakamura in left, not Noguchi.
19:27: westbaystars - Hidenori goes out to left field.
19:27: westbaystars - We now have bases loaded, two outs, and Akahoshi coming up to bat.
19:28: westbaystars - The speedy left handed batter, choked up on the bat, slaps Noguchi's first pitch right to Ibata at short.
19:28: westbaystars - Ibata takes the ball to second by himself, and the side is retired.
19:29: westbaystars - The walk worked and Noguchi gets out of the jam.
19:29: MHStevie - Noguchi got out of a jam there...
19:29: westbaystars - At the half way point, Chunichi continues to lead 2-0
19:29: westbaystars - ---
19:29: westbaystars - Bottom of Fifth
19:29: westbaystars - ---
19:30: westbaystars - Chunichi starts at the top of their order in Araki.
19:31: westbaystars - Igawa works the count full.
19:32: westbaystars - Araki drives the full count pitch deep to center, but Alex has the ball in his sights before the warning track and ...
19:32: westbaystars - ... takes it in for out number one.
19:32: westbaystars - That brings up Ibata.
19:34: westbaystars - Again, Igawa works the count full.
19:34: MHStevie - Alex? Isn't he Chunichi?
19:34: westbaystars - The shoubu pitch is fouled off the right side.
19:34: westbaystars - Oh, sorry. Akahoshi in center. Good catch.
19:35: westbaystars - The next pitch is hit in front of Akahoshi in center, Akahoshi fielding the ball on two bounds.
19:35: westbaystars - Base hit.
19:35: westbaystars - That brings up Tatsunami.
19:35: MHStevie - *** Yakult leads Yomiuri 4-0 in the top of the 5th.
19:36: MHStevie - *** Machin (?) led off the bottom of the 4th with a solo HR.
19:37: westbaystars - Tatsunami is hand cuffed, slapping the ball to Fujimoto at short.
19:37: westbaystars - Two outs.
19:37: westbaystars - *** That would be Martin, I think.
19:38: westbaystars - With Fukudome at the plate, Ibata breaks for second.
19:38: westbaystars - He slides in, it looks well before the tag, but is rung out by the second base umpire.
19:39: westbaystars - After a mild expression of disagreement, Ibata heads back for his glove.
19:39: westbaystars - The side is retired.
19:39: westbaystars - At the end of five complete, Chunichi continues to lead 2-0.
19:39: westbaystars - ---
19:39: westbaystars - Top of Sixth
19:39: westbaystars - ---
19:39: MHStevie - *** Outfielder? Plays in the opposite field to Ramirez?
19:40: westbaystars - *** That sounds right. He's listed as an outfielder in my Meikan
19:40: westbaystars - *** http://www.japanesebaseball.com/teams/team.jsp?TeamID=YS&Year=2004
19:41: westbaystars - *** You can match the player numbers there with those on Yahoo! Sports.
19:42: MHStevie - *** That helps a lot! Yes, that's definitely Martin... #7
19:42: westbaystars - Sekimoto digs a hole in the right handed batter's box and stands in.
19:43: westbaystars - The hole didn't help him get out of the one Noguchi threw him as Sekimoto goes down swinging.
19:43: westbaystars - That brings up Kanemoto.
19:44: westbaystars - But Kanemoto lifts Noguchi's first pitch to foul territory in left where Hidenori catches it next to the wall.
19:44: westbaystars - Two quick outs.
19:44: westbaystars - And Noguchi has Arias in a hole, two strikes, no balls, in no time.
19:45: westbaystars - After a pair of waste pitches outside and low, Arias fails to check his swing on a one bounder outside.
19:46: westbaystars - The heart of the Tigers' order is retired in order.
19:46: MHStevie - Looks like Noguchi regained his bearings after that last inning...
19:46: westbaystars - Going to the bottom of the sixth, Hanshin continues to trail 0-2.
19:47: westbaystars - ---
19:47: westbaystars - Bottom of Sixth
19:47: westbaystars - ---
19:47: westbaystars - Igawa has pitched 89 pitches so far, striking out 4, walking 1, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits.
19:48: westbaystars - Fukudome, left at the plate when Ibata was caught stealing last inning, leads off.
19:49: westbaystars - Fukudome grounds the ball through the right side of the infield, past a diving Arias.
19:49: westbaystars - That brings up Alex.
19:51: westbaystars - Igawa works the count full.
19:52: westbaystars - After a throw to first, Alex drives the ball to right.
19:53: westbaystars - But Hiyama takes the ball in running a few steps forward.
19:53: westbaystars - One out.
19:54: westbaystars - Tanishige comes up next.
19:55: westbaystars - Igawa really slows down with a runner on.
19:56: westbaystars - Finally, Tanishige goes down swinging on a long four pitches.
19:56: westbaystars - Two outs, runner at first, Linares at the plate.
19:58: westbaystars - Count runs to 2-2.
19:58: westbaystars - And now it's full.
19:59: westbaystars - Linares holds up on the seventh pitch, in the dirt.
19:59: westbaystars - Ball four.
19:59: westbaystars - That puts runners at first and second with Hidenori coming to the plate.
20:00: westbaystars - Hidenori came in defensively in the fifth.
20:01: westbaystars - Igawa gets Hidenori swinging out to retire the side.
20:01: westbaystars - Igawa doesn't look too pleased with himself as he heads back to the dugout.
20:01: westbaystars - Nonetheless, the side is retired without yeilding any further runs.
20:02: westbaystars - Going to the bottom of the sixth, Hanshin still trails 0-2.
20:02: westbaystars - ---
20:02: westbaystars - Top of Seventh
20:02: westbaystars - ---
20:03: westbaystars - That should read, at the end of six, Hanshin trials 0-2.
20:04: westbaystars - Hiyama leads off the seventh inning.
20:06: westbaystars - One thing I really notice about Noguchi is that he's very polite.
20:06: westbaystars - He takes his cap off in thanks every time he get a ball from the umpire.
20:07: westbaystars - Noguchi does it every time the umpire throws him a ball - without fail.
20:07: westbaystars - But it doesn't help him much as Hiyama draws a base on balls.
20:07: westbaystars - That brings up Yano.
20:08: MHStevie - I think "trails" is right...
20:08: westbaystars - Yano drives the balal to the left field corner.
20:09: westbaystars - Hiyama kicks second and heads to third.
20:09: westbaystars - The throw is to third, and relayed back to second - not in time.
20:10: westbaystars - That'll bring Ochiai-kantoku out of the dugout for a talk on the mound.
20:10: westbaystars - After a long talk, Noguchi starts heading back to the dugout.
20:10: westbaystars - He's thrown 89 pitches this evening.
20:10: westbaystars - And he leaves with the tying run at second base.
20:12: westbaystars - Okamoto comes out of the dugout and heads to the mound.
20:13: MHStevie - *** Yakult leads Yomiuri 6-1 in the bottom of the 6th.
20:14: westbaystars - *** Not the pitchers' duel we have here, huh?
20:14: westbaystars - *** The score was just announce in Nagoya, and there was a big cheer.
20:14: westbaystars - Yano now stands in to face Okamoto.
20:15: MHStevie - *** Nioka brought Takahashi home from 3rd with a line drive to center in the top of the 6th.
20:16: westbaystars - Okamoto throws three straight balls to Yano.
20:16: westbaystars - Wait, that's not Yano, that's Yagi.
20:17: westbaystars - Finally, a strike.
20:17: MHStevie - *** Shiroishi (2B) hit a 2-run HR for Yakult in the bottom of the sixth to make it 6-1.
20:17: westbaystars - Yagi foul tipped a check swing to bring the count full.
20:18: westbaystars - Then he takes a pitch at his feet for ball four. That loads the bases.
20:18: westbaystars - Hanshin has bases loaded with nobody out.
20:18: westbaystars - This is their second chance with bases loaded.
20:19: westbaystars - We have a pinch hitter for Iguchi.
20:19: westbaystars - Katsuragi.
20:20: MHStevie - BIG chance for the Tigers here...
20:21: westbaystars - Katsuragi lifts a fly ball to left.
20:21: westbaystars - Hiyama tags up.
20:22: westbaystars - The throw home is a one bound strike.
20:22: westbaystars - Tanishige blocks the plate, fields the ball, and knocks Hiyama down.
20:22: westbaystars - Out!
20:22: westbaystars - Left fly, double play.
20:22: westbaystars - That's why Ochiai changed the left fielder earlier in the game.
20:23: westbaystars - That's what I've seen against Yokohama all year, strikes to the plate from the outfield.
20:23: westbaystars - Hanshin's big chance is now reduced to runners at first and second with two outs.
20:23: westbaystars - Top of the order in Imaoka at the plate.
20:24: westbaystars - By the way, it looked like Tanishige knocked Hiyama down, but that was just Hiyama trying to slide between his legs.
20:24: westbaystars - It didn't work.
20:25: westbaystars - Imaoka goes down swinging at an outside and in the dirt 2-2 pitch.
20:26: westbaystars - That retires the side and Hanshin's biggest threat of the evening.
20:26: westbaystars - Cheer leaders come out onto the field to dance to Dragons' Fire.
20:26: MHStevie - If you can't score with loaded bases and no one out...
20:26: westbaystars - ---
20:26: westbaystars - Bottom of Seventh
20:27: westbaystars - ---
20:29: westbaystars - Andoh comes in to pitch for Hanshin.
20:29: westbaystars - Inoue comes in to pinch hit.
20:29: westbaystars - I think we're at the pitcher's spot in the order.
20:32: westbaystars - Inoue works the count full after being in the hole 2 strikes, 1 ball.
20:32: westbaystars - The full pitch is lifted high to right.
20:33: westbaystars - Hiyama comes in and, on a dead run, makes the catch.
20:33: westbaystars - One slow out.
20:33: westbaystars - Andoh has a slow, jerkey motion to the plate.
20:34: westbaystars - Araki comes up, so that was the pitcher's spot before.
20:35: westbaystars - But he goes down swinging late at an inside pitch. Two down.
20:35: westbaystars - That brings up Ibata.
20:38: westbaystars - Ibata gets hit on his back with a 2-2 pitch by Andoh.
20:39: westbaystars - He trots up the first base line, bringing Tatsunami to the plate with two outs.
20:41: westbaystars - Tatsunami lines the ball to left, into and out of the corner.
20:42: westbaystars - Ibata rounds second, kicks third, and heads home before Kanemoto can come up with the ball.
20:42: westbaystars - Home in! Chunichi takes a 3-0 lead on Tatsunami's two out double.
20:42: westbaystars - Fukudome comes up.
20:43: westbaystars - Fukudome grounds to Imaoka at second, and the side is retired.
20:44: westbaystars - But not before a hit batsman and double added another Dragon run.
20:44: westbaystars - At the end of seven complete, the Dragons increase their lead to 3-0.
20:44: westbaystars - ---
20:44: westbaystars - Top of Eighth
20:44: westbaystars - ---
20:46: westbaystars - Kawai comes in to play third in the number nine slot.
20:46: westbaystars - Iwasa comes in to pitch in the number three slot, in place of Tatsunami.
20:47: westbaystars - The first batter Iwase will face is the speedy lefty Akahoshi.
20:48: MHStevie - *** Yomiuri's got something going against P Igarashi in the top of the 8th.
20:48: westbaystars - Akahoshi grounds the ball past a diving Kawai and into left field.
20:48: westbaystars - Hanshin has their lead-off base runner on.
20:49: westbaystars - *** Runners on? Any in?
20:49: westbaystars - Sekimoto now at bat.
20:50: MHStevie - *** One run in, bases loaded with one out for Yomiuri...
20:51: MHStevie - *** Etoh in pinch hitting for the Giants...
20:52: westbaystars - *** I saw Yokohama give up 9 runs in the eighth earlier today. Anything can happen.
20:52: westbaystars - Sekimoto grounds the ball to Ibata near the second base bag.
20:52: westbaystars - He steps on second himself, throws to first, and Hanshin now has two out and nobody on.
20:53: MHStevie - Ouch! Not looking like Hanshin's day today...
20:53: westbaystars - Kanemoto lifts the ball deep to center.
20:53: westbaystars - Alex goes back, stops before the warning track, takes a step in, and the side is retired.
20:54: westbaystars - Hanshin's down to their last at bat trailing 0-3.
20:54: westbaystars - ---
20:54: westbaystars - Bottom of Eighth
20:54: westbaystars - ---
20:54: westbaystars - *** Yokohama was leading 10-3 going to the bottom of the eighth this afternoon.
20:55: westbaystars - *** Miura pitched 7 strong innings, and it seemed reasonable that relief could handle the rest.
20:55: westbaystars - *** Sasaki didn't appear to be needed.
20:56: westbaystars - *** Then, a blown call at first in what should have been a double play turned out to be pivotal.
20:57: westbaystars - *** The inning wouldn't end. And when it did, Hiroshima took the lead 12-10.
20:57: westbaystars - Alex leads off.
20:57: westbaystars - He lifts the ball deep to left. It looks like it has the distance.
20:57: westbaystars - Haitta!
20:58: westbaystars - Alex welcomes new Hanshin pitcher Makino to the game with a solo home run.
20:58: westbaystars - Tanishige lifts the ball to right, but significantly shallower.
20:59: westbaystars - Hiyama has no problem calling off Imaoka, and we have one out.
20:59: westbaystars - Linares stands in.
20:59: westbaystars - Chunichi has now gone four consecutive games with double digit hits.
21:00: westbaystars - Linares goes deep to center.
21:00: westbaystars - But this one isn't deep enough.
21:00: westbaystars - Akahoshi comes in a step or two to take the ball in.
21:00: westbaystars - Two outs.
21:01: westbaystars - Hidenori comes up and spins around swinging at Makino's first pitch.
21:01: MHStevie - *** With two outs and bases loaded, Nishi drew a walk from Igarashi... Giants close to within 3.
21:02: westbaystars - Hidenori goes the other way, hitting the ball into the uchukan (right-center) gap.
21:02: westbaystars - Before the ball returns to the infield, Hidenori is sliding into third with a triple!
21:02: westbaystars - Wow! He's fast!
21:03: MHStevie - That IS fast... can I say "Nice running!" for him?
21:03: MHStevie - *** Giants rally ends in the top of the 8th...
21:06: westbaystars - Yea.
21:06: westbaystars - Kawai, batting for the first time this evening, popped out to Arias at first to end the inning.
21:06: westbaystars - But not before Alex's lead off home run to increase Chunichi's lead to 4-0.
21:06: westbaystars - ---
21:06: westbaystars - Top of Ninth
21:06: westbaystars - ---
21:07: MHtrStevie - Lost connection...
21:07: westbaystars - Arias pops out to start the Tigers' last chance.
21:08: MHtrStevie - *** Shimizu singled with loaded bases in top 8th to reduce Yakult's lead to 2... 6-4.
21:08: westbaystars - Hiyama grounds out. Tigers are down to their last out.
21:08: westbaystars - Valdes is on the mound from the start of this inning, by the way.
21:08: westbaystars - I'd had a question about him earlier this week. Well, it looks like he's back up at ichi-gun.
21:09: westbaystars - Yano is Hanshin's final hope.
21:09: MHtrStevie - Greetings, habs...
21:09: MHtrStevie - Ato hitori!
21:09: westbaystars - I lost connection for a while, too. That's why the comments are sparse here.
21:09: habs - HI everyone
21:09: westbaystars - Yano grounds the ball to the left side.
21:10: westbaystars - Kawai fields the ball (he caught Arias' pop up).
21:10: westbaystars - Fires to first.
21:10: westbaystars - Game over!
21:10: habs - Took me a while to get on also.
21:11: westbaystars - ***
21:11: westbaystars - Game Final
21:11: westbaystars - Hanshin Tigers 0 - 4 Chunichi Dragons
21:11: westbaystars - ***
21:11: westbaystars - Two heros of this evening's game.
21:12: westbaystars - Ibata's batting with two outs were key to scoring for Chunichi.
21:12: westbaystars - Hidenori's throw home with nobody out and bases loaded killed the Tigers.
21:13: MHtrStevie - That was a big throw...
21:14: westbaystars - With that throw and his triple, I think he has a chance to get a regular spot in the near future.
21:15: westbaystars - My wife says that Hidenori's smile looks like the Cheshire (sp?) Cat from Lewis Carrol.
21:16: westbaystars - Well, the Dragons have now won six games in a row.
21:16: MHtrStevie - Heh heh heh... =)
21:16: habs - Hidenori's a bench player?
21:16: westbaystars - And if the Giants go on to lose, that'll put them four games in first.
21:17: westbaystars - Hidenori was brought in defensively the first time Hanshin loaded the bases in the fifth.
21:18: MHtrStevie - *** Last bats now for Yomiuri, down 6-4 at Yakult...
21:19: MHtrStevie - *** Takahashi, Kokubo and Peta-chan...
21:19: westbaystars - Looking at the Dragons' stats page, Hidenori has played in 44 games, but had only 18 at bats going into this evening.
21:19: westbaystars - https://www.japanesebaseball.com/teams/stats.jsp?TeamID=CD
21:19: habs - Your right he should be get a regular spot.
21:20: westbaystars - I expected to see him standing on second with that hit to right-center, but he was on third in literally no time.
21:20: habs - Any news on Walker?
21:21: westbaystars - None. I don't remember seeing him mentioned at all last week.
21:22: MHtrStevie - *** Two quick groundball outs, and it's the last out for the Giants...
21:22: westbaystars - But I had a very busy week with work last week, so I didn't watch any games (other than the last innings of a couple)
21:22: westbaystars - ... until today.
21:23: westbaystars - The main news this past week has been about the possiblity of mergers.
21:23: habs - I'll check the searexs. Maybe id on DL.
21:24: westbaystars - Yokohama's owner, TBS, shocked me saying that he's willing to sell the team for a profit.
21:24: westbaystars - They just bought the team two years ago from Maruha, a fish/cannery.
21:24: MHtrStevie - *** And Peta-chan strikes out on an Igarashi forkball!
21:24: MHtrStevie - *** Game over! Yakult defeats Yomiuri 6-4
21:25: habs - Other teams starting to want out now. I've been trying to rear your site after my sons games,
21:25: westbaystars - That's it. The Giants drop to four games back. Chunichi is starting to pull out from the pack.
21:28: westbaystars - I never really understood the TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting Service) purchase.
21:28: habs - no excuses but I have a lot of misspelled words.should be read your site.
21:29: westbaystars - It looked like they bought the team after Watanabe-owner (Giants) refused to allow a Fuji-Sankei member to.
21:30: habs - Was there the worry last year of teams folding last year?
21:30: westbaystars - http://www.geocities.com/s_borisov/jb2004/index.html would probably get you information quicker.
21:31: westbaystars - There's been fear of Daiei folding for a number of years, but the owner won't sell to anyone not willing to keep ..
21:32: westbaystars - ... the team in Fukuoka.
21:32: westbaystars - The big bottleneck in most deals is that they've also wanted to sell their hotel and the Fukuoka Dome with the deal.
21:33: habs - It seems companies buy the teams where here two to three rich people buy the team.
21:34: MHtrStevie - Weren't many of the NPB teams formed by the companies themselves?
21:35: MHtrStevie - Thus why they're named more for companies (Hanshin, Yakult, Yomiuri) rather than cities...
21:35: westbaystars - Most were formed by companies. About half have changed hands since the original teams.
21:36: westbaystars - Yomiuri, Chunichi, Hiroshima, and Hanshin are all pretty much the same as when they started.
21:37: westbaystars - Yakult passed through a few owners, as have the Lions, BlueWave, BayStars, Fighters, and Hawks.
21:37: MHtrStevie - I liked the story in one of Whiting's books where Yakult sales plummeted after they beat Yomiuri once...
21:37: westbaystars - I'd have to find my chart for the rest.
21:38: westbaystars - Yea. Or when Yakult defeated Orix in 1995 (or was it '96?) after the Kobe earthquake.
21:39: westbaystars - Yakult sales were seriously effected in the Kobe area.
21:40: habs - Mets and yankees played yesterday. Yankees Matsui hit a homerun. Then I back to the redsxes game.
21:40: westbaystars - Well, that'll be the front page of tomorrow's papers.
21:42: MHtrStevie - I was going to ask about that... about the coverage of the Matsui/Matsui matchup...
21:42: MHtrStevie - Hideki hit a HR, but Kazuo's team won convincingly...
21:43: habs - Score was 8-2 when he hit the homerun.
21:44: westbaystars - I was interviewed in last Sunday's New York Post http://www.nypost.com/sports/23375.htm
21:45: westbaystars - Perhaps I should published the whole of my answer, which explained the history of popularity in Japan.
21:45: westbaystars - Namely, that the Giants are more popular, therefore Hideki is more popular.
21:47: westbaystars - All he printed was my complaint about how it'll be made into Matsui vs. Matsui in the Japanese press.
21:47: MHtrStevie - Congrats! That's nice to see... maybe that mention will draw some more people over to the site...
21:47: westbaystars - That's why I don't pay attention to MLB news.
21:47: MHtrStevie - Well, that's to be expected... the guy obviously had a spin already.
21:48: MHtrStevie - But at least it's nice to see the URL in the article... could draw some more interest, hopefully...
21:48: westbaystars - Actually, he had much less spin than some reporters I've interviewed for.
21:49: westbaystars - Others, like CNN Money, had a theory they wanted me to confirm, and I didn't feel the same way.
21:50: westbaystars - In the end, they used some odd-ball quote I said out of context.
21:51: westbaystars - I wasn't pleased with it.
21:51: MHtrStevie - Ick... I don't like to hear that...
21:52: westbaystars - I've lost a great deal of repect for the mainstream press.
21:53: westbaystars - What they do with technical press (publishing press releases as though they were true) has angered me more.
21:54: westbaystars - The NY Post article was very good compared to what I've experience in the past.
21:54: MHtrStevie - Oh yeah, I've seen it... as a chemist, that offends me more.
21:55: westbaystars - That's it. People in the field can spot a lie easilly, but not the mainstream readers.
21:56: habs - Kaz Matsui got a single and drove in 2 runs. your press should have a good time with that game.
21:57: westbaystars - Well, that's good to hear. He's been getting a lot of bad press lately.
21:58: westbaystars - They've been printing about how Kazuo's been getting booed a great deal by the local fans.
21:59: MHtrStevie - Kaz has had a rough time of it so far... I think people would be more forgiving of him if it weren't for the errors.
21:59: MHtrStevie - The Mets made such a big deal about his great fielding..
21:59: MHtrStevie - So that's really bit him... people had some high expectations...
22:00: habs - The errors are hurting him that's all you hear. but it takes a while to get use to the surroundings
22:00: westbaystars - http://www.japanesebaseball.com/players/player.jsp?PlayerID=18
22:01: westbaystars - As you can see, his fielding had been getting worse over the past couple of years.
22:02: habs - I went to flordia on my sons vacation and went to mets camp. Kaz didn't look to bad.
22:03: MHtrStevie - Exactly... I think the Mets completely blew Kaz out of proportion...
22:03: MHtrStevie - So the fans were expecting this super all-star who'd never make mistakes...
22:04: MHtrStevie - And they're not giving him the same sort of deference the Yanks fans gave to Hideki...
22:04: westbaystars - Oddly, at the end of 2002, Kazuo said that he didn't perform well enough to feel that he should make the jump.
22:04: westbaystars - Yet, he did worse in 2003, and went ahead.
22:04: MHtrStevie - It seems like Yankee fans understood the "getting used to new surroundings" argument...
22:05: habs - Well it doesn't help if your unsure.
22:05: MHtrStevie - The Mets fans, however, are really getting on him... which won't help him adjust any...
22:07: MHtrStevie - But a few good games and fans get back on the bandwagon pretty quick...
22:07: westbaystars - On the other hand, maybe it'll get him to straighten out. I don't know.
22:07: habs - Having taken Reyes spot who is 19 doesn't help either.
22:07: MHtrStevie - All right, my show's over and I have to get going... Westbay-san, great job again!
22:08: MHtrStevie - I'm really enjoying these Sunday mornings now... hope to see you again soon!
22:08: westbaystars - Time for me to do the dishes and go to bed.
22:08: westbaystars - Nice talk again this evening.
22:08: westbaystars - See you next week.
22:09: westbaystars - You, too, Habs-san. I'll try to look for more Walker news next week.
22:09: habs - Time for breakfast and get ready for my sons baseball game. good job again
22:09: westbaystars - Take care.
After the game we had a good chat ranging from the current merging crisis to the Matsui vs. Matsui show-down.
TRANSCRIPT generated on: 2004/06/27 22:10
CHATROOM: Game of the Week/Hanshin Tigers vs. Chunichi Dragons
MODERATORS: westbaystars
17:03: westbaystars - Well, the BayStars just suffered a come-from-ahead loss 10-12 after leading 10-2.
17:04: westbaystars - I'll be getting over it with some dinner, then return by 6:00 for the game.
17:58: westbaystars - With a belly full of chicken and rice, I'm feeling a little better about Yokohama's loss.
17:58: westbaystars - Still, watching them give up nine runs in the eighth was hard.
17:58: westbaystars - ***
17:59: westbaystars - Anyway, it's a couple minutes before game time and Chunichi's Noguchi climbs the mound to start his warmup pitches.
17:59: westbaystars - Someone had asked earlier this week about Marc Valdes.
18:00: westbaystars - Well, I just saw him in the Dragons' dugout without a uniform on.
18:00: westbaystars - I'm not sure what that means, though.
18:00: westbaystars - ---
18:00: westbaystars - Top of First
18:00: westbaystars - ---
18:00: westbaystars - Noguchi's first pitch is taken up and away for all one.
18:00: westbaystars - The game is underway at 6:00 sharp.
18:00: westbaystars - First up for Hanshin is Imaoka
18:01: westbaystars - A few pitches later Imaoka lifts a high fly ball to the left side of the infield.
18:02: westbaystars - Tatsunami waits a long time and takes the ball in for the first out.
18:02: westbaystars - Next up is Akahoshi.
18:02: westbaystars - Akahoshi grounds the ball right to Ibata at short, who throws to first for out number two.
18:03: westbaystars - Sekimoto bats third.
18:04: westbaystars - On a 1-1 pitch, Sekimoto lines the ball through the left side of the infield and into left field for a base hit.
18:04: westbaystars - Hanshin has the first base runner of the game.
18:04: westbaystars - That brings up Kanemoto.
18:06: westbaystars - There's a very large yellow and black contingency in the stands cheering for Kanemoto.
18:06: westbaystars - Hanshin fans are everywhere!
18:07: westbaystars - Kanemoto lines the ball right over the first base bag, but it's stabbed by Arias for the final out.
18:07: westbaystars - Arias touched first to double up Sekimoto, but that wasn't necessary.
18:08: westbaystars - Hanshin got a base runner, but stranded him at first.
18:08: westbaystars - ---
18:08: westbaystars - Bottom of First
18:08: westbaystars - ---
18:09: westbaystars - Iguchi's first pitch to Araki is taken for strike one.
18:10: westbaystars - A couple pitches later, Araki grounds the ball to short.
18:10: westbaystars - But the speedy Araki doesn't give up, he charges up the line.
18:10: westbaystars - But is thrown out despite his effort.
18:10: westbaystars - One out.
18:11: westbaystars - That brings up Ibata.
18:11: westbaystars - Ibata goes after the Iguchi's first pitch, lifting the ball to foul territory in right.
18:11: westbaystars - Hiyama comes over and catches the ball right against the netting protecting the stands.
18:12: westbaystars - Nice catch! That's not easy to do.
18:12: westbaystars - Two quick outs.
18:12: westbaystars - That brings up Tatsunami.
18:13: westbaystars - Tatsunami slaps the ball the other way to left, bouncing in for a base hit.
18:13: westbaystars - Chunichi has a runner on with one out, a replay of the top half of the inning.
18:13: westbaystars - Number four batter Fukudome comes up next.
18:15: westbaystars - He hits a high chopper back to Igawa on the mound.
18:15: westbaystars - Igawa fields the ball, and throws wide and high to first!
18:15: westbaystars - But Arias jumps off the bag to get the ball, and returns in time for out number three.
18:16: westbaystars - Whew. That almost went into the right field corner.
18:16: westbaystars - Arias' save ends the first inning with no score.
18:16: westbaystars - ---
18:16: westbaystars - Top of Second
18:16: westbaystars - ---
18:17: westbaystars - Speaking of Arais, he leads off the second inning.
18:19: westbaystars - But he fouls out to Linares in foul territory in front of the first base dug out.
18:19: westbaystars - One out.
18:19: westbaystars - Hiyama follows by getting hit on the right hip by Noguchi.
18:20: westbaystars - He takes the base without so much as a grimace.
18:20: westbaystars - One out, runner at first, Yano up to bat.
18:21: westbaystars - The battery thinks that something is on as Noguchi throws a number of pitches over to first.
18:22: westbaystars - But nothing was going through four pitches as Yano grounds into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
18:23: westbaystars - It was three up, three down for the Tigers in the second.
18:23: westbaystars - ---
18:23: westbaystars - Bottom of Second
18:23: westbaystars - ---
18:25: westbaystars - Alex leads off the bottom of the second, batting in the number five spot.
18:25: westbaystars - After three straight balls, Alex takes strike one down the middle from Igawa.
18:25: westbaystars - The fifth pitch is taken for ball four, and Chunichi has their lead-off base runner aboard.
18:26: westbaystars - That brings up catcher Tanishige.
18:28: westbaystars - Tanishige grounds a 2-2 pitch to Fujimoto at short.
18:29: westbaystars - Fujimoto's throw to second almost goes into right field, but Imaoka saves it,
18:29: westbaystars - ... touches the bag for one, and relays to first for the double play.
18:29: westbaystars - Two down, nobody on for Linares.
18:30: westbaystars - Linares has gained some weight back since the last time I saw him, at which time I thought he looked like he had ...
18:30: westbaystars - ... lost too much weight.
18:30: westbaystars - Here, though, he goes down swinging for the final out of the inning.
18:31: westbaystars - A walk and double play strand none for the Dragons.
18:31: westbaystars - At the end of two complete, the game remains scoreless.
18:31: westbaystars - ---
18:31: westbaystars - Top of Third
18:31: westbaystars - ---
18:32: westbaystars - Fujimoto leads off the third inning for Hanshin.
18:32: westbaystars - He's swinging at the first pitch and lifts the ball to shallow center.
18:33: westbaystars - Alex comes in, and Araki goes back. It's Araki calling Alex off at the last second to make the catch.
18:33: westbaystars - Alex had the better angle, but gave way rather than colide.
18:34: westbaystars - Nonetheless, it's one out.
18:34: westbaystars - That brings up opposing pitcher Igawa.
18:34: westbaystars - Igawa looks at strike three on the inner part of the plate for out number two.
18:35: westbaystars - Back up to the top of the order in Imaoka.
18:36: westbaystars - He grounds the ball up the middle, but within Ibata's range.
18:37: westbaystars - Ibata plays the ball behind and to the left of the second base bag, throws to first, ...
18:37: westbaystars - ... and the Tigers are retired in order.
18:37: westbaystars - You can tell that we have the two staff aces facing off this evening.
18:37: westbaystars - ---
18:37: westbaystars - Bottom of Third
18:37: westbaystars - ---
18:39: westbaystars - Like Hanshin, we start with the number eight slot in the order. In this case, it's Nakamura.
18:40: westbaystars - Nakamura grounds easilly to Sekimoto at third.
18:41: westbaystars - Nakamura's sprint up the line isn't in time, one out.
18:41: westbaystars - Noguchi grounds to first for the second quick out of the inning.
18:41: westbaystars - That brings us back to the top of the order in Araki.
18:42: westbaystars - Araki hits a dribbler up the third base line.
18:43: westbaystars - Sekimoto hopes it'll go foul, but the ball passes the third base bag well within the line.
18:43: westbaystars - Infield base hit.
18:43: westbaystars - That brings up Ibata.
18:44: westbaystars - On the 1-1 pitch, Araki breaks for second, and slides in well in front of the off-line throw.
18:44: westbaystars - Runner now at second with two outs.
18:45: westbaystars - Ibata goes the other way, driving the ball to right field, a one bounder to Hiyama.
18:46: westbaystars - Araki rounds third as Hiyama comes up throwing.
18:46: westbaystars - The relay home is not in time! Araki slides in between Yano's legs safe!
18:46: westbaystars - Chunichi strikes first.
18:47: westbaystars - Ibata went to second on the throw home.
18:47: MHStevie - Konbanwa... arrived in time to see the first score... nice!
18:47: westbaystars - Tatsunami lifts Iguchi's first offering high, but Fujimoto needs only to take a couple steps in to field it.
18:48: westbaystars - That retires the side.
18:48: westbaystars - But not before Ibata drives in Araki for the first run of the game.
18:48: westbaystars - At the end of three complete, Chunichi leads 1-0.
18:48: westbaystars - ---
18:49: westbaystars - Top of Fourth
18:49: westbaystars - ---
18:49: westbaystars - Yea, that was good timing in logging in.
18:49: westbaystars - Akahoshi leads off the fourth for Hanshin.
18:50: westbaystars - He slaps a weak grounder just to Noguchi's right.
18:50: westbaystars - Ibata fields the ball and fires to first in time to get the speedy Akahoshi by a step and a half.
18:51: westbaystars - That brings up Sekimoto.
18:51: westbaystars - He grounds the ball to the right side.
18:51: westbaystars - Linares back hands the ball and throws to the covering Noguchi.
18:51: westbaystars - Out.
18:51: westbaystars - Two quick outs.
18:52: westbaystars - Next up is number four batter Kanemoto.
18:53: westbaystars - Kanemoto drives the ball up the first base line.
18:53: westbaystars - There's some confusion as to whether it's fair or not, fair!
18:54: westbaystars - Kanemoto jogs into second standing up.
18:54: westbaystars - That brings up Arais with two outs and Kanemoto on second.
18:55: westbaystars - Arias lines the ball deep to left!
18:55: westbaystars - Foul.
18:55: westbaystars - The Hanshin half of the stadium got excited for a second.
18:56: westbaystars - But Arias takes strike three on the outside corner to finish the side.
18:56: westbaystars - Hanshin got their first base runner as far as second base, but no farther.
18:57: westbaystars - Going to the bottom of the fourth, they trail 0-1.
18:57: westbaystars - ---
18:57: westbaystars - Bottom of Fourth
18:57: westbaystars - ---
18:57: MHStevie - So are we getting a choice of Sunday night games from this point on?
18:58: westbaystars - I don't have a schedule handy, but I think that more games in the cooler evenings may be in store.
18:58: MHStevie - *** Yakult leads Yomiuri 3-0 in the bottom of the 3rd.
18:58: westbaystars - Going to a domed game during the day just fields strange.
18:59: westbaystars - *** Do you have the scoring?
18:59: westbaystars - Number four batter Fukudome leads off striking out swinging on three pitches.
18:59: westbaystars - The third pitch in the dirt.
18:59: westbaystars - It looked like Igawa had his number his first at bat as well.
19:00: westbaystars - Alex comes up next.
19:01: westbaystars - Alex grounds the ball up the middle, left of second base.
19:02: westbaystars - Fujimoto dives for the ball, but comes up empty.
19:02: westbaystars - Chunichi has a one-out base runner.
19:02: westbaystars - That brings up Tanishige.
19:04: westbaystars - Igawa has become very concerned with Alex at first, throwing over a number of times.
19:04: westbaystars - Is Alex that big a running threat?
19:05: westbaystars - The Chunichi stats page says he has 0 stolen bases this season.
19:05: westbaystars - When Igawa finally goes to the plate, Tanishige slaps the ball to right.
19:05: westbaystars - Hiyama plays the ball on one bound.
19:06: westbaystars - It was close, so Alex stayed close to first, only advancing as for as second on the base hit.
19:06: westbaystars - That'll bring up Linares.
19:06: MHStevie - *** Sorry for the delay... Yakult scored all three in the bottom of the 1st.
19:07: MHStevie - *** Iwamura had a 2-run HR over the right field wall with Manaka (?) at 1st.
19:08: westbaystars - Linares shows more restraint this time at bat, working the count to 1 strike, 3 balls.
19:08: westbaystars - Then he hits a grounder through the left side of the infield.
19:08: westbaystars - Alex doesn't pause as he kicks third and heads home.
19:08: westbaystars - The throw is off line, home in!
19:08: westbaystars - Chunichi takes the lead 2-0.
19:09: MHStevie - Nice running...
19:09: westbaystars - Nakamura comes up.
19:09: westbaystars - A good throw would have had him.
19:09: westbaystars - If he were with Yokohama, he'd have been out. That's just been their luck.
19:10: MHStevie - *** Yakult's first baseman (can't read name kanji) hit a solo HR to right as well.
19:11: MHStevie - Sorry... didn't catch the off line comment... =)
19:11: westbaystars - *** Yakult's first baseman is Suzuki.
19:11: westbaystars - *** Former Seibu Lion.
19:11: MHStevie - *** That's him... I did recognize the "ki" kanji...
19:12: westbaystars - Sekiguchi swings out on a pitch right down the middle (curve?).
19:12: westbaystars - That makes two outs, runners at second and third.
19:13: westbaystars - Pitcher Noguchi goes down swinging on three pitches, and the side is retired.
19:13: westbaystars - But not before Linares drives in the Dragons' second run of the game to take a 2-0 lead.
19:14: westbaystars - ---
19:14: westbaystars - Top of Fifth
19:14: westbaystars - ---
19:15: westbaystars - Off line comment about Alex being out on a good throw?
19:16: westbaystars - It's just that I've seen so many BayStars thrown out at the plate on similar plays.
19:16: westbaystars - It's like outfielders suddenly have pin-point accuracy when playing the 'Stars.
19:16: MHStevie - Yeah... didn't see the throw was off line, so I thought he made it on good running... =)
19:16: westbaystars - Hiyama leads off the fifth for Hanshin.
19:17: westbaystars - Ah, that "off line."
19:17: westbaystars - Hiyama grounds the ball back to Noguchi on the mound.
19:17: westbaystars - The ball gets past him, Noguchi runs back, turns, fire, high!
19:18: westbaystars - Linares keeps a toe on the bag, jumping with his right leg to get the ball.
19:18: westbaystars - Linares comes back down and falls to the ground.
19:18: westbaystars - The umpire rings Hiyama out.
19:19: westbaystars - Hiyama and the first base coach both appeal, but it looks like Linares did a great job keeping to the bag.
19:19: westbaystars - One out.
19:19: westbaystars - Yano comes up.
19:19: westbaystars - And Yano draws a walk on five pitches.
19:20: westbaystars - Did that come-backer shake Noguchi up a big?
19:20: westbaystars - ... up a bit?
19:20: westbaystars - Fujimoto stands in.
19:21: westbaystars - Noguchi goes no strikes, three balls to number eight batting Fujimoto.
19:22: westbaystars - Tanishige and Tatsunami both come out and give Noguchi a pep talk.
19:22: westbaystars - Before throwing home, Noguchi tries to throw the ball away to first. Linares saves it.
19:23: westbaystars - The next pitch is hit right at Noguchi!
19:23: westbaystars - The ball is deflected off his glove to short.
19:23: westbaystars - By the time Ibata gets to the ball, everyone is safe.
19:24: westbaystars - Runners at first and second, one out.
19:24: westbaystars - That brings Ochiai out of the dugout to make sure that Noguchi is OK.
19:24: westbaystars - The umpire goes out to say that the meeting is taking too long, and Ochiai heads back to the dugout.
19:25: westbaystars - Pitcher Igawa squares and bunts up the first base line on the first pitch.
19:25: westbaystars - Linares plays the ball and throws him out, while Tanishige was telling him to let it go foul.
19:25: westbaystars - I don't know if it would have gone foul, but runners are now at second and third with two outs.
19:26: westbaystars - Tanishige now stands up and they're walking Imaoka intentionally, to the cries of Hanshin fans.
19:26: westbaystars - Ochiai is moving.
19:26: westbaystars - He's chaning Nakamura in left, not Noguchi.
19:27: westbaystars - Hidenori goes out to left field.
19:27: westbaystars - We now have bases loaded, two outs, and Akahoshi coming up to bat.
19:28: westbaystars - The speedy left handed batter, choked up on the bat, slaps Noguchi's first pitch right to Ibata at short.
19:28: westbaystars - Ibata takes the ball to second by himself, and the side is retired.
19:29: westbaystars - The walk worked and Noguchi gets out of the jam.
19:29: MHStevie - Noguchi got out of a jam there...
19:29: westbaystars - At the half way point, Chunichi continues to lead 2-0
19:29: westbaystars - ---
19:29: westbaystars - Bottom of Fifth
19:29: westbaystars - ---
19:30: westbaystars - Chunichi starts at the top of their order in Araki.
19:31: westbaystars - Igawa works the count full.
19:32: westbaystars - Araki drives the full count pitch deep to center, but Alex has the ball in his sights before the warning track and ...
19:32: westbaystars - ... takes it in for out number one.
19:32: westbaystars - That brings up Ibata.
19:34: westbaystars - Again, Igawa works the count full.
19:34: MHStevie - Alex? Isn't he Chunichi?
19:34: westbaystars - The shoubu pitch is fouled off the right side.
19:34: westbaystars - Oh, sorry. Akahoshi in center. Good catch.
19:35: westbaystars - The next pitch is hit in front of Akahoshi in center, Akahoshi fielding the ball on two bounds.
19:35: westbaystars - Base hit.
19:35: westbaystars - That brings up Tatsunami.
19:35: MHStevie - *** Yakult leads Yomiuri 4-0 in the top of the 5th.
19:36: MHStevie - *** Machin (?) led off the bottom of the 4th with a solo HR.
19:37: westbaystars - Tatsunami is hand cuffed, slapping the ball to Fujimoto at short.
19:37: westbaystars - Two outs.
19:37: westbaystars - *** That would be Martin, I think.
19:38: westbaystars - With Fukudome at the plate, Ibata breaks for second.
19:38: westbaystars - He slides in, it looks well before the tag, but is rung out by the second base umpire.
19:39: westbaystars - After a mild expression of disagreement, Ibata heads back for his glove.
19:39: westbaystars - The side is retired.
19:39: westbaystars - At the end of five complete, Chunichi continues to lead 2-0.
19:39: westbaystars - ---
19:39: westbaystars - Top of Sixth
19:39: westbaystars - ---
19:39: MHStevie - *** Outfielder? Plays in the opposite field to Ramirez?
19:40: westbaystars - *** That sounds right. He's listed as an outfielder in my Meikan
19:40: westbaystars - *** http://www.japanesebaseball.com/teams/team.jsp?TeamID=YS&Year=2004
19:41: westbaystars - *** You can match the player numbers there with those on Yahoo! Sports.
19:42: MHStevie - *** That helps a lot! Yes, that's definitely Martin... #7
19:42: westbaystars - Sekimoto digs a hole in the right handed batter's box and stands in.
19:43: westbaystars - The hole didn't help him get out of the one Noguchi threw him as Sekimoto goes down swinging.
19:43: westbaystars - That brings up Kanemoto.
19:44: westbaystars - But Kanemoto lifts Noguchi's first pitch to foul territory in left where Hidenori catches it next to the wall.
19:44: westbaystars - Two quick outs.
19:44: westbaystars - And Noguchi has Arias in a hole, two strikes, no balls, in no time.
19:45: westbaystars - After a pair of waste pitches outside and low, Arias fails to check his swing on a one bounder outside.
19:46: westbaystars - The heart of the Tigers' order is retired in order.
19:46: MHStevie - Looks like Noguchi regained his bearings after that last inning...
19:46: westbaystars - Going to the bottom of the sixth, Hanshin continues to trail 0-2.
19:47: westbaystars - ---
19:47: westbaystars - Bottom of Sixth
19:47: westbaystars - ---
19:47: westbaystars - Igawa has pitched 89 pitches so far, striking out 4, walking 1, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits.
19:48: westbaystars - Fukudome, left at the plate when Ibata was caught stealing last inning, leads off.
19:49: westbaystars - Fukudome grounds the ball through the right side of the infield, past a diving Arias.
19:49: westbaystars - That brings up Alex.
19:51: westbaystars - Igawa works the count full.
19:52: westbaystars - After a throw to first, Alex drives the ball to right.
19:53: westbaystars - But Hiyama takes the ball in running a few steps forward.
19:53: westbaystars - One out.
19:54: westbaystars - Tanishige comes up next.
19:55: westbaystars - Igawa really slows down with a runner on.
19:56: westbaystars - Finally, Tanishige goes down swinging on a long four pitches.
19:56: westbaystars - Two outs, runner at first, Linares at the plate.
19:58: westbaystars - Count runs to 2-2.
19:58: westbaystars - And now it's full.
19:59: westbaystars - Linares holds up on the seventh pitch, in the dirt.
19:59: westbaystars - Ball four.
19:59: westbaystars - That puts runners at first and second with Hidenori coming to the plate.
20:00: westbaystars - Hidenori came in defensively in the fifth.
20:01: westbaystars - Igawa gets Hidenori swinging out to retire the side.
20:01: westbaystars - Igawa doesn't look too pleased with himself as he heads back to the dugout.
20:01: westbaystars - Nonetheless, the side is retired without yeilding any further runs.
20:02: westbaystars - Going to the bottom of the sixth, Hanshin still trails 0-2.
20:02: westbaystars - ---
20:02: westbaystars - Top of Seventh
20:02: westbaystars - ---
20:03: westbaystars - That should read, at the end of six, Hanshin trials 0-2.
20:04: westbaystars - Hiyama leads off the seventh inning.
20:06: westbaystars - One thing I really notice about Noguchi is that he's very polite.
20:06: westbaystars - He takes his cap off in thanks every time he get a ball from the umpire.
20:07: westbaystars - Noguchi does it every time the umpire throws him a ball - without fail.
20:07: westbaystars - But it doesn't help him much as Hiyama draws a base on balls.
20:07: westbaystars - That brings up Yano.
20:08: MHStevie - I think "trails" is right...
20:08: westbaystars - Yano drives the balal to the left field corner.
20:09: westbaystars - Hiyama kicks second and heads to third.
20:09: westbaystars - The throw is to third, and relayed back to second - not in time.
20:10: westbaystars - That'll bring Ochiai-kantoku out of the dugout for a talk on the mound.
20:10: westbaystars - After a long talk, Noguchi starts heading back to the dugout.
20:10: westbaystars - He's thrown 89 pitches this evening.
20:10: westbaystars - And he leaves with the tying run at second base.
20:12: westbaystars - Okamoto comes out of the dugout and heads to the mound.
20:13: MHStevie - *** Yakult leads Yomiuri 6-1 in the bottom of the 6th.
20:14: westbaystars - *** Not the pitchers' duel we have here, huh?
20:14: westbaystars - *** The score was just announce in Nagoya, and there was a big cheer.
20:14: westbaystars - Yano now stands in to face Okamoto.
20:15: MHStevie - *** Nioka brought Takahashi home from 3rd with a line drive to center in the top of the 6th.
20:16: westbaystars - Okamoto throws three straight balls to Yano.
20:16: westbaystars - Wait, that's not Yano, that's Yagi.
20:17: westbaystars - Finally, a strike.
20:17: MHStevie - *** Shiroishi (2B) hit a 2-run HR for Yakult in the bottom of the sixth to make it 6-1.
20:17: westbaystars - Yagi foul tipped a check swing to bring the count full.
20:18: westbaystars - Then he takes a pitch at his feet for ball four. That loads the bases.
20:18: westbaystars - Hanshin has bases loaded with nobody out.
20:18: westbaystars - This is their second chance with bases loaded.
20:19: westbaystars - We have a pinch hitter for Iguchi.
20:19: westbaystars - Katsuragi.
20:20: MHStevie - BIG chance for the Tigers here...
20:21: westbaystars - Katsuragi lifts a fly ball to left.
20:21: westbaystars - Hiyama tags up.
20:22: westbaystars - The throw home is a one bound strike.
20:22: westbaystars - Tanishige blocks the plate, fields the ball, and knocks Hiyama down.
20:22: westbaystars - Out!
20:22: westbaystars - Left fly, double play.
20:22: westbaystars - That's why Ochiai changed the left fielder earlier in the game.
20:23: westbaystars - That's what I've seen against Yokohama all year, strikes to the plate from the outfield.
20:23: westbaystars - Hanshin's big chance is now reduced to runners at first and second with two outs.
20:23: westbaystars - Top of the order in Imaoka at the plate.
20:24: westbaystars - By the way, it looked like Tanishige knocked Hiyama down, but that was just Hiyama trying to slide between his legs.
20:24: westbaystars - It didn't work.
20:25: westbaystars - Imaoka goes down swinging at an outside and in the dirt 2-2 pitch.
20:26: westbaystars - That retires the side and Hanshin's biggest threat of the evening.
20:26: westbaystars - Cheer leaders come out onto the field to dance to Dragons' Fire.
20:26: MHStevie - If you can't score with loaded bases and no one out...
20:26: westbaystars - ---
20:26: westbaystars - Bottom of Seventh
20:27: westbaystars - ---
20:29: westbaystars - Andoh comes in to pitch for Hanshin.
20:29: westbaystars - Inoue comes in to pinch hit.
20:29: westbaystars - I think we're at the pitcher's spot in the order.
20:32: westbaystars - Inoue works the count full after being in the hole 2 strikes, 1 ball.
20:32: westbaystars - The full pitch is lifted high to right.
20:33: westbaystars - Hiyama comes in and, on a dead run, makes the catch.
20:33: westbaystars - One slow out.
20:33: westbaystars - Andoh has a slow, jerkey motion to the plate.
20:34: westbaystars - Araki comes up, so that was the pitcher's spot before.
20:35: westbaystars - But he goes down swinging late at an inside pitch. Two down.
20:35: westbaystars - That brings up Ibata.
20:38: westbaystars - Ibata gets hit on his back with a 2-2 pitch by Andoh.
20:39: westbaystars - He trots up the first base line, bringing Tatsunami to the plate with two outs.
20:41: westbaystars - Tatsunami lines the ball to left, into and out of the corner.
20:42: westbaystars - Ibata rounds second, kicks third, and heads home before Kanemoto can come up with the ball.
20:42: westbaystars - Home in! Chunichi takes a 3-0 lead on Tatsunami's two out double.
20:42: westbaystars - Fukudome comes up.
20:43: westbaystars - Fukudome grounds to Imaoka at second, and the side is retired.
20:44: westbaystars - But not before a hit batsman and double added another Dragon run.
20:44: westbaystars - At the end of seven complete, the Dragons increase their lead to 3-0.
20:44: westbaystars - ---
20:44: westbaystars - Top of Eighth
20:44: westbaystars - ---
20:46: westbaystars - Kawai comes in to play third in the number nine slot.
20:46: westbaystars - Iwasa comes in to pitch in the number three slot, in place of Tatsunami.
20:47: westbaystars - The first batter Iwase will face is the speedy lefty Akahoshi.
20:48: MHStevie - *** Yomiuri's got something going against P Igarashi in the top of the 8th.
20:48: westbaystars - Akahoshi grounds the ball past a diving Kawai and into left field.
20:48: westbaystars - Hanshin has their lead-off base runner on.
20:49: westbaystars - *** Runners on? Any in?
20:49: westbaystars - Sekimoto now at bat.
20:50: MHStevie - *** One run in, bases loaded with one out for Yomiuri...
20:51: MHStevie - *** Etoh in pinch hitting for the Giants...
20:52: westbaystars - *** I saw Yokohama give up 9 runs in the eighth earlier today. Anything can happen.
20:52: westbaystars - Sekimoto grounds the ball to Ibata near the second base bag.
20:52: westbaystars - He steps on second himself, throws to first, and Hanshin now has two out and nobody on.
20:53: MHStevie - Ouch! Not looking like Hanshin's day today...
20:53: westbaystars - Kanemoto lifts the ball deep to center.
20:53: westbaystars - Alex goes back, stops before the warning track, takes a step in, and the side is retired.
20:54: westbaystars - Hanshin's down to their last at bat trailing 0-3.
20:54: westbaystars - ---
20:54: westbaystars - Bottom of Eighth
20:54: westbaystars - ---
20:54: westbaystars - *** Yokohama was leading 10-3 going to the bottom of the eighth this afternoon.
20:55: westbaystars - *** Miura pitched 7 strong innings, and it seemed reasonable that relief could handle the rest.
20:55: westbaystars - *** Sasaki didn't appear to be needed.
20:56: westbaystars - *** Then, a blown call at first in what should have been a double play turned out to be pivotal.
20:57: westbaystars - *** The inning wouldn't end. And when it did, Hiroshima took the lead 12-10.
20:57: westbaystars - Alex leads off.
20:57: westbaystars - He lifts the ball deep to left. It looks like it has the distance.
20:57: westbaystars - Haitta!
20:58: westbaystars - Alex welcomes new Hanshin pitcher Makino to the game with a solo home run.
20:58: westbaystars - Tanishige lifts the ball to right, but significantly shallower.
20:59: westbaystars - Hiyama has no problem calling off Imaoka, and we have one out.
20:59: westbaystars - Linares stands in.
20:59: westbaystars - Chunichi has now gone four consecutive games with double digit hits.
21:00: westbaystars - Linares goes deep to center.
21:00: westbaystars - But this one isn't deep enough.
21:00: westbaystars - Akahoshi comes in a step or two to take the ball in.
21:00: westbaystars - Two outs.
21:01: westbaystars - Hidenori comes up and spins around swinging at Makino's first pitch.
21:01: MHStevie - *** With two outs and bases loaded, Nishi drew a walk from Igarashi... Giants close to within 3.
21:02: westbaystars - Hidenori goes the other way, hitting the ball into the uchukan (right-center) gap.
21:02: westbaystars - Before the ball returns to the infield, Hidenori is sliding into third with a triple!
21:02: westbaystars - Wow! He's fast!
21:03: MHStevie - That IS fast... can I say "Nice running!" for him?
21:03: MHStevie - *** Giants rally ends in the top of the 8th...
21:06: westbaystars - Yea.
21:06: westbaystars - Kawai, batting for the first time this evening, popped out to Arias at first to end the inning.
21:06: westbaystars - But not before Alex's lead off home run to increase Chunichi's lead to 4-0.
21:06: westbaystars - ---
21:06: westbaystars - Top of Ninth
21:06: westbaystars - ---
21:07: MHtrStevie - Lost connection...
21:07: westbaystars - Arias pops out to start the Tigers' last chance.
21:08: MHtrStevie - *** Shimizu singled with loaded bases in top 8th to reduce Yakult's lead to 2... 6-4.
21:08: westbaystars - Hiyama grounds out. Tigers are down to their last out.
21:08: westbaystars - Valdes is on the mound from the start of this inning, by the way.
21:08: westbaystars - I'd had a question about him earlier this week. Well, it looks like he's back up at ichi-gun.
21:09: westbaystars - Yano is Hanshin's final hope.
21:09: MHtrStevie - Greetings, habs...
21:09: MHtrStevie - Ato hitori!
21:09: westbaystars - I lost connection for a while, too. That's why the comments are sparse here.
21:09: habs - HI everyone
21:09: westbaystars - Yano grounds the ball to the left side.
21:10: westbaystars - Kawai fields the ball (he caught Arias' pop up).
21:10: westbaystars - Fires to first.
21:10: westbaystars - Game over!
21:10: habs - Took me a while to get on also.
21:11: westbaystars - ***
21:11: westbaystars - Game Final
21:11: westbaystars - Hanshin Tigers 0 - 4 Chunichi Dragons
21:11: westbaystars - ***
21:11: westbaystars - Two heros of this evening's game.
21:12: westbaystars - Ibata's batting with two outs were key to scoring for Chunichi.
21:12: westbaystars - Hidenori's throw home with nobody out and bases loaded killed the Tigers.
21:13: MHtrStevie - That was a big throw...
21:14: westbaystars - With that throw and his triple, I think he has a chance to get a regular spot in the near future.
21:15: westbaystars - My wife says that Hidenori's smile looks like the Cheshire (sp?) Cat from Lewis Carrol.
21:16: westbaystars - Well, the Dragons have now won six games in a row.
21:16: MHtrStevie - Heh heh heh... =)
21:16: habs - Hidenori's a bench player?
21:16: westbaystars - And if the Giants go on to lose, that'll put them four games in first.
21:17: westbaystars - Hidenori was brought in defensively the first time Hanshin loaded the bases in the fifth.
21:18: MHtrStevie - *** Last bats now for Yomiuri, down 6-4 at Yakult...
21:19: MHtrStevie - *** Takahashi, Kokubo and Peta-chan...
21:19: westbaystars - Looking at the Dragons' stats page, Hidenori has played in 44 games, but had only 18 at bats going into this evening.
21:19: westbaystars - https://www.japanesebaseball.com/teams/stats.jsp?TeamID=CD
21:19: habs - Your right he should be get a regular spot.
21:20: westbaystars - I expected to see him standing on second with that hit to right-center, but he was on third in literally no time.
21:20: habs - Any news on Walker?
21:21: westbaystars - None. I don't remember seeing him mentioned at all last week.
21:22: MHtrStevie - *** Two quick groundball outs, and it's the last out for the Giants...
21:22: westbaystars - But I had a very busy week with work last week, so I didn't watch any games (other than the last innings of a couple)
21:22: westbaystars - ... until today.
21:23: westbaystars - The main news this past week has been about the possiblity of mergers.
21:23: habs - I'll check the searexs. Maybe id on DL.
21:24: westbaystars - Yokohama's owner, TBS, shocked me saying that he's willing to sell the team for a profit.
21:24: westbaystars - They just bought the team two years ago from Maruha, a fish/cannery.
21:24: MHtrStevie - *** And Peta-chan strikes out on an Igarashi forkball!
21:24: MHtrStevie - *** Game over! Yakult defeats Yomiuri 6-4
21:25: habs - Other teams starting to want out now. I've been trying to rear your site after my sons games,
21:25: westbaystars - That's it. The Giants drop to four games back. Chunichi is starting to pull out from the pack.
21:28: westbaystars - I never really understood the TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting Service) purchase.
21:28: habs - no excuses but I have a lot of misspelled words.should be read your site.
21:29: westbaystars - It looked like they bought the team after Watanabe-owner (Giants) refused to allow a Fuji-Sankei member to.
21:30: habs - Was there the worry last year of teams folding last year?
21:30: westbaystars - http://www.geocities.com/s_borisov/jb2004/index.html would probably get you information quicker.
21:31: westbaystars - There's been fear of Daiei folding for a number of years, but the owner won't sell to anyone not willing to keep ..
21:32: westbaystars - ... the team in Fukuoka.
21:32: westbaystars - The big bottleneck in most deals is that they've also wanted to sell their hotel and the Fukuoka Dome with the deal.
21:33: habs - It seems companies buy the teams where here two to three rich people buy the team.
21:34: MHtrStevie - Weren't many of the NPB teams formed by the companies themselves?
21:35: MHtrStevie - Thus why they're named more for companies (Hanshin, Yakult, Yomiuri) rather than cities...
21:35: westbaystars - Most were formed by companies. About half have changed hands since the original teams.
21:36: westbaystars - Yomiuri, Chunichi, Hiroshima, and Hanshin are all pretty much the same as when they started.
21:37: westbaystars - Yakult passed through a few owners, as have the Lions, BlueWave, BayStars, Fighters, and Hawks.
21:37: MHtrStevie - I liked the story in one of Whiting's books where Yakult sales plummeted after they beat Yomiuri once...
21:37: westbaystars - I'd have to find my chart for the rest.
21:38: westbaystars - Yea. Or when Yakult defeated Orix in 1995 (or was it '96?) after the Kobe earthquake.
21:39: westbaystars - Yakult sales were seriously effected in the Kobe area.
21:40: habs - Mets and yankees played yesterday. Yankees Matsui hit a homerun. Then I back to the redsxes game.
21:40: westbaystars - Well, that'll be the front page of tomorrow's papers.
21:42: MHtrStevie - I was going to ask about that... about the coverage of the Matsui/Matsui matchup...
21:42: MHtrStevie - Hideki hit a HR, but Kazuo's team won convincingly...
21:43: habs - Score was 8-2 when he hit the homerun.
21:44: westbaystars - I was interviewed in last Sunday's New York Post http://www.nypost.com/sports/23375.htm
21:45: westbaystars - Perhaps I should published the whole of my answer, which explained the history of popularity in Japan.
21:45: westbaystars - Namely, that the Giants are more popular, therefore Hideki is more popular.
21:47: westbaystars - All he printed was my complaint about how it'll be made into Matsui vs. Matsui in the Japanese press.
21:47: MHtrStevie - Congrats! That's nice to see... maybe that mention will draw some more people over to the site...
21:47: westbaystars - That's why I don't pay attention to MLB news.
21:47: MHtrStevie - Well, that's to be expected... the guy obviously had a spin already.
21:48: MHtrStevie - But at least it's nice to see the URL in the article... could draw some more interest, hopefully...
21:48: westbaystars - Actually, he had much less spin than some reporters I've interviewed for.
21:49: westbaystars - Others, like CNN Money, had a theory they wanted me to confirm, and I didn't feel the same way.
21:50: westbaystars - In the end, they used some odd-ball quote I said out of context.
21:51: westbaystars - I wasn't pleased with it.
21:51: MHtrStevie - Ick... I don't like to hear that...
21:52: westbaystars - I've lost a great deal of repect for the mainstream press.
21:53: westbaystars - What they do with technical press (publishing press releases as though they were true) has angered me more.
21:54: westbaystars - The NY Post article was very good compared to what I've experience in the past.
21:54: MHtrStevie - Oh yeah, I've seen it... as a chemist, that offends me more.
21:55: westbaystars - That's it. People in the field can spot a lie easilly, but not the mainstream readers.
21:56: habs - Kaz Matsui got a single and drove in 2 runs. your press should have a good time with that game.
21:57: westbaystars - Well, that's good to hear. He's been getting a lot of bad press lately.
21:58: westbaystars - They've been printing about how Kazuo's been getting booed a great deal by the local fans.
21:59: MHtrStevie - Kaz has had a rough time of it so far... I think people would be more forgiving of him if it weren't for the errors.
21:59: MHtrStevie - The Mets made such a big deal about his great fielding..
21:59: MHtrStevie - So that's really bit him... people had some high expectations...
22:00: habs - The errors are hurting him that's all you hear. but it takes a while to get use to the surroundings
22:00: westbaystars - http://www.japanesebaseball.com/players/player.jsp?PlayerID=18
22:01: westbaystars - As you can see, his fielding had been getting worse over the past couple of years.
22:02: habs - I went to flordia on my sons vacation and went to mets camp. Kaz didn't look to bad.
22:03: MHtrStevie - Exactly... I think the Mets completely blew Kaz out of proportion...
22:03: MHtrStevie - So the fans were expecting this super all-star who'd never make mistakes...
22:04: MHtrStevie - And they're not giving him the same sort of deference the Yanks fans gave to Hideki...
22:04: westbaystars - Oddly, at the end of 2002, Kazuo said that he didn't perform well enough to feel that he should make the jump.
22:04: westbaystars - Yet, he did worse in 2003, and went ahead.
22:04: MHtrStevie - It seems like Yankee fans understood the "getting used to new surroundings" argument...
22:05: habs - Well it doesn't help if your unsure.
22:05: MHtrStevie - The Mets fans, however, are really getting on him... which won't help him adjust any...
22:07: MHtrStevie - But a few good games and fans get back on the bandwagon pretty quick...
22:07: westbaystars - On the other hand, maybe it'll get him to straighten out. I don't know.
22:07: habs - Having taken Reyes spot who is 19 doesn't help either.
22:07: MHtrStevie - All right, my show's over and I have to get going... Westbay-san, great job again!
22:08: MHtrStevie - I'm really enjoying these Sunday mornings now... hope to see you again soon!
22:08: westbaystars - Time for me to do the dishes and go to bed.
22:08: westbaystars - Nice talk again this evening.
22:08: westbaystars - See you next week.
22:09: westbaystars - You, too, Habs-san. I'll try to look for more Walker news next week.
22:09: habs - Time for breakfast and get ready for my sons baseball game. good job again
22:09: westbaystars - Take care.
About
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
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Some rights reserved.
I said before the season that Ochiai's Dragons would be a wild card in the Central League race, and it looks like they're proving to be just that sort of surprising team. What's more, they're on top of the Cenral League with a mere 55 home runs, fewest of all 12 NPB teams. 284 runs scores is also the fewest in NPB (although Yakult is close with 288 runs scored).
Anyway, tune in here as 6:00 pm (JST) approaches. See you there.