Climax Series Predictions? J-Series?

I'm going to have to say Yomiuri and Nippon Ham will meet up in the Series.

Hanshin's pitching just doesn't strike so much confidence in me. There isn't one starter than really stands out, their pen has been overworked (Fujikawa and Kubota especially, Kubota, for example, has been in 89 games so far while Fujikawa has been in 70 games). The increased workload, in my opinion, is going to catch up sooner or later with them and I just don't see Hanshin's starting pitching going very far, meaning the pen will be used even more. Not to mention, Williams has been battling shoulder injuries all year. It just doesn't look very bright for Hanshin's pitching, the way Okada has overworked them.

Give Sweeney the Rock. History has proven that he comes through in the big games and when under stress.

I think it will be Giants-Fighters, but I bet some people will pick Dragons-Fighters.

I'm going Giants in the CL, and Fighters in the PL, however I'll make a mini-upset prediction:

First stage PL SoftBank defeats Lotte. I know it's not a "real" upset pick, but it would be a third place over a second place on the road.

I've been watching the Hawks all year, and in the immortal words of (former grunge band) Alice in Chains, "something's gotta turn out right."

In my little happy world, the Giants and Fighters meet up in the Series, and it ends in 6 games, with Micheal striking out Ogasawara for the final out of the Series.

In reality, I have no idea what's going to happen.

My heart bleeds Tiger orange, but it's not beating with confidence this year - the pitching is too spent. I think the Giants have some magic going for them - great clutch hitting - and I'd predict them as Japan Series champs this year.

Do note, I have never ever, not once, picked a winner! (oh the heartbreak of Baltimore 1969). I do think also that Lotte could surprise a lot of folks in crunch time - so they're my "upset" pick.

Anyway, let the games begin. Tora tora tora!

It's a hard one to call indeed. Upsets are definitely possible. The Hawks have played very well against the Fighters, but need to get by the Marines, who they did not play so well against. With a similar story line, the Tigers have owned the Giants this year, but I don't see them getting by the Dragons in Nagoya. Then again, in a 3-game series I guess anything can happen.

To be conservative, I'll also predict a Fighters - Giants finale. I like this match-up, as it would be interesting to see the forgotten team (in the years they shared the Tokyo Dome together) beat up on the legends. And, as someone else noted, nothing would be nicer than to see Micheal strike out Ogasawara in a rocking Sapporo Dome to finish off the Giants.

The heavyweights have logged in. I guess I will be the only one to predict the Hanshin Tigers-Nippon Ham Fighters Japan Series. If the Tigers can squeeze past the Dragons, then they own the Giants for whatever reason.

Secretly I want to enjoy the 10% off in Kansai stores once the Tigers make the Series.

- Secretly I want to enjoy the 10% off in Kansai stores once the Tigers make the Series.

Wow, zman is actually an obasan? I wouldn't have guessed.

As for predictions - guess I'm a little late to have to stick my neck out too far, but I'm a bit disappointed the SoftBank-Lotte series went the full 3 games, because it deprives us of a Darvish vs. Naruse match up. With the Saturday start to the PLCS, I guess Darvish will be able to start twice, to Naruse's once? I've got to give that Series edge to Nichi-hamu on the whole.

I'll call Fighters vs. Dragons in the Japan Series final, with the Fighters repeating as champs.

When was the last time someone won back to back?

Seibu Lions. 3 in a row, 1990-1992. Won 6 out of 7 Japan Series between 1986-'92. Missed out in '89, or it could have been 7 in a row.

My upset prediction, as usual, went down in flames. I said it last year: read my prediction(s) and bet opposite. You'll be very rich in no time.

Thanks Ken. Haha, a reliable contrarian indicator is just as valuable as positive indicator.

Well, my coin came up heads for a change, as the Marines defeated the Hawks in stage 1. But I'll be biting nails for the Tigers now.

By the way, several of the Climax Series games are being shown on cable channel TV Japan, so do check their on-line schedule (not the print version) for times.

Ojisan really. Hence the man usage. Perhaps you didn't notice. It's after the "z."

Off topic, but upsets have been in the making in the US playoffs. In the NL two new young and lightly paid teams are competing now for a Series appearance. The dreaded Yankees are gone, losing to another upstart team filled with nobodies. Only the Boston Yankees remain from the expected big money ranks (no typo).

So will this upset fever reach NPB? Go Tigers is all I have to say. If they do win perhaps Christopher will return to his first love, cricket.

Yeah, I saw it.

Speaking of no typos, there wasn't one there either. I was just kidding zMAN, as looking for the depaato discount sounded very obasan-poi. Just a joke.

Aaaanyway, the Boston Yankees? OK man, fair enough. Yes, we do have the largest payroll of any of the teams left, and we are apparently the favorites. I'll give you that. But calling Cleveland an upstart team full of nobodies is way, way wrong. They tied with the Red Sox for the best record in MLB with 96 wins. Grady Sizemore was on the cover of SI and is a legit 5-tool All Star. Victor Martinez is probably the best offensive catcher in the game. Then throw in Hafner, Peralta (who led AL shortstops in HRs), and their pitching (2 19-game winners in Sabathia and Carmona, and a nasty reliever in Betancourt), etc. They're not upstarts. And they're not nobodies. They're a really good team.

Went to school in Cleveland and know they love their Indians big time. They have come together as a team as mid-season they were floundering. And it's a help that they are in a division that is, well soft is too soft a word for it.

Should be a good series.

I used to be a Sox fan until they went the way of the Yankees. But that is the way of sports it seems with a few exceptions, like in the NL now with the D-backs and Rockies.

I don't normally participate in these prediction threads, as I'd rather watch events unfold rather than try to divine what those events will be. But I don't agree with many of the predictions that I've been reading, so I figure that another opinion is good food for thought going into this year's Nippon Series.

I'm predicting Chunichi in 5.

There are two major reasons for this:

1. Pitching: Both teams are fairly even when it comes to starting pitching. The bull pens are also comparable. But Micheal's self destruction in games 4 and 5 of Stage Two of the Climax Series doesn't compare favorably to Iwase.


2. Batting: Chunichi has shown that they can capitalize on runs given just one chance in a game. That 1 run on 11 hits in game for of the PLCS has really placed a seed of doubt in my mind that the Fighters can pull off the same.
There are those who say that the Dragons can't win a short series. Well, Ochiai-kantoku showed everyone that he can adjust his game for the short series in the recently concluded Central League Climax Series. He's gone all year taking good care of his staff to see to it that they could make it through the long haul. During the season, he only pulled out the Iwase card to work over 1 inning three times. However, Ochiai-kantoku did the same four times in five Climax Series games.

I'm sure that zman will quickly point out that I objected to such use of the closer during the textual play-by-play. I'll be the first to admit that I did. But I see more clearly now. This isn't a regular season game when Iwase's use is unpredictable. Going into these post season series he is given a limited time span where he needs to give a little extra, and knows that he should be ready to do so. Preparation for this short sequence of series is and should be different than during the regular season.

The short of it is, I think that Ochiai-kantoku has mastered the idea of how to play a short series to win. And he's got the better crew.

Agree with Westbay that the Dragons will prevail in the rematch. Ochiai-san is doing a masterful job of coaching his team in the playoffs. Clearly he outfoxed Hara-san. Against the hapless Tigers he was using game one as pitching practice for his relievers to prepare them for later use.

They have won five straight now and seem to have great momentum going into the Series. But the first game is ready to start, so we shall see how the story unfolds this time.

I'm going to say Fighters in 7 because they not only know what it takes to win the Japan Series, but also they'll want to send Hillman-kantoku off with a 2nd Japan Series championship, not to mention the Dragons' struggles against the PL, and record of futility in the Japan Series.

Well, as my name suggests I am clearly a Dragons fan, and as such I think they will win the Series. They do seem better placed to do so than last year. Some reasons, and what they need to do to win:

Araki/Ibata need to continue getting on base. If Araki is on base, the Dragons win, and he has been hitting form at the right time. These guys are defensively hard to fault, and their presence, speed and in Ibata's case an ability to have consistently good at-bats, will be something the Fighters will have no doubt been focusing on this week.

In relief, as mentioned, Ochiai's use of Iwase has been very good this post season, and leading up to it. Iwase has handled this slightly different level of expectation really well also.

An area of concern though is the other left-handed relievers (Hisamoto, Ishii, Takahashi). I get the feeling Ochiai (and myself) is not as confident in them as he is in the right handers. With Kawakami, Nakata, and Yamai all pretty certain to be starters, could Ogasawara get some time on the bench in games 1 or 2, and possibly relieve Asakura if necessary in game 4? Yamamoto Masa could also see some time in the bullpen.

Anyway, I am going for the Dragons in 5 also. I was in Tokyo for games 2 and 3 last week, saw game 1 of the First Stage, and have tickets for games 3 and 4, am working on getting game 5 tickets also. No trip to Sapporo unfortunately.

I would like to thank everyone at this website. I have posted here before, but have generally just been a viewer, especially recently. I will return home to England soon after the Japan Series after 5 years living in Japan, so expect me to be a more active poster next year. At least 55 games attended this year, down to 0 next year, I'm anticipating some withdrawal problems!

Thanks, and let the baseball begin!