September 11th Messenger v Nakata - Just when you thought it was safe

Firstly, congratulations to Balentien on tying the single season home run record. A marvelous achievement in so few games.
After his dismal performance of the past few games Wada has been gradually rehabilitating Fujii and restoring him to the position of lead catcher (because he's senior). This worked yesterday but Fujii reverted to type today. Shimizu kept the Dragons off the scoreboard and he and Messenger exited with a two run lead after the Tigers seventh. Fujii screwed it all up and Tigers lost the game in the eighth. The rationale for switching catchers will escape most people (Fujii is the senior catcher) especially as Shimizu was handling the game well. Messenger was at something like his best and importantly was pitched sensibly. This really should set the seal on the end of Fujii's time with Tigers (expect him to be back next year). Scores

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

Starting Lineups

Dragons
1. Hirata (Centre)
2. Nomoto (Right)
3. Morino (Second)
4. Wada (Left)
5. Clark (First)
6. Shuhei Takahashi (Third)
7. Tanishige (Catcher)
8. Naomichi Donoue (Short)
9. Nakata (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Nishioka (Second)
2. Shunsuke (Centre)
3. Takahiro Arai (First)
4. Toritani (Short)
5. Murton (Left)
6. Ryota Arai (Third)
7. Shibata (Right)
8. Shimizu (Catcher)
9. Messenger (Pitcher)

Wada shuffled the lineup yet again with Arai moving to No. 3 in the order. Shibata also made his return and normally he is a good late season player so his return could be said to be welcome. Messenger started slowly and with one out he gave up a single to Nomoto. Morino and Wada could do nothing about this situation and the innings was scoreless. Nakata started his career being stunningly successful against Tigers and almost unhittable. He faded though and was just another pitcher to knock around so his return to something like his previous form was something of an unpleasant surprise. The Tigers first was quiet with the batters going down in order. Dragons second saw more evidence of Messenger's slow start. With two out Tanishige singled left. Then Naomichi Donoue singled right - runners on first and third. Still the final batter was Nakata who duly hit a grounder to third to end the innings. Tigers first hit came in their second - a two out single courtesy of Ryota. Unfortunately, Shibata on his first at bat could only manage a ground out to first making it a sterile innings. Hirata led Dragons third off with a single - Dragons had produced half their hits in their first three innings but lacked the batters to bring the runners home. Nomoto bunted him to second which meant fans could relax and Morino flew out. Wada worked a walk - runners on first and second but Messenger kept his cool and struck out Clark swinging to end the chance. With two out in Tigers third Nishioka doubled but Shunsuke couldn't convert and managed to fly out to left.

Messenger picked up pace in Dragons fourth and retired the batters in order. Unfortunately so did Nakata who was disturbingly like the annoying little tic of old. The batters all went down without reaching base in Dragons fifth and after the early pressure Messenger was now enjoying himself. So probably was Nakata but he is a Dragon and we will never know how they feel. In Dragons sixth Wada managed a one out single. Clark struck out swinging again and then Shuhei Takahashi flew out to short ending the innings with Wada marooned on first. With one out in Tigers sixth Nishioka singled to centre - he really has proven to be a boon to the side. He made second on Shunsuke's ground out to third but Arai could only find the glove of Naomichi Donoue and was the final out of the innings.

With one out in Dragons seventh Messenger strayed and dead balled Naomichi Donoue which surprised everyone. Nakata bunted him to second which also produced the second out and lifted the pressure. Hirata rapidly flew out to left to end the innings. Nakata after having pitched so well reverted to the bumbling oaf Tigers fans love so much. Toritani led off Tigers seventh doubling to right and putting the ball over Nomoto. Murton flew out but then Ryota walked in four - runners on first and second. Next was Shibata who hit along the line to right for another double 1-0 Tigers, runners on second and third. Fukudome (pinch hitter) was deliberately walked to load the bases and here was Wada's big mistake. He was too keen to pinch hit for his catcher without thinking of the consequences of pulling Shimizu. When Wada gets hold of stupid idea he holds onto it for dear life. Pinch hitting Shimizu who is capable of hitting a sacrifice is a pointless exercise. There was no double play on either beyond the more exotic and rare variations which anyone can produce. Hiyama (pinch hitter) was next and Nakata managed to dead ball him - oshidashi 2-0 Tigers, bases loaded. At this point Takagi acted sensibly and replaced Nakata before he could do too much damage with Akifumi Takahashi. Nishioka as he does in these situations was out without adding to the score and Shunsuke hit his first pitch to second for the innings ending ground out. Tigers could have made more of the situation but they had taken a nice two run lead. Katoh took over the pitching - maybe an acknowledgement that Messenger could not work with Fujii anymore but the decision to bring on Fujii was a disaster. It all started with one out. Morino singled left breaking his bat and then Wada walked in four as Fujii tried to avoid the inside pitch. Clark was next and singled left bringing in a run 2-1 Tigers, runners on first and second. Shuhei Takahashi flew out and then Wada decided to replace Katoh. This decision was also difficult to understand. He had gotten two outs and would have been able to get the final out. Why bring Andoh on? Andoh then walked Tanishige in four which was a big mistake and poor calling by Fujii - bases loaded. Takehiro Donoue (pinch hitter) singled right to bring in the tying run 2-2 scores tied bases loaded. Then Andoh dead balled Yamasaki (pinch hitter) - dead ball oshidashi 3-2 Dragons, bases loaded. I don't think I have ever seen two dead ball oshidashis in a game but the Andoh/Fujii combination had messed up again and a nice comfortable victory had been blown. Finally, Hirata flew out to right. It had all been avoidable and once again Wada had acted incompetently. Tigers could still get back into the game but the stuffing was knocked out of them by the sheer incompetence of the eighth. They also faced Asao who was as difficult to deal with as ever. He retired Tigers clean up in order in a situation tailor made for his skills - a demoralised opposition trying to find a direction. Fukuhara took over for Dragons ninth and struck out Ohshima (replacement centre). Morino walked but Fukuhara took on Wada and struck him out swinging. Finally Clark grounded out to short to end the innings. Asao started Tigers ninth and got Ryota to fly out to right. With the danger man out of the way Takagi switched to Iwase for the final two outs. The first was Shibata who struck out swinging. Then Uemoto (pinch hitter) flew out to left to end the game. Dragons victory.

Once again a comfortable situation had been wrecked by poor management decisions. The decision to replace Messenger had been good and surprising but the decision to replace Shimizu unfathomable. Dragons are a difficult team to deal with - beyond Fujii's limited skill and Shimizu had established a clear advantage over them. To pull him for minor reasons when his absence could cost the team victory was an act of supreme folly. One actually wished that the situation had panned out nicely with Fujii holding the lead but one wasn't surprised that it didn't. Wada thought short term and paid for that approach. His short term decision wasn't even sensible - an extra run could have easily come from the bat of Shimizu or even the walk. Once again a game thrown away.