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PL's Race for First

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PL's Race for First
With the pennant race in the Central League looking less and less like one after every Dragons-Tigers game, most of the excitement should now come from the Pacific League. The top three spots (held by Lions, Hawks, and Fighters) are separated by less than five games:
  1. Lions
  2. Hawks (1.0 game back)
  3. Fighters (4.5 games back)
Since the Inter-league play ended, the Marines have seemingly faded away, and the defending champs are now in fourth place and nine games out of first place. It's never a good idea to count them out, but they might struggle to even make the playoffs this year.

I tipped the Fighters to finish third, and so far, the prediction is holding up. I have my doubts about whether they'll finish higher, however, because the Lions and the Hawks usually turn it up a notch during this time. I still think it's going to come down to the match-up between Seibu and Softbank at the end.

The conclusion to this season definitely bears watching.
Comments
Re: PL's Race for First
[ Author: himself | Posted: Aug 16, 2006 2:45 AM | FSH Fan ]

The Hawks and the Lions are now tied atop the PL, with the Fighters only 3.5 games back. [Current PL Standings - Borisov's Pro Yakyu]
Re: PL's Race for First
[ Author: Guest: mariner | Posted: Aug 18, 2006 10:03 AM ]

It seems a bit hard to fathom how the defending champs have dropped so far behind in the race, especially after they did so well against their CL counterparts. Are the Marines all of a sudden not able to hold their own against teams in their own league?

They still have time to catch the Fighters, if not Seibu and Softbank, but you're right, they do face an uphill battle at this point.
Re: PL's Race for First
[ Author: himself | Posted: Sep 3, 2006 9:49 AM | FSH Fan ]

In the time between my last post and this one, the Fighters have closed the gap between first place and third place to only 1.5 games. As of right now, the Hawks are up half-game on the Lions in first. It now seems safe to write off the Marines, who are 11 games back.
Re: PL's Race for First
[ Author: Something Lions | Posted: Sep 3, 2006 11:02 PM | SL Fan ]

What an incredible race, and because the higher seeded team in the playoffs has such an advantage that it's crucial for teams to finish well.
Re: PL's Race for First
[ Author: mijow | Posted: Sep 4, 2006 11:53 AM | HT Fan ]

- ...and because the higher seeded team in the playoffs has such an advantage that it's crucial for teams to finish well.

Yes, that's the best thing about this particular playoff system, and I'm actually glad that the Central League will be doing the same thing next year. I mean, look at what's happening in the CL right now - you've got Chunichi six games ahead (they would have needed five or more for the extra game advantage to kick in). And even the Giants and Carp would still have an outside chance of sneaking into third place - making the rest of the season more meaningful for the fans of five out of six teams.

But of course getting to the playoffs is one thing - winning the thing is much, much more difficult for the team finishing third. And if the top team dominates the league, they receive the extra game advantage. Which was the crucial difference in the two playoff series played so far in the PL.

Anyway, I know this has been discussed to death in other threads so I won't go on about it here.
Re: PL's Race for First
[ Author: himself | Posted: Sep 19, 2006 4:38 AM | FSH Fan ]

The top spot is still very much up for grabs - Fighters, Lions, and the Hawks are separated by all of one game. Each team has five or less game remaining, with the Fighters playing the Hawks in a two-game series in the very end (at Sapporo).

I must say, I'm rather surprised (and a bit annoyed) at the lack of attention this topic is getting, considering that this is such a close race that should definitely go down to the last day.
Re: PL's Race for First
[ Author: Guest: bmab | Posted: Sep 19, 2006 9:13 AM ]

Such is life in the Pa-League. I think if the Pa-League wins it this year, there is simply little doubt left that the leading league has switched, especially with the NPB shifting gears as much as it has been these last few years. My suggestion to you, get Sky Perfect or some kind of satellite provider. Much better television than watching cr***y actors and (ah-hem) "talents" admiring sushi and yakiniku.
Re: PL's Race for First
[ Author: Deanna | Posted: Sep 19, 2006 3:44 PM | NIP Fan ]

Yeah, the race has been absolutely amazing. What's probably going to kill the Fighters is that they haven't tied any games, though - they're the only NPB team this year that has no ties. It seems like they're going to end up having more wins than the other teams, but also more losses, thus a worse percentage, and thus worse seeding.

I have to admit, I just came back to the States and I don't even feel like getting caught up on what's going on with the MLB races. It just doesn't seem quite as exciting.
Re: PL's Race for First
[ Author: Something Lions | Posted: Sep 21, 2006 4:40 PM | SL Fan ]

Yeah, because of the huge 1 game advantage in the second round of the playoffs, it's absolutely crucial to come in first from this year because winning 3 out of 4 is a lot more difficult than winning 3 out of 5 (by about 20%). It's the Lions' bats versus the Fighters' and Hawks' arms, really exciting and interesting finish to the season, and upcoming playoffs of course.
Re: PL's Race for First
[ Author: himself | Posted: Sep 24, 2006 11:16 PM | FSH Fan ]

It looks like the Fighters and the Lions are going to fight it out for the top spot. The Hawks look destined to finish third after dropping two straight to Orix.
Re: PL's Race for First
[ Author: firearmofmutiny | Posted: Sep 25, 2006 5:48 AM | CD Fan ]

All 3 teams took horrible losses this weekend (Seibu 1-2, Ham 0-2, SoftBank 0-2). Advantage: Seibu. All they need is for Saitoh to do his thing against Nippon Ham, then Matsuzaka to do his thing against Lotte, and they've got first place.
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