September 15th Enokida v Ogawa - Balentien breaks the record

Congratulations to Wladimir Balentien who broke Sadaharu Oh's single season home run record. A great achievement when first posted the record had been devalued by being pickled in aspic and had become an embarrassment to Japanese baseball. By letting the record be broken Japanese baseball has restored it to it's rightful place as an exceptional event whilst also moving on. It's a pity that it took them so long to do it and the question now is how many home runs Balentien will finish with.
Murton sat out this game with an automatic one game suspension having received his second ejection of the season. Wada therefore reshuffled his lineup bringing Fukudome to third and moving Takahiro Arai to fifth. One can't really say it worked especially as the worthless Hidaka was once again behind the plate. Why Wada stubbornly continues to pair him with Enokida despite the evidence that it only loses games escapes most people. However, it is probably something to do with justifying Hidaka's existence in the top team. Come to think of it using Hidaka as a starting catcher is the utmost folly anyway. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  6 0
Swallows  3 0 2 0 0 1 1 2 X 9 15 0

Starting Lineups

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

Swallows
1. Yamada (Second)
2. Kawabata (Third)
3. Iihara (Right)
4. Balentien (Left)
5. Yuichi (First)
6. Aikawa (Catcher)
7. Kawasaki (Centre)
8. Kawashima (Short)
9. Ogawa (Pitcher)

Swallows would get another fine performance out of their starter - this one coming from Ogawa. However, it didn't start out so well for the home team. The first pitch of the game was loose and Nishioka hit nicely to left centre for a double. Wada had, of course, to waste an out and the Pavlovian bunt was laid down taking Nishioka to third. Fukudome was next and hit a fly out to centre. Here Tigers messed up - Nishioka tagged up and then started down the path but gave up and returned to third. They wouldn't get another chance all game. The final batter of the innings was Toritani who grounded out tamely to first. The Enokida Hidaka pairing was immediately in trouble. Yamada started off with a single to short. He was bunted to second by Kawabata in a rare bunt that worked. This was because Iihara the next batter doubled along the left baseline 1-0 Swallows, runner on second. Next was Balentien and of course everyone was hoping that he would hit that home run (even Tigers fans). It was his fourth pitch an outside straight inside the zone that he chose to hit into the Tigers stand for a two run home run 3-0 Swallows. The ground errupted as Balentien made his triumphant progress round the bases to receive the presentation at home plate - 56 home runs. Things got worse for Enokida - Yuichi made his third swing but Hidaka didn't take and Yuichi made third. Aikawa doubled along the right baseline and put runners on second and third. Kawasaki took a dead ball to load the bases and then relief came in the form of a Kawashima double play to end the innings. To say this was an inauspicious start to the game was an understatement. Tigers second was quiet - Arai led the parade of batters getting out without getting on base. Swallows second was also quiet and one began to hope that things had settled down and that Tigers would be able to pull back the margin. The Tigers third though wasn't encouraging. Nishioka singled with two out and called on to hit Shibata could only ground out to second. Swallows third though showed that the second had only been a pause for breath. Iihara grounded out to third and then Balentien came up again. The first three pitches were balls but then Enokida put one higher up inside the zone and Balentien latched onto this hitting it into the stand for another home run 4-0 Swallows. This was No. 57 and the All Asia single season record. An out followed then Aikawa singled left and then Kawasaki hit into left centre with Aikawa running all round the bases to make home safely 5-0 Swallows, runner on second. This was the end of Enokida who had not enjoyed his outing at all. Tagami took over and induced the innings ending flyout from Kawashima.

Fukudome led Tigers fourth off with a double - hitting over Kawasaki who struggled to get back in time. Toritani flew out but Arai's ground out took Fukudome to third. However, Hidaka grounded out weakly to the pitcher ending the innings. In Swallows fourth Kawabata doubled along the right baseline with two out. Iihara hit right but as Kawabata went for home he was tagged out at the plate and there was no score. Testing Fukudome's arm is never a good idea. In Tigers fifth Shunsuke singled with one out. Uemoto (pinch hitter) popped up to short and this time Nishioka failed flying out to centre to end the innings. Tagami had done quite well but needed replacing and Watanabe took over. With two out in Swallows fifth Aikawa singled but nothing came of this. Balentien struck out swinging for the first out by the way. Ogawa struck out Shibata and Fukudome in Tigers sixth but then walked Toritani. However, he was able to strike out Arai to end the innings. Watanabe started Swallows sixth well but then ran into problems. With two out he walked Yamada who made second on a wild pitch. Hidaka's work behind the plate was totally substandard. Kawabata singled to centre to bring in the runner 6-0 Swallows, runner on first. This put Watanabe into a funk and he walked Iihara and then Balentien on a full count to load the bases. A bit of relief came from Yuichi who grounded out to first to end the innings.

Hidaka led off Tigers seventh with a single. Nothing could move him off first not even the use of Hiyama (pinch hitter) in the last at bat of the innings. Watanabe was replaced by Tsutsui for Swallows seventh and with one out the latter walked Kawasaki. Another out followed but then Ogawa doubled along the left baseline and if anything demonstrated the worthlessness of Hidaka's calls it was that hit. Kawasaki raced home 7-0 Swallows, runner on second. Yamada was next but he flew out to end the innings. Nishioka led off Tigers eighth singling to right - he and Fukudome were the bright sparks in a very lacklustre Tigers performance. Shibata grounded out to second forcing out Nishioka and then Asai (replacement right) hit into a double play to end the innings. One knew that Tigers wouldn't be scoring this game. Kawabata started Swallows eighth with a single to second. Then Iihara got a straight for his first pitch and blasted it into the stand for a two run home run 9-0 Tigers. Balentien flew out to right but Yuichi singled right. No one else got on base though and the innings ended quietly. The final question was would Ogawa get his complete game shutout. The answer was yes with the Tigers batters succumbing tamely and all grounding out to end the game. Swallows victory.

The decision to use Hidaka at catcher had been a disaster and events had fully fitted in with expectations. This doesn't detract from a superb performance by Ogawa - a complete game shutout on 106 pitches. Tigers had had no answer. But of course the game belonged to Balentien and the packed crowd had seen what they wanted - a new record holder.