Tigers season - A second rate performance?

This season represents an even more interesting problem. Just how does one judge the Mayumi Tigers; a team of chokers or an excellent team mismanaged by Mayumi? In the end Tigers finished second by .001 of a percentage point, the slimmest of margins. Two more victories would have seen them installed as Central League champions and this is the real prize - the Climax Series and the Japan Series despite the hype are the consolation trophies should Tigers win them. More structural weaknesses in pitching and coaching became clear and we can even credit the team for doing well considering the disadvantages it was saddled with.

Pitching
Most teams would have struggled with the rotatioin problems that Mayumi had. Iwata was out for the whole season, Nohmi broke his foot, Andoh proved next to useless and Shimoyanagi continued to fade. The only one Mayumi could rely on was the excellent Kubo and later in the season Standridge. Coupled with a new catcher it is impressive that Tigers did as well as they did. The coaching team was lead by Kubo who frankly was not very good. Conservative and over-cautious, he failed to develop young talent and bring it along at the speed it was needed. None of the young pitchers Kojima and Uezono in particular prospered though the latter's prolonged sulk is getting rather tiring. Still Tigers do need a new pitching coach. Akiyama - their young draft signing was hurredly brought up to the first team and performed well though he was playing more due to desperation than forsight.
Tigers signed a couple of foreign pitchers to bolster their rotation but Fossum cannot be said to have been a success and soon found it difficult to go even five innings. He was sent down to the second team and never reappeared. Messenger showed that he could pitch brilliantly but couldn't maintain consistency. Some of his best pitching was wasted though - either by Fujikawa or by others. If he can maintain a consistent level he will be a very useful addition to the rotation. Standridge was the success story but he was signed mid-season as a panic measure not as part of a developed plan.
Tigers relief struggled - Kubota despite his slow start rapidly reestablished himself and produced some truely brilliant and awe-inspiring pitching. He was the bright spark. Kyuji Fujikawa proved once again that he can't necessarily be relied on in the really vital games and he has a lot to atone for. Spoiling Yano's retirement ceremony and blowing the championship in one game will take some living down. He was used to pitch non-save games as well and Mayumi often brought him in to pitch with a four run lead. Egusa just couldn't get on with Johjima and as a result was next to useless. He didn't look happy at all and he is normally a cheerful bustling pitcher. The only time he looked good was when Kanoh was used as replacement for Johjima late in one game. Then he was back to his brilliant unorthodox self. The relief struggled and didn't seem to respond to Mayumi. He in turn didn't seem to value them at all and rotated the members bringing up the useless Fukuhara and Sugiyama two of Kubo's (pitching coach) favourites though the value either one added is questionable. Mayumi also seemed to be lacking in judgement as to when to change pitchers and some of his decisions themselves blew games which up until that point had been winnable. Part of the problem was that pitchers who messed up or failed were sent down to the second team as a punishment. This was a very demotivating factor and contributed to the problems Tigers had. They were really lucky to have Kubota.

Catching
Johjima took over the catching duties and was excellent. He was also good with the bat and showed a strong and perceptive reading of the game. Where he needed to improve was that he lacked the creativity of the brilliant Kanoh and consequently struggled to get pitchers out of jams. This was really Mayumi's and the coaching team's fault. Rather than keeping Kanoh as second catcher and having Johjima and Kanoh teach and learn from each other, Kanoh was banished from the catching team and turned into an outfielder. This did not suit him at all and he hated it. Instead we saw Komiyama and Shimizu used as replacement catchers and the less said about either the better. Neither were anywhere near as good as Kanoh or Johjima and this pig-headedness of Mayumi can only be said to have been detremental to the catching performance. This is a typical Japanese behaviour pattern though - a young brilliant individual is not expected to show his brilliance and if he does will be hammered down. Kanoh had a lot to learn from Johjima but also a lot to teach and if the two could have got together the Egusa - Johjima issue could have been solved.

Batting
Here was Tigers plus point. The front office had assembled one of the most powerful lineups seen in Japan for a long time. They also had the coaches in place to take advantage of it - Wada (much improved over last year), Kataoka and Mayumi himself all worked to improve the batting performance of the team and it paid off. Brazell justified his recall by top scoring and we finally saw Arai's potential as a run machine when he was moved to No. 4. Toritani had a career year and became the first ever short stop in Japan to drive in 100 RBIs. Murton broke the hit record and both he and Johjima contributed over 90 RBIs. We also had great support from Hirano who's batting average was great. The fly in the ointment was Kanemoto. He picked up a shoulder injury and this affected his ability to score as it was a lingering problem. Tigers were best with him out of the side but when he returned he needed to be lower down the lineup than he was. Kanemoto was inserted at six or five with Johjima being moved to seven and Brazell sometimes going to six. This acutally broke up a very powerful lineup and gave the opposition pitchers some relief. Kanemoto was easier to get out and his production did not justify the postion he was placed in. This sentimental approach to a fading player could be said to have cost the team runs.
Sakurai showed promise but didn't play enough and picked up an injury. Lin didn't get enough playing time and neither did Sekimoto. Mayumi over-used one of his favourites - Shunsuke Fujikawa - who didn't really hit and wasn't that fast (though he was faster than Johjima). His centre defence wasn't good near the running track either and one wonders why he was persisted with. Other Mayumi favourites such as Saka and Yamato also didn't add that much to the side and the sacrifice of potential power for these guys can be said to have been a mistake.
Pinch hitting was led by the reliable and accomplished Hiyama who proved his worth again and again. Sekimoto also contributed well which was good but his power output was down. Mitsunobu Takahashi didn't do much and will probably retire and become a second team coach. Katsuragi failed to do anything and was no longer in evidence in the latter half of the season. One major flaw in the management of the batting was the number of times Hirano was asked to bunt. With a batter hitting .350 it is a waste to have him bunt as often as he was asked to and we can only say that this showed the limitations of Mayumi's tactical mind. The batting order was also strange at times Johjima was too good to bat seven and Toritani was better at No. 3 than lead off but Mayumi wanted him in lead off. Kanemoto of course should have been lower down the order and inserting Shunsuke Fujikawa in at five was incredible to say the least. Getting people to hit seems to be Mayumi's forte but anything resembling tactical appreciation has him floundering.

Coaching
Mayumi was strange and didn't understand his pitching. This caused him to leave pitchers in too long (Kubo had to pitch a 150 pitch complete game when he had already given up a run) or change them at the wrong moment. Relief pitchers didn't respond to him and Mayumi can't be said to understand which pitchers to use when. Tigers signed the left hander Kawasaki for him and he immediately misued the guy rendering the expense money down the drain. Mayumi's use of the steal was also more in hope than decision. He signalled steals with anyone and everyone frequently with runners who had no chance or very little chance of making second. The oppostion were waiting and whilst Johjima tried hard he was more often than not out. His over-reliance on the bunt was also disappointing and showed his tactical limitiations. Mayumi also lacked that vital requisite of a manager - the ability to motivate and lead. Too often he was aimless and drifting and the common factor about his pep talks was their ineffectiveness. If the Tigers struggled he could not get them out of trouble and one must say that Okada was much better than him at this. The disturbing thing about Mayumi's management is that he has learnt nothing. For Tigers to improve though they really only need to replace Kubo with a decent pitching coach. Someone who understands how to develop and use pitchers can work around Mayumi's ignorance in that particular area. Mayumi can focus on the batting and leave pitching management to the expert. Tigers do need to strengthen their pitching though and they should go all out to get either Uehara or Kuroda if either become available.