July 28th Iwata v Fujii - BayStars on top

Tom Buffalo in the last thread asked about the omission of Brazell. In an under-performing team one would think that someone who drives in runs would be welcome but this is not the case. Partially, the omission is to do with Brazell being a foreigner who is not hitting the ball over the fence every match and partially because his attitude is not felt to be appropriate. As for the second part of the post it is the tradition in Japanese baseball to choose former players to coach the team no matter what their ability. The Giants are the only team where winning really matters but even they induldge in this practice (the Horiuchi debacle springs to mind). Tigers as one of the more conservative sides would far prefer an incompetent insider to a competent outsider. Hoshino was pushed out to allow Okada his turn and the latter set about destroying Hoshino's team in his first season at the helm. The reason for making Wada the kantoku of Tigers was given as, 'He has seen the good times and the bad times of the Tigers'. What reason is that to appoint a manager? This practice goes far back and in the conservative world of Japanese baseball, winning and using talent properly are not valued. Some managers are so incompetent that they need a head coach to 'guide' them. The concept of a manager being able to take appropriate tactical decisions is not the main thing and often teams win in spite of the manager. The aim of the organisation is in fact to build a team that wins despite the manager and get by on the odd win. In a close race or in the Japan series, Tigers managers lack of tactical ability is often cruely exposed where individual game management matters. Neither Okada nor Mayumi had any ability in this area and so in 2005 what was the best team in Japan lost to the second best. Mayumi failed to deliver a championship with what was the best team in 2010. Wada looks spectacularly incompetent and is demotivating the side but was signed on a three year contract. One would have thought that a one year contract would have been a better option but the Tigers front office were adamant in giving him a three year contract which they fully intend to honour. This is all about rewarding him for his years of service and never mind the fans or players.

The return of Fujii the catcher to the Tigers top team wasn't exactly successful but then it was never going to be. Pairing him with Iwata wasn't that wise as Iwata doesn't get on with Fujii. Iwata was supposed to get on with Komiyama but the conclusion must be that Iwata doesn't get on with anyone and is a rather unique pitcher. Scores

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

Starting lineups

BayStars
1. Aranami (Centre)
2. Uchimura (Second)
3. Nakamura (Third)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Gotoh (First)
6. Watanabe (Short)
7. Shimamura (Right)
8. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
9. Fujii (Pitcher)

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

The start was not all that Tigers could have wished it to be, rather it was the other way round. Iwata and Fujii didn't communicate at all and BayStars enjoyed the first innings. Aranami walked to lead off the innings and one out later Iwata dead balled Nakamura to set up runners on first and second. An error at the plate took the runners to second and third and then Ramirez singled right bringing in a run 1-0 BayStars, runners on first and third. Gotoh grounded out to third and Tigers had to opt for the throw to first allowing the second run to score 2-0 BayStars, runner on second. Finally, Watanabe flew out to right to end the innings. Toritani responded by leading off the Tigers first with a single. He was then bunted to second by Yamato - I know there were nine innings to go but the useless bunt isn't going to help things. Ryota Arai struck out looking - the jury is still out on him at No. 3 but he isn't exactly making the position his own at the moment and Takahiro Arai popped one up to short. No score there. Iwata had better luck with the bottom of the BayStars order in the second and retired the batters in order striking out two. Fujii though was also in control and handled Murton, Asai and Hirano with ease. It is good to see Asai back in the side - he does need more playing time. Aranami came back round for his second at bat leading BayStars third off with a double. Murton made a bit of a pigs ear of the take. Uchimura bunted him to third and then Nakamura hit to Ryota Arai. He fielded but couldn't make up his mind what to do and allowed not only Aranami to score but also Nakamura to reach first 3-0 BayStars. Ramirez then hit into a double play but already you felt Tigers were beaten. Fujii grounded out in his first at bat back in the side to start Tigers first. Iwata singled and somehow Toritani managed to strike out looking. Yamato drove to left for a two base - runners on second and third. It wasn't Ryota's night - he managed to ground out to short to end the innings.

Gotoh led off the BayStars fourth with a single but would allow himself to be picked off later in the innings. Watanabe struck out looking and Shimanami grounded out - all in all a very quick innings. Tigers fourth was a succession of flyouts capped with a ground out to Fujii. The BayStars fifth was quiet and it has to be said that Fujii and Iwata were working well together but one also got the impression that the BayStars were sitting on their lead and not really trying. Fujii was comfortably in control though and the Tigers fifth was quiet with no one reaching base. Tigers were not playing with fire at all. BayStars sixth was also quiet. Fujii's sixth saw him begin to tire. It started with a one out single to the irrepressible Yamato. He stole second and took third on Ryota Arai's ground out. Then the elder Arai hit a single to left - a run to the Tigers! 3-1 BayStars, runner on first. This was the end of Fujii as Nakahata wisely decided not to risk his lead further. Kaga took over and struck out Murton swinging to end the threat.

Iwata continued in BayStars seventh and controlled things nicely striking out two. For BayStars Kikuchi pitched the Tigers seventh and also controlled things nicely. Tigers all fell in order. Iwata finally began to wobble in BayStars eighth. Tsuruoka walked on a full count and made second on Aranami's one out grounder to second. Uchimura singled to centre setting up runners on first and third and ringing the alarm bells in Wada's head. The communication between Iwata and Imanari (replacement catcher brought on as a pinch hitter for Fujii) wasn't working. Fukuhara took over and immediately deadballed Nakamura to load the bases. It looked like it was going to be a Imanari special but Ramirez mistimed his swing and flew out to Shibata (replacement right) in foul ground. Fujie pitched Tigers eighth and retired the batters in order. It wasn't a very good display by Tigers at all. The BayStars ninth and the worry of Watanabe as pitcher. He was sound this innings and got two of his BayStars to pop up to second. The third, Morimoto (replacement left) flew out to right. Yamaguchi pitched Tigers ninth and here it must be said that when things aren't going right, they really aren't going right. Tigers actually had a very good chance against a shakey pitcher. Ryota Arai led off with a single. Takahiro Arai hit into a double play. Yamaguchi though continued to struggle. Murton singled and then Imanari singled. Runners on first and second. Wada had Imanari pinch run for by Uemoto - one wonders about the logic of that. Imanari is quite fast. The final batter was Kanemoto (pinch hitter). In these situations he usually fluffs it and today was no exception. Kanemoto hit to right where Kinjoh (replacement right) took the catch to end the game. BayStars victory.

It is possible that Tigers will actually end up losing more games than the BayStars and finish bottom of the league. Iwata is the first Tigers pitcher to 10 losses - a dubious achievement and the Tigers are now on a run of 7 losses nearly equalling their record streak of 8 in 2007. Not a lot of positive points to take from this game, Fujii was rubbish as usual and might have well stayed in the second team for all he added. The level of demoralisation and dissatisfaction in the side at the moment is such that changing a player will make no difference. Of course a win can change everything but given the past record this doesn't look likely. If the Tigers do win they then quickly go back to their losing ways. Still we can hope and it seems that this is all Wada is capable of doing.