September 1st Akiyama v Imai - Wada's lightweights

Wada's experiment with Toritani at No. 4 continues to embarrass. A look at Toritani's stats up until he became No. 4 indicates no particular power, ability to drive in runs or ability to hit for extra bases. He is useful at No. 3 but only that. So why put him in the clean up position when he isn't driving in runs at a prodigious rate? The obvious candidate to replace Murton was Arai who drove in runs more frequently than Toritani and that surely is what No. 4 is for. The big mistake of course was to get rid of Brazell so precipitously and replace him with a non-event. Brazell is now performing rather nicely for Lotte. Generally, one can say that Wada's side is rather lightweight and his player selection reflects his tastes. Imai wasn't particularly proficient but Tigers had no one to drive in runs at the vital moments despite Carp's pitchers handing them good scoring positions. Akiyama had a tendency to be too high but Fujii seemed unable or unwilling to deal with the issue and bring his pitcher down. He is as mediocre as ever but replacing him with the even worse Hidaka was not the right course of action. The game was a sad display of managerial ineptness and a fair slice of luck for the Carp. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

Carp
1. Maru (Centre)
2. Kikuchi (Second)
3. Ka'aihue (First)
4. Eldred (Left)
5. Matsuyama (Right)
6. Soyogi (Short)
7. Kimura (Third)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Imai (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Nishioka (Third)
2. Uemoto (Second)
3. Murton (Left)
4. Toritani (Short)
5. Takahiro Arai (First)
6. Imanari (Right)
7. Shunsuke (Centre)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Akiyama (Pitcher)

Weather conditions were much better for this game which started encouragingly enough with no one from the Carp getting on base. However, Akiyama was already manifesting a propensity to throw too high in the zone and Fujii was doing nothing to counter it. A more competent catcher would be trying to bring his pitcher down to the bottom of the zone. Tigers first was also quiet and no one impressed. Carp's second started with Eldred flying out - one wonders why he was inserted in at No. 4 by Carp. Maybe a case of not having anyone else. Next up was Matsuyama who got a fork that didn't come down far enough and he drove it comfortably into the right stand for a solo home run 1-0 Carp. Soyogi grounded out but Kimura singled left and then Ishihara hit right - runners on first and second. This wasn't a worry though as the next batter was Imai who struck out swinging to end the innings. A one run margin this early in the game was also not anything to get too concerned about. What was worrying was the waste of the chance in the second. With Toritani out, Arai walked. Imanari didn't do anything but Shunsuke hit into the left corner allowing Arai to reach third and Shunsuke to stop on second. Tigers had a great chance. Fujii was next and his hitting powers seem to have dried up of late. He is still swinging instinctively at the first pitch he thinks is hittable but these are more often than not going straight to fielders. This was the case with this one which flew into the glove of right to end the innings. Maru was able to lead off Carp's third with a walk. He was bunted to second by Kikuchi. Ka'aihue was lured into flying out to third Nishioka managing to take the ball comfortably. Then Maru tried to steal third - always a difficult task and despite the poor throw from Fujii, Nishioka was able to tag him as he slid in for the final out. With Akiyama out in Tigers third, Nishioka hit nicely into the gap between right and centre. The pitch was perfect for this and Nishioka was able to chose his slot comfortably - runner on second. Next was Uemoto who hit over the infield - he mistimed his swing and the ball died as it cleared Kikuchi and then didn't roll far. This was enough for Nishioka to race home 1-1 scores tied, runner on first. Murton flew out to right - hardly what was needed and then Uemoto stole second. Still Tigers could not convert and Toritani hit a grounder straight to Ka'aihue to end the innings. Still Tigers had drawn level.

Carp's fourth saw the situation stay fixed - no one was able to get on base and the innings was of fairly short duration. With two out in Tigers fourth Shunsuke singled left and in an attempt to increase the chances tried to steal second. This was so telegraphed though that Ishihara had no trouble in throwing him out. Kimura walked to lead off Carp's fifth and then Ishihara flew out to centre. Kimura had come too far off base and was caught when the ball was whipped in to Arai. He was chased down and tagged out. Imai grounded out to second where Uemoto made a meal of it - sliding spectacularly and disturbing the dirt. Fujii and Akiyama went down in Tigers fifth and then Nishioka hit again. This one was hit straight and over centre just grazing his glove for a double. Uemoto walked but the walk ball was impossible to take and Tigers were able to put runners on second and third. A great chance but all Murton did was hit straight to short to end the innings. Then came the lucky shot to end all lucky shots. Maru led off Carp's sixth and swung at his first pitch. The ball flew off into left field and bounced off the foul pole for a solo home run 2-1 Carp. Totally, unexpected but they all count. The next three batters didn't trouble the scorer but with Tigers batting the way they were it was going to be difficult to overturn even this slender and fortuitous lead. Toritani worked a walk to lead off Tigers sixth though. Then Arai hit hard and well but just failed to clear Kikuchi who took a good jumping catch. Kikuchi also landed perfectly positioned to throw to first and catch Toritani off base for a double play. Imanari who is beginning to look out of his depth grounded out to second to end the innings.

Two outs followed in Carp's seventh before Kimura singled. This didn't help as Ishihara flew out to left and the innings was over. Yokyoyama pitched Tigers seventh and with two down walked Ryota (pinch hitter). Tigers failed to take advantage of this largess with Nishioka grounding out to end the innings. Wada had decided a change of catcher was needed and had brought on the execrable Hidaka who proved himself to be as bad as previous impressions have given. Kubo pitched the eighth and with one out Maru singled to centre. Kikuchi shaped to bunt but it was just a feint and he hit into centre breaking his bat. The ball landed safely though and Carp had runners on first and second. They couldn't use them though as Kubo struck out first Ka'aihue and then Eldred to end the innings. Nagakawa took over for Tigers eighth and with one out gave up a single to Murton. Then Toritani singled - runners on first and second. Arai struck out swinging in an at bat which seemed to say - 'I'm not interested'. It was very perfunctory and poor. A wild pitch moved the runners round to second and third and just a good single would score them but once again Imanari was out of his depth and struck out swinging. Boyer took over for Carp's ninth and if Kubo had had trouble with Hidaka it was almost a disaster for Boyer. Matsuyama led the innings off by singling to centre. Soyogi grounded out to first forcing out Akamatsu (pinch running for Matsuyama) but reaching base safely. Then Kimura hit a dribbling grounder but Boyer couldn't decide which base to throw to and Carp had runners on first and second. Ishihara was next and hit his first pitch to second for the innings ending double play. Tigers ninth was pitched by Mickolio who got Shunsuke to line out to second. Hidaka struck out and then so did Hiyama (pinch hitter). Or rather the umpire who wanted to end the game gave him out when Hiyama checked his swing. Hiyama was momentarily incensed by this unprofessionalism and one recalls the Murton incident as well. Certainly something needs to be done to improve the quality of the umpiring. The plate umpire didn't even consult the third base umpire in reaching his decision. It probably wouldn't have affected the result though. Carp victory.

It had been a lucky victory and there is no disguising that Tigers were disappointed by the result. But a team has to score the runs and when your opposition puts runners on second and third on two occasions by their mistakes you only have yourself to blame if you don't take advantage of the opportunities presented. Wada's current lineup is not firing and needs to be re-examined rapidly.