July 10th Iwata v Gonzalez - Hanging by a thread

The title refers to Mayumi's managerial career which it looks could actually be over. The fanbase is very angry and this has reached the parent company Hankyu who are now taking an interest. This game was another with koku yakyu performances and errors by both sides. The umpires played a significant part displaying a level of incompetence which hit both sides. For example the double play in the second which saw Arai given out despite the fact that Sakamoto's feet never touched second base or Kanemoto's scoring hit after Gonzalez had struck him out (the umpire having no idea what a strike zone was). These were all lovingly displayed on NHK and would make interesting viewing if anyone evaluated this particular team of umpires.

Back to Mayumi, if he goes it will likely be at the All Star break. A loss to the Giants next game would mean that Tigers would have to rely on other teams to win the pennant (remote though that situation is). However, if Mayumi goes the new kantoku's goal would be third place and a playoff spot. He will probably be allowed to resign (not sacked) and the likely replacement would be Yamada who would have the backing of Hankyu. Okada was able to survive the pressure because he had powerful backing but Mayumi doesn't have the support and is vulnerable. Hankyu are not prepared to upset the fans with a clearly inadequate kantoku and in the Internet age Tigers can no longer escape bad publicity with poor performances. Scores.

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R  H E
Giants  0 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  0  0  2 7 14 2
Tigers  0 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0  0  0  0 5 14 2

Starting lineups

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Matsumoto (Centre)
3. Ogasawara (First)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Kamei (Right)
6. Abe (Catcher)
7. Wakiya (Third)
8. Furuki (Second)
9. Gonzalez (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Hirano (Centre)
2. Sekimoto (Second)
3. Katsuragi (Right)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Arai (Third)
7. Toritani (Short)
8. Kanoh (Catcher)
9. Iwata (Pitcher)

This is not a game either pitcher can look back at with satisfaction though how much they were affected by the abysmal umpiring is also important. In Giants first Matsumoto hit but nothing came of this. In Tigers first, Hirano led off with a hit. Gonzalez tried to pick him off but his throw was so bad that Ogasawara missed it and Hirano took the opportunity to advance to second. Sekimoto then bunted him to third and the sacrifice fly was on. Gonzalez, though, was up to the challenge and struck out Katsuragi and Kanemoto in succession. Iwata then ran into trouble in the Giants second. He seemed to have trouble locating his pitches and with the count full Kamei hit to right. Abe followed with a right hit and then Wakiya hit to load the bases with no outs. This brought up Furuki who grounded out to Sekimoto. Sekimoto fired the ball to Kanoh to get Kamei going for home and then Kanoh threw to first for the double play. Only - the throw was abysmal, far away from base and Brazell had no chance. One runner home 1-0 Giants runners on second and third. This brought up Gonzalez who you would have thought was an easy out. Well...no. Iwata's pitching was so bad that he left one available and Gonzalez got enough bat on it to put it over first and just inside the baseline for a two base hit 3-0 Giants, runner on second. Sakimoto hit to set up runners on first and third but finally Ogasawara grounded out to end the innings. Tigers second saw Arai reach first as Wakiya messed up. Then came the umpire's mess up, the double play that never was. The thing is Mayumi saw this clearly but made no attempt to protest or argue the decision, a clear indication that he hadn't the energy to fight or protest. Iwata was still shakey in Giants third. Kamei hit with one out but then tried to steal second. Kanoh's throw was good and he was out. Abe then flew out to end the innings. Tigers third was quiet as Gonzalez managed to establish some control and retire the batters 1-2-3.

The same happened in Giants fourth and it seemed as if Iwata had settled down. Gonzalez lost his control in the Tigers fourth. Sekimoto led off and hit the first pitch he received. This seemed to unsettle Gonzalez who gave up a hit to Katsuragi to set up runners on first and second. A pass ball took the runners to second and third and Gonzalez faced Kanemoto. Here he actually struck the Tigers left out but the umpire was blind and so Kanemoto hit the next pitch to left bringing the runner home 3-1 Giants. Why Katsuragi didn't try for home is a mystery as he had time and he also had the pace. Tigers base running under Mayumi has been all talk but no real change. Still runners on first and third with no outs. Brazell hit a deep fly to right (and here he was unlucky, he hit three deep shots which were just caught by the wind. They could each have easily been home runs) but it was enough for Katsuragi to make home 3-2 Giants, runner on first. Arai hit to centre and then Toritani walked to load the bases. Next batter Kanoh who punched the ball to right for a timely hit 3-3 scores tied. Kamei was standing in and was able to cut off the runner from second so the bases were still loaded. Iwata hit along the first baseline, a ball which bounced in but the umpire ruled foul and then struck out. Finally Hirano struck out but Gonzalez had squandered his lead. In Giants fifth Matsumoto hit to left. This was just a hit but Kanemoto messed up the take and Matsumoto advanced to second on the error. This would prove costly. Another out took Matsumoto to third and then Ramirez hit a bump ball to Arai. This is normally an easy out as Ramirez doesn't have the pace he used to but Arai's throw was a joke and Ramirez was safe on first. Of course Matsumoto was home 4-3 Giants, runner on first. Kamei struck out to end the innings. Tigers fifth was one of those 1-2-3 innings which no one wants. In Giants sixth Iwata dead balled Wakiya with one out. Furuki struck out and somehow Gonzalez walked to set up runners on first and second. This was poor pitching and one wonders why Iwata was still on the mound. Sakamoto hit to left, bisecting Kanemoto and Hirano and the Wakiya was home 5-3 Giants, runners on second and third. Finally Ohmichi (pinch hitter) flew out to right to end the innings but Giants had shown their strength. Tigers sixth was another non-event.

Amazingly Iwata continued to pitch in Giants seventh. He had given up five runs and shown no control and thrown over 110 pitches. Surely it was time to replace him. With one out he walked Ramirez and then with two outs he walked Abe. Finally Wakiya grounded out to end what could have been another embarrassing innings for Iwata. Gonzalez was wisely replaced but the replacement Micheal was not on form. He gave up a leadoff hit to Kanoh. Kanoh then stole second and Nakamura faced Lin. He hit nicely to right for a two base hit and Kanoh was home 4-3 Giants, runner on second. Here Mayumi chose to use a pinch runner Fujimoto who promptly allowed himself to be picked off by the replacment pitcher Yamaguchi. This was truely amateur stuff from the kantoku and Fujimoto. A plain waste. Hirano though hit and Sekimoto walked. Takahashi (pinch hitter) hit nicely to right only to be out to a magnificent diving catch by Kajimae (replacement right). This really was the play of the match. Still Hirano made third and then Kanemoto hit towards Sakamoto. The latter is actually a rather average shortstop and he demonstrated this by missing the take in what was ruled a centre hit driving in Hirano 5-5 scores tied runners on first and second. Once again Brazell was unlucky, flying out just next to the fence as the Koshien wind gave him no lattitude. Atchison pitched the Giants eighth and retired the batters in order and a Tigers victory began to look possible. Toyoda pitched Tigers eighth and despite looking only average actually did very well. Toritani hit with one out but then Kanoh hit into a genuine double play to end the innings. For Giants ninth Mayumi chose Fujikawa, in the hope he would inspire the side. Fujikawa was his usual brilliant self, the struggles of early season forgotten and he retired his batters easily. Tigers ninth saw Hirano hit with one out. Sekimoto bunted but then Hiyama (pinch hitter) struck out in the most pathetic way possible. He had never looked like he was going to hit at all and the game went into extra innings.

Giants tenth was pitched by Egusa who showed some excellent stuff and got all three batters he faced to ground out. For Tigers tenth Hara chose Ochi. He also was really effective and the batters fell in order. Egusa returned for Giants eleventh and ran up a 0-3 count against Furuki but then lifted his pitching and worked the count to 2-3 before getting the batter to fly out - nice pitching. With two out Sakamoto hit but Kajimae struck out to end the innings. Ochi ran into trouble in the Tigers eleventh as Toritani took a leadoff hit. Kanoh bunted him to second and then Sakurai hit to right. Kajimae was standing in and so Toritani could only make third, still runners on first and third with one out the sacrifice fly was a real possibility. Hirano battled hard but his fly was too near and so Toritani couldn't make home and stayed on third. Finally, Sekimoto grounded out to third who actually dropped the ball but it landed in front of him and he had time to throw to first for the final out. So who would Mayumi pick for the Giants twelveth. He had Watanabe available and this would have been the logical choice. Instead Mayumi chose Nohmi - why ??? He is not the pitcher to chose for the last innings of a close game. Nohmi started by striking out Ogasawara but then panicked against Ramirez. Whilst Egusa had thrown three balls to Furuki but lifted his game Nohmi threw two balls and then got worried. His third pitch was dispatched nicely to centre and Giants had a runner on first. Kamei then hit to left and Suzuki (pinch running for Ramirez) who had set off to steal made third. Abe was next and he was just lucky. He swung and bounced the ball over Brazell at first for a hit, runner home 6-5 Giants runners on first and third. Mayumi then decided to replace Nohmi but once again instead of Watanabe brought up Sajikahara in another incomprehensible decision. Sajikahara proceeded to load the bases by walking Lee (pinch hitter). He then faced Furuki who hit deep to centre. Hirano took the catch but Toritani failed to make the relay and another Giant was home 7-5 Giants, runners on second and third. Toritani should have tried, it wasn't a guaranteed out but the chance was there. Terauchi (replacement third) grounded out to end the innings but Sajikahara had put the game beyond the Tigers reach. After the Tigers eleventh and the Giants twelveth, the Tigers twelveth was a bit of an anticlimax. The Giants pitcher Nomaguchi had no problems retiring the Tigers batters in order. Giants victory.

Neither Iwata or Gonzalez had been on form in this marathon game. However, the strange choice of Nohmi and Sajikahara had doomed the Tigers. Neither pitcher has demonstrated the level of reliability needed at the highest level. The choice of them both instead of the considerably more exprienced and consistent Watanabe shows Mayumi's total unsuitability to be Tigers manager. Even so Tigers were chasing the Giants the whole game and would have been lucky to snatch a win.