August 27th Kubo v Miura - What to do?

What does a side do when it's faced with a clearly biased home plate umpire? Miura pitched quite well but had considerable help from the umpire. Likewise with the first oshidashi - this could have been given as a strike out but the umpire wasn't going to do Tigers any favours. We also saw some good old fashioned BayStars by Yoshimura. The TV replay (TVK's coverage was poor as regards camera angles and replays) clearly showed the ball hitting the pommel of Yoshimura's bat not his hand as he claimed. Of course, the plate umpire ruled in favour of BayStars. But to be honest, the only way BayStars were going to win the game was by this sort of subtrefuge - they were so totally lacking in ideas or batting ability even against an indifferent Kubo. The smirk on Tashiro's face after the game said it all - by any means fair or foul. At the moment the BayStars are clearly in the foul region.

On a different note Imaoka is thinking of retiring at the end of the season. Of course, he will have a special honour game as his contribution in 2005 was huge. The problem came after that year, he could never quite recover his form and in fact became a batting embarrassment unable to hit effectively or with runners on. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

BayStars
1. Shimozono (Centre)
2. Fujita (Second)
3. Morikasa (Left)
4. Johnson (Third)
5. Saeki (First)
6. Yoshimura (Right)
7. Ishikawa (Short)
8. Hosoyamada (Catcher)
9. Miura (Pitcher)

It was always a possibility that Tigers would lose this game as series normally go 2-1. However, the nature of the loss tarnishes the BayStars and the Central League umpires. It started in Tigers first. Akahoshi walked and was bunted to second by Hirano. Toritani flew out and Kanemoto walked, the only thing he can do at the moment with any regularity. Arai hit with Akahoshi on second and the latter went for home, sliding in to the plate. The throw was good but Hosoyamada was not blocking the plate and had to turn and bend to make the tag. The umpire though ruled him out which was absurd. It would get worse though. Kubo would also have a memorable first as he had to fight himself all the way. Here though he had an abject BayStars to help him but a hostile umpire. He got the first two outs but then his third strike on Morikasa got away from Kanoh and the BayStars centre was able to make first. Johnson walked but then Saeki struck out to end the innings. Sakurai hit to left in Tigers second but nothing came of this. Ishikawa generated a one out hit in BayStars second and then stole second but Kubo dispatched Hosoyamada and Miura to end the threat. Tigers third was quiet but Shimozono led off the BayStars third with a hit. Fujita made a complete joke of the bunt attempt which allowed Tigers to get Shimozono and then a double play finished the innings off.

Tigers fourth was a waste. Kanemoto hit but then Arai hit into a double play. This was followed by Brazell hitting but Sakurai lined out to second. Here Tigers batting was not good. Kubo then ran into trouble in BayStars fourth. Johnson walked in four as the plate umpire refused to give a single strike. Certainly, they weren't all strikes but they weren't all balls, it was that bad. Saeki hit to right and Johnson rounded second nicely to third, runners on first and third with no outs. The BayStars fans then started their chance march but it all sounded a bit desperate. Yoshimura struck out and then Ishikawa tried a squeeze play. Kubo was off the mound like a rocket throwing the ball to Kanoh who dropped down into a tight crouch and blocked the plate. Johnson coming in from third slid into a brick wall and was tagged out. Great play by the Tigers catcher. Kubo then walked Hosoyamada to load the bases and get at Miura who duly struck out to end the innings. Once again the plate umpire interviened on the BayStars side as a low outside the plate ball was ruled a strike striking out Kanoh. He made a few comments to the umpire no doubt deserved. The rest of the innings was quiet. BayStars fifth was also quiet. Tigers sixth was quiet but in BayStars sixth Kubo walked Yoshimura but nothing came of this.

Once again the plate umpire interviened in Tigers seventh ruling that Arai struck out looking. This was getting beyond a joke - if Arai doesn't swing at an outside pitch it is a ball. His problem is he swings at too many balls outside the zone not that he leaves marginal pitches alone. He also had words to say to the umpire. Brazell hit and then Sakurai struck out looking, once again this was dubious. Kanoh struck out swinging and this was clear enough. Kubo returned for the BayStars seventh and why not, BayStars didn't have any capacity to damage a sub-par Kubo or so it seemed. He started by striking out Hosoyamada. Then he faced Miura who swung and got a flukey contact. This was fielded by Toritani but he had run to outfield to take the pitch and couldn't turn in time to make the throw, pure luck but runner on first. Shimozono was next and his hit to left was also streaky as he flailed wildly and got the ball in left field, runners on first and second. Fujita grounded out to move the runners round to second and third. Then Kubo walked Morikasa to load the bases (he couldn't keep his pitches high enough to shave the bottom of the zone here and this was legitimate). Then Johnson worked the count full but the fourth ball shaved the edge of the box and was a strike. However the plate umpire ruled it a ball oshidahsi 1-0 BayStars bases loaded. Mayumi then decided it was time to replace Kubo. He had done well, in fact better than Miura as he had had to battle the umpire as well. Egusa was chosen and here he suffered from the plate umpire as well. He faced Saeki and sent one of his big curves to the plate with the count full. Saeki swung but checked in time however the pitch itself was a strike and not a ball and Saeki should have been given out looking. He wasn't and it was another oshidashi 2-0 BayStars, bases loaded. This brought up Yoshimura who took the first pitch on the pommel of his bat. He then waved his hand around theatrically as if he had been hit on the hand. The plate umpire took his glove off in a ridiculous pantomine to have a look at the mark (the TV didn't show a mark but this in itself is not conclusive) and then ruled a dead ball oshidashi 3-0 BayStars bases loaded. Here Mayumi quite rightly came up to argue the decision but of course the umpire didn't budge and the run stood. A really disgusting piece of blatant cheating had gone unpunished. Egusa then faced Ishikawa who walked - the only genuine walk of the innings oshidashi 4-0 BayStars. Finally, Hosoyamada came up and he made sure he struck out as if embarrassed by the whole sorry display by his team, end of innings. Miura returned for Tigers eighth and immediately gave up a two base hit to Hiyama (pinch hitter). Here tradegy struck and a BayStars fan leaning over the wall (which is five metres high) leaned to far and fell. He was carried off on a stretcher clearly badly injured. The fan remains in a coma and one can only pray he recovers. The game continued, Akahoshi's ground out took Hiyama to third and then Takahashi's (pinch hitter) ground out took him home 4-1 BayStars. Toritani hit but Kanemoto flew out to end the innings. When is he going to be dropped down the batting order? Kanemura pitched the BayStars eighth and ran into umpire troubles. With one out he supposidly walked Shimozono and he looked furious at the ruling. Fujita though lined out to Brazell who had an easy job tagging Shimozono who was off base. Finally for Tigers ninth the batters fell easily with Sakurai striking out looking. This may have been a genuinely good ball and a rare real strike out. BayStars victory.

Nothing was right about this victory - it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth and calls into question the integrity of the BayStars. They couldn't hit so they (or one member) used cheating. The umpire favoured the home boy, Miura and was going to do his best to ensure that he had all the help he needed. This was truely disgusting.

[Edited by: Christopher on Aug 28, 2009 10:18 PM] Latest news on the fan who fell from the stand.