May 17th Andoh v Wolfe - The ball stopping device

I mentioned in a previous post how Watanabe ignores Fujii's call. It seems to be more general than I thought and watching this game one saw Andoh frequently ignoring Fujii to the extent that he became totally irrelevant except as a device to stop the ball. Watching the other two catchers in the game Ohno and Imanari both had no problems with the pitchers following the catcher's guide (and incidentally it was nice to see Imanari get a chance - he looked better than Fujii). The Daily Sports after match pole also seemed to bear this impression out with Imanari topping the pole wiht 41% of the votes. When Andoh did follow Fujii's guide he got hit and there was one strike out in particular when Andoh threw some brilliant stuff non of which Fujii had any clue was coming. Very worrying. The game was notable for the error ridden performance by the fielders but we saw another piece of weirdness the return of Katoh. It seems Wada wants to fill the team with as many inadequates as possible. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Fighters
1. Itoi (Right)
2. Koyano (Third)
3. Tanaka (Second)
4. Nakata (Left)
5. Inaba (First)
6. Yoh (Centre)
7. Imanami (Short)
8. Ohno (Catcher)
9. Wolfe (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Toritani (Short)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Murton (Right)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Asai (Centre)
7. Brazell (First)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Andoh (Pitcher)

The scoring in this game was a joke with two errors being left off the scoreboard. One wonders what the Koshien scorer was doing. Andoh started by getting Standridge's nemesis, Itoi to ground out. Koyano singled to right but stayed on first as the next two batters failed and we saw a nice take by Brazell to end the innings. Straight from the off Andoh was paying little attention to Fujii's calls. In Tigers first Hirano drew a walk but also stayed on first as the last batter was the useless Kanemoto. Fighters batters fell in order in their second. Tigers second was more eventful. With one out Asai hit left along the line for a two base. Brazell walked and Tigers were in a good situation but unfortunately with the bottom of the order coming up. Fujii grounded out to short forcing out Brazell and then Andoh struck out swinging with runners on first and third - ah well, it happens. Ohno led off Fighters third with a single - one of the few times Andoh followed Fujii's lead. Wolfe tried to bunt and was out with three failures. Then Itoi singled left to set up runners on first and second. Koyano walked to load the bases. Here Andoh needed a double play to get out of the bind. He set it up nicely and Nakata hit his first pitch to Hirano who fielded and fumbled the ball very badly. Koyano had paused and then once he saw the fumble went for second but was thrown out but the double play chance was lost and Ohno was easily home 1-0 Fighters, runners on first and third. How this was not called an error escapes me as there was nothing else it could be. Nakata struck out swinging to end the innings Fighters changed their short at this point to Iiyama which may have had a bearing on the incident in Tigers third. With Toritani out Hirano hit the ball back at Wolfe. It bounced off Wolfe and rolled to short where Iiyama let the ball go through his glove into the outfield for a single. This error was also not called. Wolfe needed some checking but was ruled OK to continue. Murton struck out and then Kanemoto failed again and there was no score.

Fighters fourth was quiet - the batters fell in order and it was a welcome respite for Tigers. Unfortunately, Wolfe had fully recovered and the Tigers batters also failed to get on base. The pitchers continued their dominance in the fifth with once again no batters getting on base. Then Koyano took charge again in Fighters sixth singling to right again. Once again Andoh had lapsed and followed Fujii's call. Tanaka struck out but Nakata singled left - runners on first and second. Inaba hit to Brazell at first who threw to second to initiate the double play. The throw was low and Toritani let it through his glove and then fell over which enabled Fighters to score another run 2-0 Fighters runners on first and third Yoh struck out to a nice pitch which brought up Sledge (pinch hitter). He timed his swing nicely and hit the ball past Hirano's dive into the sweet spot where it rolled merrily away to the wall. A three base hit and devastating for Tigers as both runners were home 4-0 Fighters, runner on third. Ohno could only ground out to end the innings. Tigers sixth was also interesting. Hirano singled to centre - this one going wide of Wolfe, Murton swung too soon and flew out. Then Kanemoto walked - runners on first and second. Arai swung and flew out to centre but Asai walked to load the bases. This was the end of Wolfe and Inui took over. He faced Brazell whom he struck out swinging and ended the threat. Both Arai and Brazell are very demoralized and it shows in their batting.

Andoh was replaced at the beginning of the seventh - a good decision but not the choice. Katoh took over - a left hander rejected by BayStars and signed because he was a left hander. He pitched to Fujii who if Tigers had been able to engineer a run in the sixth would have been pinch hit for by Sekimoto. The batter was Hoffpaur (pinch hitter) who singled nicely to left. He was pinch run for Murata who tried to steal second. Fujii's throw was terrible and Toritani failed to make contact as Murata slid in under the tag. However, the second base umpire had forgotten his glasses and gave the out anyway - a piece of luck for Tigers. The next two batters fell easily but the only thing one could say about Katoh was that he hadn't improved. Now we got the delayed substitution of Fujii - Imanari pinch hitting for him. It didn't help and the Fighters pitcher, Moriuchi had a smooth innings easily retiring the batters. Fighters eighth was pitched by Tsuru who pitched to Imanari - a nice chance to see him in action. He looked good but it was his old team and so one can't really comment. However, the pitcher followed his calls and he seemed to have a higher level of competence than Fujii. But once again it is too soon to say. The pairing was effective and no one got on base. Miyanishi took over for Tigers eighth and once again Hirano singled. Murton flew out to first but Kanemoto singled left to set up runners on first and second. Arai flew out and then Asai hit left beating the field. Hirano was home 4-1 Fighters, runners on first and second and the consolation run. Sekimoto (pinch hitter) was next and he flew out to right to end the innings. Tsuru returned for Fighters ninth and was just as effective as the eighth. Masui took Tigers ninth and he is still a bit wobbly. He faced Imanari who singled right - his first hit for Tigers. Then Hiyama (pinch hitter) singled as well and there were runners on first and second with no outs. Kuriyama came out for a chat with Masui who lifted his game and induced first Toritani and then Hirano to fly out to short. Finally, Murton grounded out to short and Tigers last chance had gone. Fighters victory.

Once again Tigers hadn't shown any particular aptitude - the fielding, calling and batting had all been substandard and the continual employment of sub standard players in the side is dragging the better players down. Katoh should never be in the top team but Tigers do need to think of replacements for both Fujii and Kanemoto neither of whom justify their positions in the team. Kanemoto is better suited to a position lower down the order but Fujii is a real liability. However, things also need to be done with the management team who's ineptness is rather embarrassing. .