Rhodes Hits 55!
Down by two runs in the 5th inning with Matsuzaka on the mound for the Lions, Rhodes hit his 55th home run of the season to tie the Japan record set by Oh (currently manager of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks) in 1964. From what I've heard (I haven't seen it, yet), all of the sell out crowd 48,000 fans knew it was gone from when it left the bat.
Kintetsu managed to tie the game in the 6th inning, but Seibu retook the lead in the 8th. Then, right after Kadokura strick out Cabrera with two down in the 9th, he gave up a home run to McClain to give the Lions a two run lead.
Matsuzaka was still in the game, having thrown 143 pitches going into the 9th. And he got a pitch up high to lead off batter Kitagawa who lined the ball over the fence to left for his 5th home run of the season. Ohmura grounded out to short for the first out, then Ichihara drew a walk to bring up Rhodes.
Rhodes was swinging big right from the start, but did managed to settle down after getting two strikes on him. In the end, though, he swung and missed a pitch well outside with the count full for the second out.
But, the excitment was just beginning. With no strikes and two balls, Nakamura swung and the 48,000 fans were once again on their feet! Nakamura put both arms in the air and watched the ball sail over the right field fence for a gyaku-ten sayonara home run! Kintetsu wins 7-6!
Matsuzaka is bent over on the mound in disbelief. The crowd is in an uproar as Nakamura's team mates go out to greet him at home plate for a good head pounding! Rhodes was one of the first to greet him after the torment with a big hug.
With the win, Kintetsu's magic number drops to 1. Both Nakamura and Rhodes said it in their hero interviews, "Zettai yusho suru yo!" ("We're definately going to win the pennant!")
Wait, wait! Hold up!
[uh-whuh!]
Okay, now that I've properly jumped onto the Buffaloes Bandwagon...
All right! Way to go Tuffy! And way to go Kintetsu! I would love to see a Kansai team in the Nihon Series! As one would expect, on my regular MLB BBS, I've had to deal with people using Rhodes' accomplishment as evidence of the inferiority of NPB. The way I see it and the way I've argued it, Tuffy's more of a product of the Japanese leagues than he is an ex-major leaguer. I'm afraid that only a few Japanese will agree with me, but I hope the Japanese see Rhodes accomplishment as evidence of the good scouting and coaching of the Kintetsu batting staff rather than foreign invasion. And now I wonder... will Nori hit 50??? I wait in anticipation.
On a side note, Kintetsu has the worst ERA, least stolen bases, and has given up more runs than any of the other 11 teams in Japan. That they've also scored more runs, on more home runs (205 of which 100 were hit by Rhodes (55) or Nakamura (45)) than any other team in Japan says a lot about their itemae dasen.
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