May 20th Nohmi v Yamada - The lost decade

The lost decade was the period in the 1990s when Tigers were permanently in the cellar. Managers were non-entities and players unable to find any direction. I wasn't watching Tigers then but I have read about the period and the parallels came back to me last night watching the Tigers play the Hawks. There really was no directioin, no drive and no commitment. This lack has to be laid at the door of the management who have let the team drift. It is not that Tigers were guaranteed a good start to the season but given that they didn't start well the manager did need to step in. Mayumi's approach has been to let things drift on the hope that they will somehow right themselves. He has a talented and able team but doesn't see that it needs proactive management to keep it functioning. But then Mayumi is incapable of proactive management as are his coaching team. None of the players are receiving the guidance they need and it is doubtful that the coaching team can give this. We are also seeing players playing who are not worthy of their places, Kanemoto and Uemoto. Kanemoto is past it and Uemoto is still not of first team short level. And Hawks? Hawks were worrying - they looked professional and focused. Their batters targeted the left field because the fielder was Kianemoto and they knew how ineffective he was. The irony was that despite Yamada's excellent pitching (and he was excellent) Nohmi was better but was let down by dreadful fielding of which the chief culprit was Kanemoto. He really does need to be eased out - he is batting above his level and he cannot field left with any effectiveness. Swallows were able to dump Takada mid season so why can't Tigers dump Mayumi? Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
Hawks   0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 X 4 5 0 

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Shunsuke (Centre)
2. Uemoto (Short)
3. Toritani (DH)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Murton (Right)
6. Kanemoto (Left)
7. Brazell (First)
8. Johjima (Catcher)
9. Sekimoto (Second)

Starting pitcher: Nohmi

Hawks
1. Kawasaki (Short)
2. Honda (Second)
3. Uchikawa (Left)
4. Cabrera (First)
5. Kokubo (DH)
6. Tamura (Right)
7. Matsuda (Third)
8. Hasegawa (Centre)
9. Hosokawa (Catcher)

Starting pitcher: Yamada

Hirano sat this game out - his hamstring still not being better. He was replaced by Sekimoto at second and Shunsuke at lead off. Shunsuke hit to short and made first safely. In a standard move Uemoto bunted him to second and wasted an out. This innings was Yamada's worst - he wasn't secure and was vulnerable. Toritani walked to set up runners on first and second. Arai bounced the ball to Yamada but the runners were able to advance to second and third. This was a genuine chance and needed Murton to do something. His hit was nice but Hasegawa was well positioned and took a good catch to end the innings. Hawks first two batters make the top of the order sound like a motorcycle manufacturer's convention. They both fell easily but Uchikawa walked. He would be the only Hawks runner on base until the sixth. Cabrera grouned out to short to end the Hawks first. Gotigersredsox has mentioned that he thought Uemoto's throw wasn't that good. From what I can see, the throw is fine but positioning and decision making are not up to scratch. Tigers second and with two out Johjima hit to left - the ball falling just short of a home run. Johjima though just made first and not second - one would expect this to be a two base hit and it shows how slow he is. Hawks second was quiet with Nohmi using his fork to devastating effect. His pitching really was a joy to watch. By Tigers third Yamada was into his stride and retired the batters in order striking out Toritani. Now a question - both Toritani and Murton thought it necessary to start their at bats with an attempted bunt. What was the point? With Murton it would lead to a strike but really the mind shudders to think of what would happen if they had actually bunted successfully. Nohmi was superb in Hawks third and started by striking out Hosokawa looking and moved rapidly to end the innings without damage.

Tigers fourth and with one out Murton hit to third and then comfortably beat the throw. This was good stuff but Murton proceeded to ruin it with an elementary mistake. He allowed himself to drift too far off first and Yamada's accurate throw blocked his return. He was run down and tagged out - this isn't koko yakyu it's supposedly professional. Kanemoto struck out to end the innings. Nohmi didn't let this worry him and retired the batters in order, Uchikawa, this time falling struck out looking - an awesome pitch from Nohmi. Tigers fifth and no one got on base. Whilst Yamada wasn't quite pitching with the brilliance of Nohmi he was throwing excellent stuff and no one could get on base. Hawks fifth was over in the blink of an eye - it took Nohmi only five pitched to dispose of the three batters. Shunsuke led off Tigers sixth guiding a wayward pitch into right where Tamura was pretty slow in responding. Shunsuke stopped at second and with no outs this represented a real chance for Tigers. It didn't come off - with no outs a sacrifice fly was a real possibility but Mayumi wanted Uemoto to bunt. This was a disaster and a stupid move. Yamada's pitching was sharp and two bunts failed. Then Uemoto switched to hitting and swung ineffectively at a fork to strike out. A deep hit fly would have been enough to move Shunsuke to third. Toritani tried one of the bunt hits but then struck out swinging. Arai grounded out to first and the chance was over. Up till now Hawks had not had a hit and only one runner on base. Hasegawa led off with a left hit. He was bunted to second by Hosokawa. Next was Kawasaki who deliberately hit into left. Kanemoto ran towards it and raised his glove but missed the take very badly. This wasn't good fielding - a good left should take those without breaking sweat and it was a bad mistake by Kanemoto. Hasegawa was home 1-0 Hawks and Kawasaki was safe on third - Hawks are devastatingly fast round the bases. Honda was next and hit straight to short. Uemoto dived and snagged the ball but threw to first for the second out. However, Kawasaki was home 2-0 Hawks. This was also poor fielding, Uemoto was standing too far infield. He needed to be further back near the running path. He could have then locked the runner onto third before throwing to first for the out. This is what Toritani would have done. Uemoto by standing too close had cut down his options. He possiblty thought that a squeeze was possible but that would have been unlikely. So through no fault of his own, Nohmi was two runs down. Uchikawa hit - to left of course but then Nohmi struck out Cabrera to end the innings.

Tigers seventh was inept. Murton tried a bunt hit and then grounded out to short. Kanemoto flew out and Brazell struck out. Hawks seventh was also quiet with Nohmi dealing very effectively with the middle of Hawks order. Tigers eighth and from Nohmi looking at a complete game we had gone to Yamada looking at a complete game. He got Johjima to ground out but then walked Sekimoto. This didn't profit Tigers as the next two batters could do nothing and were out. History would repeat itself in Hawks eighth. Once again Hasegawa led off with a hit - to left again. He was bunted to second by Hosokawa which brought up Kawasaki. Kawasaki was looking of course for the left hit and the chance to score off Kanemoto. This take was a bit more difficult as Kanemoto had to dive but he still missed the take - getting his glove on the ball but deflecting it. Once again the runner on second was home and Kawasaki was on third 3-0 Hawks. Kanemoto had really blown things. Nohmi by now was totally demoralised - he had done his best but the rest of the side had spurned his efforts. He walked Honda to set up runners on the corners and then Mayumi decided to bring on Fukuhara. It had been a brilliant pitching display let down by other members of the team. Fukuhara faced Uchikawa who would strike out. But before this Honda tried to steal second. Johjima's throw was abysmal being far to high and landing in the centre outfield. Of course, Kawasaki was home 4-0 Hawks, runner on third. Fukuhara did not look pleased to be replaced by Kojima and one can sympathise with him. He hadn't done anything wrong and had pitched well. Kojima got Matsunaka (pinch hitter) to fly out to end the innings. Tigers ninth saw an ineffective clean up falling very easily to Yamada who picked up his first career complete game shut out. Hawks victory.

Nohmi had pitched his heart out but had been let down by the rest of the team. Kanemoto is past it and should never be used as a starting member again. Uemoto needs considerable training before he can be an effective first team short. But chiefly Tigers need to dump the ineffective management and coaching team. They have the talent - in fact they are a more talented team than the Hawks. However, the Hawks are playing better, they have a better manager and they are more motivated. They can choose the time to strike whilst Mayumi's outdated views and prejudices only restrict and restrain the Tigers.