May 19th Uezono v Houlton - Mayumi blunders again

One has to say that - yes the players were poor, the fielding was incredibly inept (not Japanese standard at all) and the pitching stupid. However, the responsibility for bringing a team to this level ultimately lies with the manager. Mayumi screwed up big time - Tigers previously high fielding standards under Okada have deteriorated to MLB level. The batting is ill considered and of the nature of swing at anything and pitchers don't seem to know what to do. Coupled with Mayumi's whimsical and arbitrary changes pitchers don't know whether they're coming or going. The impression one gets is that Mayumi doesn't know and doesn't trust his Japanese pitchers. In this game Uezono was pulled after four innings having given up two solo home runs, one of which was a fluke. It was unnecessary and it seems that Mayumi doesn't like Uezono but only uses him because he has to. Kanoh doesn't like the left field and has no real aptitude for the position either - he really would rather be anywhere else. Hawks completely outplayed Tigers showing drive and aggression and attack completely lacking in the Tigers players. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 3  8 1
Hawks   0 0 0 2 1 0 5 1 X 9 16 0

Starting lineups

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

Hawks
1. Kawasaki (Short)
2. Honda (Second)
3. Ortiz (DH)
4. Kokubo (First)
5. Tamura (Right)
6. Shibahara (Left)
7. Lee (Third)
8. Akashi (Centre)
9. Yamazaki (Catcher)

Tigers first started with the batters falling in order. With Hawks first Kawasaki led off with a hit. However, Honda messed up the bunt and Johjima worked a very nice double play. Then Ortiz struck out to end the innings. Houlton was not looking impressive and it was only a matter of time before the first hit came and this was from Johjima with two out. He tried to make second but the ball came in as he slid and he was given out by the umpire. Johjima thought that this was wrong but the replay seemed to bear out the umpire's decision. However, Japanese replays are generally very primitive - if this was American TV we would have had four different angles and several replays. Here we only have one angle and one replay which doesn't help anything. Anyway the innings was over. Uezono then returned and gave up a two base hit to Tamura in Hawks second. With two out Lee hit to third but Tamura could only make third with Lee on first and the next batter Shibahara grounded out to second to end the innings. Tigers then proceeded to waste an excellent chance. Brazell led off with a hit. Then Sakurai walked and Tigers had runners on first and second. Kanoh though hit his first pitch straight back to Houlton. Brazell going for third was thrown out but Kanoh was safe. He really needs to learn not to swing at the first pitch automatically. His batting this season has been very poor and some work is desperately needed. Murton then hit a grounder to second which put a runner on third and Murton on first - Kanoh having failed to make second. Hirano worked a walk - intelligent batting to load the bases. Toritani should have made more of the chance but the cleanup is not functioning well at the moment and he grounded out to second to end the chance. Uezono then proceeded to retire the batters in order and Hawks made no impression in their third.

Johjima drew a walk in Tigers fourth after Arai and Kanemoto had both failed but Brazell flew out in foul ground and the innings was over. Ortiz led off Hawks fourth and got Uezono's only really bad ball - a slider in the centre of the zone. He hammered it deep for a solo home run 1-0 Hawks. Kokubo flew out to left and then Tamura grounded out which brought up Shibahara. His first pitch was a low straightball outside the zone which he swung at. It just cleared the wall for a totally flukey home run 2-0 Hawks. There was nothing wrong with the pitch and ordinarily it would have been a useful first strike - if Shibahara tried the same stroke with the same ball again he would end up looking a bit of a fool. Lee then flew out to centre to end the innings. With two out in Tigers fifth including Kanoh who was once again inept Murton hit straight at Houlton - the ball bouncing off his shoe. This gave Murton time to reach first and brought worried enquiries from the Hawks management but Houlton was OK. Hirano was next but Mayumi signalled the steal. This wasn't such a foolish move as Yamazaki had been pathetic the night before. However, this time he was inch perfect and Murton was tagged out head sliding to end the innings. At this stage Tigers were still in the game but Mayumi's inability as a manager would ensure that they lost all chance of winning. Uezono had a couple more innings in him at least but Mayumi panicked and then later would blame Uezono for this panic. Kawasaki replaced Uezono and struck out the first batter. Then things went wrong. Yamazaki swung and connected for a two base hit. Kawasaki put one in the right corner for another two base hit 3-0 Hawks, runner on second. Honda hit to first and Brazell picked up and threw to Kawasaki. Honda is very fast but even so Kawasaki had not shown enough hustle and Honda was safe - runners on first and third. At this point Mayumi pulled Kawasaki and replaced him with Nishimura. Ortiz hit a deep fly to and Kawasaki tagged up and went for home. However, Honda also decided to move and he was tagged out at second. The umpires decided he had been tagged out before Honda could make home and so the run didn't stand. It was the last piece of luck for the Tigers. Tigers sixth was pitched by Fujioka who is quite a cocky pitcher. His pitching justified this impression as he retired the batters in order. Nishimura returned for Hawks sixth and with one out Tamura hit a fly ball to right centre. There was some question as whether it was right or centre's ball but Sakurai was under it. Murton though charged in and took the ball colliding with Sakurai and both players ended up on the turf though Murton held onto the ball. Someone needs to speak to Murton who is a keen fielder but does need to think about where his colleagues are. One remembers Murton's mess up with Toritani in the game against the Carp. Sakurai looked very upset by the whole business and one wasn't surprised. This probably had a bearing on what happened next. Shibahara hit one to left centre and both Murton and Kanoh went for it. Murton held back but Kanoh stopped and allowed the ball to bounce in front of him turning a right fly into a two base hit. Johjima stared at this display in absolute disbelief. No wonder the pitchers weren't putting 100% into it with the level of fielding they had to put up with. Lee hit to centre and this time it was clearly Murton's and he took it safely to end the innings.

Fujioka returned for Tigers seventh and this time had to eat humble pie. Kanemoto led off the innings with a hit to right. Johjima fouled out to Yamazaki in a careless act and Brazell was next. He hasn't been hitting with runners on but battled hard before driving one to left and bringing Kanemoto home 3-1 Hawks, runner on first. Katsuragi (pinch hitter) followed and hit to right demonstrating the fragile nature of Hawks relief. It was the end of Fujioka who was replaced by Kattoh. He got Hiyama (pinch hitter) to strike out - rather like what would have happened to Shibahara if he hadn't been lucky. Then Murton hit to right and a fine catch from Tamura prevented a score and ended the innings. For Hawks seventh Egusa was the pitcher. He gave up a hit to Yamazaki with one out. Yamazaki then stole second - the throw from Johjima being good but as usual Toritani missed the catch. He has been doing this quite a lot and really needs to improve. Honda then took a swing and got a nice impact into left for a two base hit. Hawks had reached the stage where anything they swung at would be a hit, 4-1 Hawks, runner on second. Once again Mayumi panicked and replaced Egusa with Kubota. This would be his final disaster - his handling of his pitchers had been dismal and rather like a fussy old granny than a manager of a professional baseball team. Kubota hasn't been pitching well and didn't improve. Ortiz stretched and hit to left - a trifle lucky but bringing the runner home 5-1 Hawks, runner on first. Kokubo then hit weakly to Arai who picked up and went to throw to second but dropped the ball meaning that both Ortiz and Kokubo were safe. What Arai was thinking with this piece of stupidity is difficult to say - Ortiz was already sliding in to second and would have been safe anyway but Kokubo was way off base and so was an easy final out. Kubota just gave up and sent an easy straightball to Tamura who hammered it over the wall for a three run home run 8-1 Hawks. Tigers had blown the game in a big way. Shibahara hit to centre and Morimoto (replacement third) walked to set up runners on first and second. Mayumi had run out of pitchers and now had to sit there and bear it. Hasegawa (pinch hitter) was the final batter and he grounded out to end a disastrous innings for the Tigers. The pitcher for Tigers eighth was Mise who has faded since he beaned Kanemoto several years ago. He started by walking Hirano. Toritani hit a two base to left centre and Hirano was around the bases for a run 8-2 Hawks, runner on second. Hawks management started to look worried but really they needn't have bothered. Tigers proceeded to screw things up. Arai grounded out to Mise and next was Kanemoto. Before the at bat Kokubo had a chat with him and one suspects it was along the lines of "I will skin you alive if you bean Kanemoto again". Mise didn't try any high balls and got Kanemoto to ground out. Johjima then hit hard to right centre and Toritani was home 8-3 Hawks, runner on second. It needed Brazell to produce here as well but he flew out to left and the innings was over. This was another wasted opportunity as Mise didn't look that good. In fact Tigers failed to apply any pressure to the Hawks relief whilst the Hawks applied very effective pressure to Tigers relief. Hawks eighth saw Ishikawa who looks less and less like a relief pitcher and is also taking the trip to ni-gun. He started with a hit to Yamazaki. Two outs followed with Yamazaki still on first and it began to look like a good innings for the Tigers. However, fate had not cast the dice yet and Yamazaki stole second. Then Ishikawa released the grandfather of all wild pitches which cannoned off to left. Johjima took off after it but Yamazaki was able to round the bases and score 9-3 Hawks and a glorious end to an ignominious evening for the Tigers. Ortiz walked but Kokubo grounded out to put them out of their misery. There was still the final formality to get through though - the ninth innings. This was pitched by a portly right hander called Kamiuchi. He started by getting Takahashi (pinch hitter) to fly out - one wonders what Mayumi thought he could do. Shunsuke Fujikawa (replacement left) grounded out but then Kamiuchi's nerve went and he walked Murton. He also walked Sekimoto (pinch hitter) who for a time looked as if he was going to strike out but managed to survive. A wild pitch took the runners to second and third but Toritani flew out and the game was over. Hawks victory.

Tigers had been thoroughly thrashed. Nothing had been up to the standard required. Pitching, batting and fielding had all fallen short of what was needed. The players bear some responsibility for this but we must also note that this decline has been happening under the guidance of Mayumi. His management is clearly ineffective and he seems not to know what to do. His handling of the pitching was little short of disgraceful and he allowed his prejudices to guide him rather than an accurate assessment of the game and the situation. There are certain problems which need to be dealt with as a matter of urgency - fielding, Toritani's catching, where to put Kanoh and how to get the latter to hit. Tigers split the series one to one but changes in management are needed to ensure that this sort of mess does not happen again.