August 15th Tsutsui v Greisinger - The missing villiage idiot

Cast you minds back to Tigers/Carp on August 8th when Mayumi started Tsutsui and then used Kanemura as a relief. The experiment failed miserably and the Carp cruised to an easy victory. Now fast forward to the game today against the strongest side in the Central League. One would have expected a proper starter but no the failed experiment is repeated with the same result. The irony is that Tigers took Greisinger to pieces but because of Mayumi's stupidity lost the game. This man is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot. Sakai owner really does need to reconsider his decision and sack Mayumi before he can do much more damage. The Tsubamegun guys complain about Takada but not even he could conceive of such a folly and then repeat it. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers  0 0 0 0 6 0 1 0 0 7 10 0
Giants  1 5 0 2 1 0 0 0 X 9 16 2

Starting lineups

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

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Takuya Kimura (Second)
3. Abe (First)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Kamei (Centre)
6. Tani (Right)
7. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
8. Furuki (Third)
9. Greisinger (Pitcher)

Tigers first was much more tightly controlled by Greisinger than by Utsumi. He did walk Toritani but nothing came of this as Kanemoto flew out to end the innings. Tsutsui's first was dreadful and showed that Mayumi had learned nothing. This guy is a good relief pitcher - he is not a starter and should not be used as one. He struck out a no doubt bemused Sakamoto but after that wasn't really up to it. Kimura hit his third pitch for a two base. Ramirez walked to set up runners on first and third, Kimura having reached third on Abe's ground out. Kamei then hit a two base to right centre 1-0 Giants runners on second and third. Tani struck out to end the first but already the signs were there. Tigers second was quiet and this time Greisinger retired the batters 1-2-3. Giants second was anything but quiet. Once again Tsutsui started with a strike out and then Furuki grounded out but then everything went pear shaped. Greisinger hit to centre and then Sakamoto hit to left to set up runners on first and second. Kimura hit a two base to right driving in both runners 3-0 Giants runner on second. Tsutsui then dead balled Abe and this brought up Ramirez. He crushed his second pitch over the fence for a three run home run 6-0 Giants and oops. Kamei lined out to Hirano to end the innings. Once again Tigers innings (the third was quiet), the pinch hitter Lin (yes Tsutsui was pulled that early) being unable to affect things. Kanemura took the mound for Giants third and was immediately in trouble. Tani and then Tsuruoka hit. The next three batters though fell with Kanoh managing to pull Kanemura round though the effort was enormous.

Tigers fourth saw Kanemoto produce a two base but nothing came of this. However, the Giants third had just been a lull in the storm as Kanemura now suffered. With one out Abe hit a solo home run 7-0 Giants. Then with two out Kamei walked. A pass ball took him to second and then Tani hit nicely to right centre for a timely two base 8-0 Giants, runner on second. Tigers were being skinned alive. Finally Tsuroka grounded out. However, their fightback came the very next innings. Brazell hit to right. Sakurai grounded out to Sakamoto who messed it up for the second night in a row, runners on first and second with no outs. Kanoh grounded out but moved Brazell round to third and then Takahashi (pinch hitter) grounded out to first but this was messed up and Tigers had runners on first and third with their first run 8-1 Giants. Akahoshi hit to load the bases but Hirano couldn't convert and flew out to short, bases still loaded with two outs. Here Greisinger really ran into trouble. The hot Toritani hit to left driving in two runs 8-3 Giants runners on first and third. Kanemoto hit a two base to right driving in a run 8-4 Giants runners on second and third. Then Arai hit to right to plate both runners 8-6 Giants, runner on first. Finally, the man who had started it all, Brazell flew out to end the innings but really with better pitchers Tigers could have been in the lead. Mayumi's choice for the Giants fifth was a pitcher who has been bleeding runs steadily without being spectacularly bad, Watanabe. He was much better under Okada and this is an indictment of Mayumi's regime - he is a good pitcher. However, with one out Kudoh (pinch hitter) had a two base to right. Watanabe should have been able to deal with this threat. Another out followed but Kimura hit to left driving the runner in 9-6 Giants, runner on first. Abe flew out to end the innings and Giants had a three run lead back again. Tigers sixth was pitched by Ochi who was much more effective than he has been before and he retired the batters in order. For Giants sixth Mayumi used Egusa. He wasn't wonderful but great work by Kanoh got him out of the innings without damage. He started out the innings with back to back hits by Ramirez and Kamei. Tani though hit into a double play but this left a runner on third (Ramirez). He then walked Tsuruoka to set up runners on first and third but then struck out Furuki to end the innings.

Ochi returned for Tigers seventh and immediately gave up a hit to Akahoshi. Akahoshi tried to steal second but was thrown out. Hirano though hit a three base to right centre and that was the end of Ochi. Yamaguchi took the mound and struck out Toritani but then Kanemoto slammed another two base driving in the run 9-7 Giants runner on second. This became runners on first and second when Sakurai walked but Brazell struck out to end the innings and he really needs to hit more. Giants seemed to be just hanging on. Egusa pitched their seventh and this time only gave up a two out hit to Kimura. He then struck out Abe to end the innings. Significantly for Giants though Nomaguchi retired all three Tigers batters in their eighth. This was a huge innings for the Giants as it gave them a bit of a breathing space. Atchison pitched the Giants eighth and gave up a two out hit to Ohimichi (pinch hitter) but nothing came of this. So to Tigers ninth, two runs behind and with a pitcher Kroon who has melted down against Tigers before. However, he is pitching on home turf and started with a strike out of Akahoshi. Hiyama (pinch hitter) hit but Toritani flew out and then Kanemoto struck out to end the innings. Giants victory.

In the end Giants had had enough to hold onto their lead but they had been pushed all the way. However, despite all the good batting from Tigers (including a much improved performance from Kanemoto) they had suffered from the pitching and the poor selection of the starter and first relief. What beggars belief is that the mistake with Tsutsui and Kanemura was repeated and one has to ask why. It is not as if Tigers are short of talented young pitchers and the persistence shown with Nohmi shows that any problems can be overcome. However, it almost a stubborn headed stupidity not to admit your fault and to change that is prevalent here. Mayumi and his coaches need to heed the advice, 'If you're in a hole, stop digging'.