Chiba Takes Inter-League For Second Year

Congratulations to Lotte. But if Yakult hadn't messed up it's two make up games against Nippon Ham and Rakuten then things could have been different.

I think the (admittedly CL biased) biggest stories of this year's inter-league play were:

• The complete reversal of fortunes for the two Tokyo teams. Yakult couldn't win for toffee before the inter-league games started, while the Giants were sitting pretty at the top of the CL looking invincible. Contrast that with Yakult's second place I.L. finish and Yomiuri's alarming drop off (which at one time saw them lose 8 games on the trot) that saw them finish in 11th place, with only Orix having a worse record.


• The performance of Rakuten. The Eagles proved themselves to be far more than the second rate team many had written them off as, finishing a respectable 7th place, and taking 3 games off the "mighty" Hanshin Tigers in the process. Well done to those Sendai boys.


• Chunichi holding their own against PL opposition. Where as in 2005 they collapsed during the inter-league games, which effectively ended their push for the CL pennant, in 2006 they did much better to stick with Hanshin at the top of the CL standings.

Well, now the CL and PL will resume their traditional hostilities and, speaking as a CL fan, it's shaping up to be an exciting remainder of the season, with the rejuvinated Yakult Swallows trying to catch the Dragons and Tigers who will be battling it out for the pennant (and hopefully it will see the continued decline of the Giants).

I take heart from the fact that in 2005, the CL and PL's top performers in the inter-league games went on the contest the Japan Series. Here's hoping history will repeat itself!

Not to toot my league's horns, but for the second straight year, the Pacific League had one more win than their Central League counterparts - 108 to 107. Lotte once again finished first, while the Hawks were the next best Pacific League team, at fifth place.

The pennant race in the PL is very sure to be an exciting one as well, with the top three teams (Marines, Lions, Hawks) all within 1.5 games of each other. Not to mention the fact that the Eagles may actually make a bid to get out of the cellar in the second half of the season.

Again, congrats to Lotte for finishing top again.

Posts about Nomura-kantoku and his work with the Eagles and Tigers have been moved to here.