Mori-kantoku Under Fire
This year, Yokohama is 11th between both leagues in runs scored, having scored 149 runs, 12 more than Hanshin. But look at home runs: 19! Cabrara has more (he hit his 24th this evening - 5/21).
So, like these critics are saying, since Yokohama doesn't have the home run production, letting the machine gun kick in is the only way to score.
Mori-kantoku and others had critisized Gondoh-kantoku, and Ohya-kantoku before him, for their lack of appriciation of the bunt. Could it be that some people are coming around to see that it isn't the optimal strategy?
One curious thing I saw Saturday morning (the
Giants-Yokohama game was broadcast here in L.A.
at 2 a.m.) was Takuro Ishii singling and then
Mori immediately has Kinjo trying to sacrifice him to second. Pardon me? Let's do the math here: you
have a guy on base who can fly. You're going to
make last year's batting champ BUNT? Why not
have Ishii steal second and then allow Kinjo to try to hitting him across? Instead, in this instance, Kinjo, for one of the rare times, pops the bunt attempt up, giving the Giants a free out and Ishii isn't moved along. It's only THEN that Ishii steals. This is backward. And God knows, Abe has had his defensive problems (like on that pop fly that was Etoh's ball and Abe basically obstructed his teammate from catching it), in which case you want to put as much pressure on him as possible. That means run on him again and again. But Mori's brand of conservative baseball doesn't do that.
It will be interesting to see what he does
when Anthony Sanders comes on board. I hope he'll
just let Anthony play. I think Sanders got kind of
a raw deal in Seattle. I hope he prospers with the
Stars and Mori won't suffocate him.
I believe the old saying goes, "If you play for one run, one run is all you'll score". I think lot of people lost view of the fact that when Mori-kantoku was stacking up the Seibu pennants with the bunt, he also had Kiyohara and Akiyama banging them in as well. The BayStars actually seem like a team that could be like the Mariners; utilizing speed, productive outs, and timely hitting to score large amounts of runs, rather than bunting. I imagine Gondoh-kantoku is feeling a little vindicated, though. Three straight years of winning ball, and one championship, and then when Mori takes over, the BayStars get locked into a vicious fight with the Tigers for last place. So, now the question becomes, will Yokohama give Mori his walking papers after this season, or the next? Any thoughts?
I've found the pattern that Mori doesn't force a bunt. Have the lead off runner hit a double. After that, everybody appears to be free to hit away to bring him in. And it's started off a number of "typical" (in the old BayStars' fassion) machine gun rallies. Nobody at first with no outs, we get to hit!
I've been anticipating Sandars' arrival for a while now. What's taking so long?! We need somebody with some pop in his bat, and fast! As I said, Cabrera has more home runs alone than the entire BayStar lineup!
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Flipping on NTV when I got home (and they did show Ichiro and Shinjo highlights during a break in the action), the OB there were ripping into Mori-kantoku. There, having to compare everything to the Giants, one OB commented that since Yokohama doesn't have the home run power that the Giants have, getting a runner to second with one out can't often lead to a big inning. OK, so his logic may not be impeckable, but he did recover by saying that Mori-kantoku, through continuous bunting practice during the Spring, has gotten the 'Stars to learn well how to get a runner to second with one out, but they don't seem to know what to do after that.
A year ago, Nagashima-kantoku commented that no lead was a safe lead against Yokohama, as their "machine gun offense" could, and often did, kick in and turn many a game around in the late innings. But it seems that Mori-kantoku doesn't like that "hit or miss" tactic, and prefers the more "sure" way to produce runs - well, single runs anyway.