Shimoyanagi at Tigers

Shimoyanagi started his career at Daiei where he did not prosper. Five undistinguished years followed and in 1995 he was traded to Nippon Ham. The lack of distinction continued though his performance was an improvement on that of Hawks at first. He was mainly used in relief during the early part of his career before switching back to starting. However, he faded and was picked up by Tigers for the 2003 season. Here things changed quite dramatically. Under Hoshino Shimoyanagi pitched very competently for a tyro in the Central League and recorded a 10-5 record helping Tigers to their first pennant since 1985. He produced probably his best performance of the year in the Japan Series giving up 2 runs on six innings of work. This was a feature of Shimoyanagi's pitching - he rarely went beyond six innings and often only pitched five. His style of pitching, relying heavily on control seemed to preclude his going deep. It was only if he was especially dominant that he actually pitched a complete game. During his time at Tigers he recorded seven complete games, 3 of which were in 2003. Shimoyanagi's 2004 season wasn't so good - the Tigers were adjusting to a new manager (Okada) and despite having a winning record he was quite profligate. 2005 would be different. Pitching in front of the JFK trio, Shimoyanagi was able to enjoy himself and pitched supremely well with a 15-3 record and 2.99 ERA. Like most of the Tigers in 2005 he was unable to reproduce this form in the Japan series and was ineffective in his only start.
Having settled into the Tigers side Shimoyanagi proved to be a reliable starter using his experience and control wisely. He liked working with Yano in particular. Shimoyanagi never possessed a fastball as such and mainly relied on working the corners. He had another impressive season in 2008 but by now the question uppermost in everyone's mind was how long he could continue to do pitch. Signs that age was catching up with him began to appear in 2009 (Mayumi's first year). Mayumi wanted to push his starters deeper and this wasn't going to suit Shimoyanagi. He still managed a creditable 3.62 ERA but he was struggling. Yano was also fading and Shimoyanagi was having trouble in getting out of difficult situations. Tigers were using Kanoh for part of the season due to Yano's injury problems and Kanoh was clearly better being able to walk Shimoyanagi out of trouble. But now Shimoyanagi was needing catchers to work him out of problems whereas before he could do it himself.
Sadly, 2010 was another poor year and it was by now clear that Shimoyanagi's age was catching up with him. He could no longer shave the corners and spent some time in ni-gun working on his control. A 7-8 record at his age was indicative that he didn't have much time left. Things came to a head in 2011 where Shimoyanagi struggled with injury and was only able to pitch six games. He was also pitching poorly and to the Tigers management it was clear that he was finished. Control was poor and frequently he struggled to reach the fifth innings. Tigers coaches decided that he was finished and he was told that he would be let go at the end of the season. His last game for Tigers was actually an anonymous ni-gun game after which he disappeared. This was not a kind end for someone who had served the Tigers very well for 9 years.
Shimoyanagi was a bit of a maverick and very withdrawn and shy. He didn't like the limelight and in one of his rare hero interviews was monosyllabic. He mainly lived alone with his dog which he adored but recently had married. There was talk of him going to Lotte but this fell through. However, Rakuten have picked him up though it must be questionable how long he can continue at his age. A very fine pitcher at his best he can be remembered with affection for his major contributions to the Tigers pennants in 2003 and 2005.