October 20th Kojima v Miura - The mystery of the swapped positions

Tigers are thinking of Wada as next manager if the negotiations with Nashida take too long or fail. Please - no! We do not want another of the discredited old boys to take over. Wada showed poor judgment as Third Base Coach and one doubts he has the tactical acumen to make a good manager for Tigers. Choosing a manager shouldn't be subject to a time limit - it is an important decision and needs to be gotten right. A hurried and amateur process does no one any good and one hopes that the Front Office having reached the stage of getting rid of a poor manager (albeit rather late) takes the time to get the decision right this time. Getting the key decisions right is more important than hasty decisions made to arbitrary timetables.
Miura was once again poor this game and didn't really deserve his win but for the fact that Kojima was worse. His team gave him good support and Yokohama can actually be rather pleased with the way they have played. Tigers can't and we saw even more huge gaps at Koshien. Tigers fans don't want to watch Mayumi Tigers especially a fourth place outfit. We saw a switch of positions again with Murton taking fifth and Brazell sixth. The rationale for this is totally lost on me - Murton didn't demonstrate any aptitude for fifth earlier in the season. Why should things have changed? One just wonders what the coaches are thinking - even at the end of the season they are clueless and maybe the Front Office should have sacked Mayumi without notice. One thing good is that the Front Office has indicated that Nashida if he signs can bring other coaches with him. This is good but could be interesting if he wants to replace Wada. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
BayStars  0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 11 0
Tigers    0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3  7 0

Starting lineups

BayStars
1. Shimozono (Left)
2. Aranami (Centre)
3. Tsutsugoh (First)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Watanabe (Short)
6. Matsumoto (Right)
7. Yamazaki (Second)
8. Kurobane (Catcher)
9. Miura (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Shibata (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Murton (Right)
6. Brazell (First)
7. Komiyama (Catcher)
8. Tagami (Left)
9. Kojima (Pitcher)

The Tigers lineup seems to suggest drift and slackness among the management. Allowing the coaching team to stay on has wasted the chance of at least reaching .500. Still fans are counting down the games and hoping to draw a veil over this forgettable performance. Miura really does seem in his dotage now and wasn't much better than his previous start but his batting had much more resilience this game. Kojima started spectacularly - he attacked the batters and struck out all three of the BayStars order swinging. It was a great start and should have been decisive. With two out in Tigers first Toritani drew a walk and made second on a wild pitch. The Miura of old never used to throw those. However, Arai wasted the chance and grounded out to short. Murata managed a lead off single to left to start BayStars second and inadvertently revealed a weakness in Kojima's calling. He was bringing too many pitches left and this made them hittable. BayStars batters would spot this and exploit it later in the game. Anyway, Watanabe hit into a double play and then Matsumoto flew out to left. Tigers second saw Murton fail and then Brazell slammed the ball over the right fence for a solo home run 1-0 Tigers. The next two batters did nothing and the innings was over. BayStars third and Kojima started to go to pieces. Yamazaki he struck out looking but Kurobane singled left. Miura bunted him to second and then Shimozono walked - runners on first and second. Aranami flew out to second but BayStars were turning the screws. Tigers third was quiet and the batters fell in order - they really needed Shibata or Hirano to get on base but neither did.

The threatened storm finally arrived in the BayStars fourth. Kojima (and one wonders if he will ever turn into a good pitcher) was going downhill rapidly. Kojima couldn't help him and in fact no catcher could have. Tsutsugoh grounded out to short and then Murata doubled to left taking advantage of the focus on that area. Watanabe picked up a dead ball and even though it would have been a bold decision - pulling Kojima here would have been the right move. Past experience should have indicated that he was coming apart. However, the pitcher also needs to be given a chance and with one out and runners on first and second the situation was rescuable. However, Kojima's next pitch was poor and Matsumoto was able to put the ball over Shibata into centre. This brought both runners home 2-1 BayStars, runner on third. Shibata's weak throw is becoming a big issue for Tigers and either he needs to improve it or move to the infield. It is costing runs, a centre needs a strong arm. Yamazaki singled left bringing in Matsumoto 3-1 BayStars, runner on first and this was another chance to replace Kojima - a 3-1 deficit is not too bad but Mayumi left him in. Maybe he doesn't care or maybe it was just his usual incompetence. This was more unforgivable than the first instance which was debatable - this was a clear case of cutting your losses. Mayumi can't go soon enough. Kojima stayed and Kurobane singled right setting up runners on first and second. Miura bunted the runners to second and third which avoided a double play. The second out but Kojima was not up to it and Shimozono doubled to centre where once again Shibata's arm was not enough. Two more runs home 5-1 BayStars, runner on second. Finally Aranami struck out but BayStars were in control and thanks to Mayumi had a commanding lead. Toritani started Tigers fourth well picking up a walk and then Arai singled left. Tigers had runners on first and second. The folly of having Murton at fifth was laid bare with the Tigers right hitting into a double play which did take Toritani to third. Brazell snatched and flew out to second and that was the end of the innings. Tsutsui took over for BayStars fifth and was immediately in trouble. Once again Komiyama's calling was the problem allowing for a drift left and Tsutsugoh singled left. Murata hit deep to left and here Tagami's fielding was not of the best and he missed the fly. BayStars were expecting this and were a bit slow of the mark only making second and third. Still with no outs it was a dangerous situation. Tsutsui and Komiyama though were not going to let this one get away from them and Watanabe was induced to fly out to Komiyama. Matsumoto struck out swinging and was quick enough to catch Tsutsugoh too far off base. He was tagged out to end the innings. Tigers were inspired by the successful defence in the fifth and Komiyama led off the bottom with a single. Tagami drew a walk and then Kanemoto singled right to load the bases with no outs. Shibata flew out to right but Komiyama didn't try for home. However, he did go for home when Hirano grounded out to second 5-2 BayStars runners on first and third, Kanemoto having been forced out. Toritani singled left to plate Tagami 5-3 BayStars, runners on first and second. Arai though hit his first pitch to right - he is better when he waits and the innings was over. Miura had almost blown it but had managed to hold the lead. Nishimura pitched BayStars sixth and walked Kurobane with one out. Miura tried to bunt but failed at his three attempts and then Shimozono struck out looking to end the innings. Tigers sixth was quiet with the batters falling in order.

We saw much better pitching in the BayStars seventh and the batters fell in order with two strike outs. Unfortunately, Tigers seventh was much the same with all the batters flying out. Fujihara took over for BayStars eighth and also drifted too far left facing Watanabe who doubled. This was dangerous especially as Matsumoto grounded out moving the runner to third. Yamazaki flew out to left but not far enough for the run and then Kurobane grounded out to Fujihara to end the innings. Tigers eighth was quiet - they seemed to have given up. In BayStars ninth Fukuhara gave up a hit to Shimozono with one out. Shimozono was forced out but Aranami reached first. The final out was Tsutsugoh who struck out swinging. Miura returned for Tigers ninth - an act of folly one would have thought. With a two run lead and three runs to the Tigers there was no need for him to pitch a complete game and he must have been tiring. This was the right situation to use your closer and I suppose that this sort of decision is why the BayStars finished bottom. Miura immediately gave up a single to Murton and sense prevailed. He was replaced by Yamaguchi who should have started the ninth anyway. Yamato (replacement third) flew out as did Hiyama (pinch hitter). Then Sekimoto (pinch hitter) singled left to put runners on first and second. Shunsuke (pinch hitter) hit a weak grounder to second for the final out. BayStars victory.

The whole use of pinch hitters in the ninth had an air of desperation and sheer lack of understanding about it. But then the management of the game reeked of incompetence. Komiyama had done well this game despite his tendency to call left. BayStars had held off the Tigers though how long Miura can continue at the top level must be questionable. The final game of the series gives BayStars a chance to level the series with Tigers if they win and to sweep the Tigers. The way Tigers are playing this is possible. Only 24 thousand people were at the game and the gaps in the field were enormous - it really was like the lost decade again. Still with a new manager Tigers have a chance to dump the inept Mayumi theories and get back to winning.