Is the Fix in with Hanshin?

I'm not in Japan to see what you're seeing, but

1. baseball is a funny game, as Bob Uecker has said, so strange stuff does happen,
2. the Tigers are 14.5 games up with 30 to go, and I can't see that margin totally disappearing (I mean, if the Tigers win a mere 10, the Giants have to win 80% of the rest of their games),
3. fixes are a bear to execute and keep quiet -- particularly over such an extended period of time, and
4. the Tigers are basically winning as often as their runs scored and runs allowed would predict.

I'd have to see a lot more to even suspect what you are suggesting might be going on. My guess is in a week or two, you'll think like I do about this issue.

Jim Albright

Actually, I imagine the shi no rodo is exactly why they are scuffling. They've been going at a clip for so long, I'm sure they are pretty tired. Three weeks on the road is no joke.

I think the "fix" you're referring to in the press was Hoshino-kantoku threatening to not give the hooligan Hanshin fans a "doage" (when they throw the manager in the air after clinching). He was inferring that he was going to either clinch somewhere other than Koshien or that he wasn't going to accept being thrown in the air at Koshien. I haven't heard about any other "fixing."

Today's Nikkan Sports points to starting pitching as the key to Hanshin's first half success and second half failure. Igawa was 11 and 3 in the first half, 4 and 2 in the second half (although his ERA did improve from 3.09 to 2.86). Moore, before going on the DL, was 10 and 2 in the first half and 0 and 2 (in three games) in the second half, ERA jumping from 3.75 to 6.57. Irabu's 10 and 2, 2.52 ERA in the first half exploded to a 2 and 4 record with a 5.40 ERA. Yabu, having one of the best years of his career, went 7 and 2 in the first half, then 1 and 0 to start the second half, but has also gone on the DL.

Somebody had mentioned their worry about Igawa being used too much and running out of gas. It sure looked that way last night as the BayStars knocked him out after two innings - Igawa not fooling anybody. (The Giants' Hayashi had everyone fooled the previous night, so maybe Igawa just looked so much easier to hit than Hayashi.)

I think there just may be something in the Tiger mentality that belives in the curse of "shi no rodo" ("death road"). A 3 and 10 record on this current trip away from Koshien suggests that something is wrong with them. But I don't think there's any kind of fix.

Actually, I thought I had read an interview with a former long-time retired ace with Hanshin who refered to such an article (that he was attempting to rebuff). But I never did locate the source article so, probably misunderstood the discussion. Sorry and thanks for the education.

I'm new to Japanese sports and wasn't sure how much choreographing goes on. In this case, I didn't mean to imply a missing bullet theory, just a slow down to keep it close so people stay tuned and keep buying them Tigers roasted nuts. But I can't argue with the numbers. Keep up the good work in enlightning us simple folk (and if you have any clout with anyone in Japanese baseball please get them to stop pulling the signal at 8:50 (which is usually about the time the game is getting good)!

Hanshin is contending with three big injuries right now, Hamanaka, Hiyama, and Kataoka. In addition, Akihiro Yano was out for a few games with a bad back and probably should have been rested more. Arias' bat should also probably be put on the DL and Imaoka was 4-44 as of a couple of nights ago in the first ten games of the road trip.

But there's one other factor I've been wondering about. I wonder if the players are mentally worn down from putting up with Senichi Hoshino's act? It's a long season and any irritant looms larger as players get more fatigued. Moreover, the players are no doubt already putting pressure on themselves to compensate for the injuries their teammates are dealing with, and having Hoshino in the background just makes that worse.

No fix, to be sure. Too bizarre to envision.

But Westbaystars hits the issue on the nose -- Hoshino-san's use of pitchers, especially his penchant for letting starters (like Igawa) go the distance when not necessary. This is the only issue that arouses my tora-kichi warning light right now: Are the collective Tiger arms up to their post-season demands? Not living in Japan full-time and able to see the games in person, I'd love to hear from Tiger fans who have better input on this.

I forgot to mention in my previous post that the simple effect of being so far ahead could be a contributing factor in that players may start to look to the Japan Series rather than the job at hand. The long road trip and pitcher fatigue (possibly from overuse) as suggested by the other two posts would certainly be legitimate causes for the current difficulties.

Jim Albright

Michael, who says the Tigers fans are "hooligans"?

To fellow hooligans - do you think Hoshino-san is being a stick in the mud by refusing doage (getting thrown in the air)? I can't believe he wants to clinch outside of Koshien. No! Maybe he thinks doage is cliche.

NFL players had a cute habit of pouring a huge tub of icy Gatorade over the head coach's head when they clinched a championship - what would Hoshino-kantoku say about that?

Anyway, I just finished watching tonight's game and maybe the Tigers are back. They looked good on both offense and defense and completely dominated the BayStars (8-0) like they have done for most of the season.

And what about George Arias? Nobody has mentioned him - he's been in a terrible slump during the entire road trip. Tonight he bounced one high off the wall and parked one in the left field bleachers in his next at bat. If he is out of his slump, watch out.

I think a combination of fatigue and bad luck were mostly responsible for the losing streak. I watched most of the games and they couldn't seem to catch a break, and they looked lackluster.

It will be interesting to see what happens next week - their first 3 games at home are against the Giants. I hear that Mr. Watanabe (the Giants' owner) has ordered Hara to win second place in the Central League - it is very important to him.

- Michael, who says the Tigers fans are "hooligans"?

The headline of the article in Nikkan Sports when Hoshino-kantoku made his "threat" about not giving Hanshin fans doage read that he was addressing Hanshin "fuuragan." Refer to the last three paragraphs in this article for the incident in question.

No fix at all, Hanshin just returns to its true form like previous years. Just adding Kanemoto and Irabu, who is now the "real" Irabu, is not enough to be dominant. Hanshin is not deep as the Giants, so don't blame Hoshino.

Hanshin is bringing in a lot of money, so they should spend it on good players and manage to get promising draft picks like the Giants do.