September 27th Standridge v Muranaka - The cursed Kawabata

Mayumi is pretty beleaguered at the moment. Even though he has another year of his contract to run his lack of basic management ability and inability to handle a team are clear to everyone. The fans hate him and the press are pretty hostile as well. At the moment he has the support of Sakai owner, Numasawa GM and Minami President but this may change and there have been emergency meetings between them on this topic. Furthermore with two high quality managers available change is rather expected. Of the two Ochiai is the better candidate from the purely managerial viewpoint but may well not fit in character wise. Nomura is a case in point here but then the front office didn't allow him the freedom he should have had. Nashida would be better from that point of view but doesn't have Ochiai's management and motivational skills. If Tigers do change their manager and dump Mayumi it will signal that the organisation has changed and that the policy of choosing managers because they are old boys and not because they are talented is dead. This would be a big change but one that is long overdue. However, this would be a big change and the current management are not of the level of Miyazaki or Kuma and so may not seize the nettle.
This game also showed an example of Mayumi's lack of management skill. Standridge is struggling and has been terrible in his past (including this one) three starts. He has difficulty pitching and there is something seriously wrong. However, when asked if Standridge would be dropped down to ni-gun Mayumi dithered. This is a fairly clear decision; Standridge does need a rest if he is to be of any use in the final games of the season and next season. Mayumi continues to use Fujii as catcher and this is proving to be a problem. Pitchers are failing and this is partly their fault but the sheer consistency of the failure also points to a problem with the catching. I can remember pointing out in my pre-season review that I didn't fancy Tigers' chances if Fujii caught regularly and it seems that my prediction was accurate. Most opponents have figured out his patterns and Tigers starters are struggling to get past six innings a lot of the time. His inability to drive in runs is also a big drain on the side. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't such a bad catcher and one has to put him in the Noguchi class. He needs to go down to ni-gun and stay there with Kanoh being brought back in as a matter of urgency. Tigers also look set to lose Murton next year. His agent is talking about him wanting to return to America. This may well be a negotiating tactic but it is also very possible that it is a genuine desire. Like the loss of Atchinson this would blow a huge hole in Tigers lineup. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Hirano (Centre)
2. Yamato (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Murton (Right)
7. Kanemoto (Left)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Standridge (Pitcher)

Swallows
1. Aoki (Centre)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Kawabata (Short)
4. Hatakeyama (First)
5. Balentien (Right)
6. Miyamoto (Third)
7. Iihara (Left)
8. Aikawa (Catcher)
9. Muranaka (Pitcher)

Tigers started well with Hirano hitting the first pitch of the game into right for a single. We then had that bankrupt philosophy - the bunt to second carried out by Yamato. Toritani took a dead ball to set up runners on first and second. Quite simply Muranaka was abysmal and there for the taking. Arai though managed to strike out while Brazell hit to centre bringing in the run 1-0 Tigers, runners on first and third. It was up to Murton who failed and struck out swinging. If Muranaka was abysmal, Standridge was worse having no control and no way of establishing it. He walked Aoki in four to lead off Swallows first. Another bankrupt bunt took Aoki to second and then Kawabata hit deep into centre over Hirano for a timely two base 1-1 scores tied. The lead had not lasted long. Next was Hatakeyama who accepted a nice fat pitch and hammered it into the stands for a two run home run 3-1 Swallows. Balentien flew out to right and then Miyamoto grounded out to third to end the innings. Muranaka was just as poor in the second as the first. Kanemoto led off the innings with a hit. However, Fujii hit into a double play to end that situation. Fujii gets more and more useless as time goes on especially as Muranaka proceeded to walk first Standridge and then Hirano - Tigers had runners on first and second. Yamato though flew out in foul ground and Swallows had escaped without damage. Swallows second was actually quiet with the batters falling in order. At least Standridge didn't walk Muranaka. Toritani snatched at his first pitch and flew out to short to start Tigers first. However, Arai walked. Then Brazell hit to right and Tigers had runners on first and second. Next was Murton who with a sweet swing of his bat dispatched the ball into the stands for a three run home run 4-3 Tigers. Kanemoto flew out to centre and then Fujii struck out swinging. Aoki came around again to lead off Swallows third and hit to left. He was bunted to second by Tanaka and here Mayumi panicked and pulled Standridge though the latter wasn't likely to get out of the innings without damage. Watanabe replaced him and got Kawabata to fly out. Then Hatakeyama grounded out to short. The lead was intact.

Tigers fourth was noteable for Watanabe getting a rare at bat but otherwise was quiet and over quickly. Watanabe of course returned for Swallows fourth and then suffered from a bout of Fujii. With one out Miyamoto walked. Iihara flew out but Aikawa hit to centre - runners on first and second. This brought another pitching change but maybe a catching change would have been a good idea as well. Fujihara took the mound and walked Whitesell (pinch hitter) to load the bases. Not what was wanted but then Aoki grounded out to short to end the chance and the innings. Muranaka also departed at this point - having been pinch hit for he was replaced by Hidaka who took Tigers fifth. This was almost a disaster for Swallows as well. Toritani hit to left and then Arai walked again. Runners on first and second but Brazell decided to hit into a double play. Tigers now had a runner on third but with two outs. Murton walked which left Kanemoto who struck out swinging to end the innings and blow the chance. Two outs fell easily in Swallows fifth but then Fujihara walked Hatakeyama. This brought another change of pitcher and Fukuhara was the new pitcher. He got Balentien to strike out swinging and end the innings. Hidaka was much better in Tigers sixth and retired the batters in order. Tigers ran into trouble in the bottom though. Miyamoto hit to centre to lead off the Swallows challenge. He was bunted to second by Iihara and then Aikawa hit to left setting up runners on first and third with no outs. Tigers were in the soup. Kawashima (pinch hitter) was next and he hit straight at Fukuhara the ball bouncing off the Tigers pitcher where it was fielded by Arai. Miyamoto on third set off for home as the throw came in. Fujii was blocking the plate and probably would have made the tag but he dropped the ball on impact with Miyamoto 4-4 scores tied runners on first and third. Another pitching change was in order and Enokida replaced Fukuhara. Enokida was not on form and coupled with Fujii this was a recipe for disaster. Aoki took a dead ball to load the bases. Tanaka hit his first pitch to Toritani who threw it to home for the force out, Fujii holding onto the ball this time. The double play did not come off which meant that Enokida faced Kawabata. There was a big element of luck in his hit - it flew off to right and stayed inside the foul pole for a grand slam 8-4 Swallows. Enokida was replaced by Nishimura and he got Hatakeyama to fly out to right. Swallows had the game sown up.

They would still live dangerously though as Tigers tried to fight their way back into the game. Oshimoto pitched the Tigers seventh and after striking out Shibata (pinch hitter and replacement second) and getting Toritani to fly out he gave up consecutive hits to Arai and Brazell. It was down to Murton again but with runners on first and third he flew out to left and the chance was missed. Swallows seventh saw Miyamoto hit with one out but Iihara tried to hit and managed to end the innings with a double play. Matsuoka pitched Tigers eighth and allowed no runners on base. It looked as if the game was winding down and Swallows were gradually asserting their control. Kojima pitched their eighth and struck out Aikawa. Morioka walked in four and was pinch run for by Miwa. However, Aoki struck out swinging - two outs and one to go. With Tanaka at the plate Miwa tried to steal second but was thrown out to end the innings. Ogawa was taking no chances and had Lim pitch Tigers ninth. He wasn't so good and walked Hirano. Shibata hit to right and Tigers had runners on first and second with no outs. A chance but they blew it. Toritani hit into a double play which did get Hirano to third but left Swallows needing just one out. Arai was the final batter and struck out swinging - he really had no option but to try the big hit. Game over and Swallows victory.

Swallows have overcome their fear of the Tigers and can fight back quite successfully if they need to. Tigers in the meantime are fading - they don't seem to be able to maintain the intensity and don't seem to be able to hit at the vital moments. This game saw a tailing off in motivation even though Swallows relief wasn't wonderful at all. Coaching and management issues are all combining to remove Tigers as a contender even for third place. A B class finish is more and more likely this season.