October 22nd Nohmi v Fukui - Fin de Siecle

Both Messenger and Brazell returned to the US on Saturday and so will not make an appearence in this final series. Brazell in his farewell interview hinted at some of the dissatisfaction he felt with things indicating that he was not happy platooning. One can understand this especially as he has been asked to platoon with players not in the same class as him. Still he has had a good season and should be back next year. Likewise Messenger should be back next year - one hopes the new kantoku will be more sensible in how he treats these two players. Despite being a fan favourite, it seems that Tigers have no plans for Hirata to take a management role. In fact discussion is for the ni-gun kantoku Yoshitake to become head coach under Wada and help him adjust. Yano would become ni-gun coach - the Front Office obviously like him and the Old Boys network is in full swing. The plan is for Yano to become first team kantoku in the fullness of time. What galls one is not the lack of transparency but the lack of knowledge. It may indeed be that Yano proves to be a brilliant manager but one would have more confidence in this if the whole process didn't give one the impression that the Front Office are a bunch of idiots with no ability shooting in the dark. 'It's Buggin's turn' seems to the principle under which management selection is operated. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers  0 2 2 0 2 0 0 1 0 7 13 2
Carp    0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  6 1

Starting lineups

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

Carp
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Akamatsu (Centre)
3. Hirose (Right)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Matsuyama (Left)
6. Barden (Third)
7. Tsubasa Aizawa (Catcher)
8. Kokubo (Short)
9. Fukui (Pitcher)

With the season winding down we saw a partially experimental side with the usual Mayumi weirdness in it. Murton, who has a chance of the ERA title is still playing and managed a hit this game. Fukui didn't start too badly but even in the first gave signs that he wouldn't be able to cope. With Shibata out he walked Hirano. Toritani flew out but then a wild pitch took Hirano to second. Tigers couldn't exploit this and Arai grounded out to end the innings. Carp started well with Higashide leading off with a single. He was bunted to second by Akamatsu and then Hirose popped one up to Morita. He dropped it and though Higashide didn't get to third it was enough to allow Hirose to reach first. Kurihara who seems to have gone off the boil flew out to centre and then Matsuyama struck out to end the innings. Fukui got into a mess in Tigers second and couldn't get out of it. Murton walked in four and Morita singled to centre. Tagami also singled to centre to load the bases with no outs. Komiyama hit the sacrifice to left 1-0 Tigers, runners on first and third. Then with Nohmi at the plate Fukui let go another wild pitch this one bringing the runner home 2-0 Tigers, runner on third. Nohmi struck out and Shibata did the same. Barden led off Carp's second with a single but then stayed on first as the next three batters were bamboozled by Nohmi's pitching. Fukui though was punished again in the Tigers third. Once again he got runners on with no outs. This time Hirano leading off with a nice two base to left centre. Toritani walked and Arai singled right bringing in the run 3-0 Tigers, runners on first and third. Murton hit into a double play which proved more irresistable than getting the runner going for home 4-0 Tigers. Morita walked but Tagami struck out swinging to end the innings. Tigers were now comfortable. In Carp's third it was Akamatsu's turn to hit but once again the batters couldn't get him off first and he wasn't in stealing mode.

Tigers fourth was quiet and the batters tumbled in order. Shibata was the last man out and was having a quiet evening with the bat. Carp had been hitting quite regularly and this continued in their fourth with a single to Barden with one out. Tsubasa Aizawa hit into a double play and ended that innings. Round came Hirano again to lead off Tigers fifth and he singled. Toritani banged a two base hit to left centre and Hirano tore round the bases to reach home 5-0 Tigers, runner on second. Arai singled left bringing in Toritani 6-0 Tigers. Due to a throwing error Arai was able to take second as well. Murton struck out swinging and Carp decided to switch pitchers bringing on Toshiaki Aizawa. He also struggled at first suggesting that the problem hadn't been so much the pitching as the calling of Tsubasa Aizawa. Toshiaki Aizawa walked Yamato (pinch hitter) and then gave up a single to Tagami to load the bases. This time Komiyama managed to hit into an innings ending double play but Tigers were very much on top. Carp's fifth started with the first two batters going down and then Higashide doubled. Akamatsu singled left bringing in Higashide 6-1 Tigers, runner on first. Hirose picked up a dead ball but Kurihara who was also having a quiet night flew out to left to end the innings. Carp were on the scoreboard but well off the pace. Ohshima took over for Tigers sixth and despite a single to Hirano was able to keep Tigers batters from adding more. After the run of the sixth Nohmi was much more alert and retired the Carp batters in order, something he hadn't done all game.

A new pitcher took over for Tigers seventh, Nagakawa who walked Arai to start the innings. This was a game of double plays and Murton hit into his second one before Yamato flew out to left. Kokubo hit to Yamato at third to start Carp's seventh. Yamato messed it up and one wonders if it is worth switching Arai to first because of defensive 'issues' late in the game. It doesn't seem to reduce the flow of errors and maybe the perception is ruling the reality. It was Mukae's turn to hit into the double play. Then Higashide struck out looking to end the innings. Tagami led off Tigers eighth with a single. He then stole second Komiyama struck out and Nohmi struck out but not before a wild pitch took Tagami to third. Here Nomura panicked and switched pitchers bringing on Aoki. He faced Shibata who hit to Aoki who couldn't field cleanly and deflected the ball. Tagami was home and Shibata safe on first 7-1 Tigers. Kishimoto replaced Aok and got Hirano to fly out to left to end the innings. Carp's eighth saw the batters fall in order - Nohmi was pitching well and economically, Komiyama's calling is very economical and he doesn't waste pitches. For Tigers ninth the pitcher was Imamura. He was also shaky but started by getting the first two outs. Then Murton hit right and was pinch run for by Shunsuke. Yamato singled, runners on first and second and one wondered if Tagami would drive in his first career RBI. It was not to be, Tagami struck out to end the innings. Nohmi returned for Carp's ninth and had a nice easy ride getting Matsuyama and Barden first pitch before striking out Tsubasa Aizawa to end the game. Tigers victory.

Arai had driven in two more RBIs and Nohmi picked up his 12th win. He had thrown 109 pitches in a complete game and this was his last start of the season. One hopes he prospers under the new coaching regime as this was his last time under Kubo. The victory was very comfortable but Tigers still need to win the next two games to reach .500 for the season.