August 23rd Tsuru v Ohno - Wada is a very naughty boy

The latest ejection involved Tigers kantoku Wada who earned the first ejection of his management career for arguing an umpire's decision. I'm in two minds about this power of ejection. It does prevent frivolous objections and attempts to pressure the umpires but it also allows pompous asses to strut and preen themselves whilst demonstrating a degree of incompetence that is difficult to believe. We all make mistakes and umpires are human as well but in Japanese baseball these stone headed idiots predominate. Rob Whiting has documented the foreigner strike zone in 'You gotta have wa' and this is still in operation at times. Then there are the glaring errors made by umpires which can only be attributed to stupidity and a failure to do the job properly. This was one of the latter and then to allow a fool the power of ejection when he has gotten it wrong does tend to stick in the throat. Incidentally, the best response to umpire stupidity was the Seibu Lions manager who during the Japan Series took his team off the field until the umpire apologised and reversed the decision. One would also like to see the commissioner's office, if there is an ejection for which the umpire is the cause, punishing the umpire not the player or manager which is what is done almost automatically now. This is meant to be a professional sport not Koko Yakyu. Scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers   0 0 0 0 0 5 2 0 0 7 13 0
Dragons  0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 10 0

Starting Lineups

Tigers
1. Nishioka (Second)
2. Shunsuke (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Murton (Left)
5. Takahiro Arai (First)
6. Fukudome (Right)
7. Ryota Arai (Third)
8. Shimizu (Catcher)
9. Tsuru (Pitcher)

Dragons
1. Fujii (Centre)
2. Ibata (Short)
3. Morino (Second)
4. Wada (Left)
5. Hirata (Right)
6. Clark (First)
7. Shuhei Takahashi (Third)
8. Tanishige (Catcher)
9. Ohno (Pitcher)

Tigers adopted a simple expedient for their game plan - their power hitters all went for the wall and it worked. Sure, they would fly out at times but the long range bombardment had the Dragons outfield nonplussed and struggling to keep up. As an example of attacking a tiring pitcher it was a master class. The game started with a Nishioka single to short. He stole second as Shunsuke struck out - this one surprised Tanishige who failed to get the out. Toritani struck out and Murton hit deep to right but this one didn't have the legs to reach the wall. Tsuru retired Fujii but then Ibata singled. Morino walked and Dragons had runners on first and second. Both Wada and Hirata then flew out to end the innings. Tigers second saw Arai and Fukudome go down but Ryota who would have an excellent game singled. Shimizu who would also have an excellent game struck out this time to end the innings. Dragons second was quiet and non of the mythical beasts were able to get onto base. Tsuru led off Tigers third with a single. Ohno wasn't pitching well today. Nishioka popped up to short in surprise and Shunsuke grounded out to first taking Tsuru to second. Ohno managed to dead ball Toritani and then we had the demonstration that NPB umpires everywhere are incompetent. Murton hit deep to right - very deep and Hirata went back till he was against the wall and jumped. He timed the jump well but the ball was just too high. However, it bounced off the wall and landed in his glove which the umpire ruled was out. Wada came out of the dugout to argue the decision and was eventually ejected. It helped in that Kuroda took over and made a better stab at game management than Wada but this is the sort of decision that umpires should not get wrong. Roll on video replays (like MLB). Tigers were denied the opening runs but this did work out well for them in the end. Dragons third was another quiet innings and no one got on base.

Arai was having a quiet game and grounded out to third. Fukudome went right but didn't get far enough this time. Ryota singled to centre again and then stole second - Tanishige really was having an off day. However, Shimizu struck out again. Then came the seeming injustice of it all. Tsuru was loose in Dragons fourth and Morino hit a slider which just cleared the wall for a solo home run 1-0 Dragons. Wada completely messed things up and ballooned the balls to Nishioka but then in a sign that Tsuru was in trouble Hirata hit hard and deep into the left stand for another solo home run 2-0 Dragons. Clark flew out to centre but then Shuhei Takahashi singled to left. Tanishige though grounded out to short to end the innings. In the old days a two run lead for the Dragons at Nagoya Dome was the end of the contest. Certainly, it looked that way in Tigers fifth. This saw the batters go down in order though Kuroda made the sensible decision to have Tsuru pinch hit for by Itoh and go to the relief. Something that Wada wouldn't have done. Boyer pitched Dragons fifth and retired the first two batters but then walked Ibata. Morino though couldn't repeat his feat of the previous innings and flew out to centre. Ohno had held the line but was blown away in Tigers sixth. Toritani led off the innings singling to short. Murton following the game plan hit deep into right centre to put runners on second and third with no outs. Arai failed to make the distance and flew out to right - but Tigers didn't think the steal was on. Ohno was tiring and next was Fukudome who hit hard and high - in fact the ball landed on the gap betwen the upper fence and wall and bounced back into the field. A timely double 2-1, Dragons runners on second and third. Ryota went deep to left clearing Wada who couldn't get back in time which this time brought in both runners 3-2 Tigers, runner on second. Shimizu hit over the infield into centre to bring in Ryota 4-2 Tigers, runner on first. Ohno was beaten and was replaced by Tajima who was, if anything worse. He walked Sekimoto (pinch hitter) to set up runners on first and second. Then he walked Nishioka to load the bases with just one out. Shunsuke hit and bounced the ball high. By the time it came down to Tajima he was safe on first and Shimizu was home 5-2 Tigers, bases loaded. Exit Tajima and enter Akifumi Takahashi. He struck out Toritani and then got Murton to ground out to short but Tigers had taken the lead in spectacular fashion. Having taken the lead they needed to hold it and Kuroda brought on Kubo to pitch Dragons sixth. He got the first two outs but then gave up a single to Clark. This didn't help Dragons as Shuhei Takahashi struck out swinging to end the innings.

Mutoh pitched Tigers seventh and got a quiet Arai to ground out. Fukudome flew out in foul ground but then Ryota took a dead ball. Shimizu hit over the infield to put runners on first and second and Kuroda (it sounds so much nice than Wada) brought on Hiyama to pinch hit. Crack went the ball flying off to right for a timely double - both runners making it home 7-2 Tigers, runner on second. Nishioka grounded out though and the innings was over. Andoh pitched Dragons seventh and gave up a lead off hit to Tanishige. Ohshima (pinch hitter) hit into a double play but Fujii singled. Andoh was having trouble containing the Dragons. Ibata hit a line drive to right putting runners on first and second but then the home team ran out of steam and Morino flew out to left ending the innings. Yachi pitched Tigers eighth and retired the batters in order with all the Tigers grounding out. Matsuda pitched Dragons eighth and gave up a lead off single to Wada. He was marooned on first as Matsuda punished this effrontery by striking out Hirata and Clark looking and then taking out Shuhei Takahashi swinging. Tigers ninth saw Ryota's fourth hit of the game with two outs - a single to centre. Shimzu was unable to convert and flew out to second to end the innings. Katoh took Dragons ninth and got Takehiro Donue (replacement left) to strike out. Nakata (pinch hitter) doubled but this was only about saving Dragons pride. Fujii grounded out and then Yanagida (replacement short) struck out swinging to end the game. Tigers victory.

A very nice victory with a game plan that worked and actually made a game at Nagoya Dome exciting. Great work by Tigers engine room in attacking a tiring pitcher and good defence blew the Dragons away. This is Tigers third victory in a row at Nagado and as the Giants lost takes the margin between the teams to just 5 games. Let's hope Wada manages to get himself ejected in more games. Shimizu had shone as catcher and with the bat as well and Tigers could be very pleased with the victory.