Sometimes they misunderstand

Jim Allen's columns are always worth reading and often thought provoking. However, sometimes you wonder if he actually knows anything about Tigers. Take his recent comments about Tigers performance last year ('Who has what it takes to slay the rejuvenated Giants' 20th March 2010). Jim identifies two problems outfield defence and catching. He then goes on to praise Yano stating, "Yano was good when healthy last year". One has to respond with a really? Yano had an appalling year and was poor behind the plate. In fact he was so appalling that Tigers management cut his salary from 210 million yen to 70 million yen. Andoh who declined in the latter half of the season when he was paired with Yano had a winning record with Kanoh (Tigers main catcher) and a losing record with Yano. This is not the work of an on form catcher. Tigers star behind the plate was Kanoh who was superb in his first full year. So much so that many Tigers fans thought he should have been the main catcher for this season and wondered why we signed Johjima.
The second flaw according to Jim concerns outfield defence which was actually quite sound. There was a hiatus which resulted in some poor performances but this was due to problems between the players and management. Sakai owner recently made a full public apology over this. Tigers problems were due to neither factor but due to a lack of pitching (Fukuhara for example) and poor tactical management. These problems haven't gone away and will continue to be a factor as Tigers attempt to bounce back.