An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
August 25th, 2009 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 1 Streak: Won 1 Last : LWLLW (Mazda Stadium) What a shitty month it’s been for the Swallows, yet to win a series in August. Frigidly cold in the hottest of months, I’m glad I’ve been out of the country for most of [...]
August 23rd, 2009 Yomiuri Giants 2 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1 Streak: Lost 2 Last 5: WLWLL (Jingu Stadium) After Friday’s rather fortunate win, and last night’s thorough drubbing, the Tokyo Swallows looked to win its first three-game series of the month against crosstown rival, Yomiuri. But in the end, Tokyo gave this game away, [...]
Tokyo outfielder Kazuki Fukuchi has been on a bit of a tear as of late. After several weeks of doldrums at the plate, Fukuchi seems to have snapped out of it and is providing lots of extra bases at the top of Tokyo’s order. The switch-hitter has collected three hits in each of the last [...]
Outfielder Tsuyoshi Ueda (no. 50) has received a call-up to the 28-man first team roster as of yesterday afternoon. This is his second call-up of 2009, the first being for a couple of games back in late July. The third year 20-year-old from Okayama prefecture spent his entire first two years with the team on [...]
August 22nd, 2009 Yomiuri Giants 7 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: LWLWL (Jingu Stadium) Yoshinori pitches against the Giants a lot, and this time they got ahold of him a little bit.
Pitcher Masao Kida (no. 42) and outfielder Munehiro Shida (no. 0) were brought up to the first team before yesterday’s game. Kida, a veteran right-handed pitcher who has played in the majors for the Dodgers and Mariners, spent most of the season on the top team before being demoted a little over a week ago. [...]
August 21st, 2009 Yomiuri Giants 6 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 9 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: WLWLW (Jingu Stadium) Can anyone remember the last time Tokyo won a three-game series? Neither can I. The birds went into this game hoping to catch the visiting Giants napping as they desperately seek a win or two to [...]
August 20th, 2009 Hanshin Tigers 10 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2 Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: LWLWL (Jingu Stadium) Well, I was wrong about who would be pitching today. I thought, and kind of hoped, that it would be Yuuki. Unfortunately, it was Ichiba. So it is probably necessary for me to think of [...]
August 19th, 2009 Hanshin Tigers 2 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: LLWLW (Jingu Stadium) After regaining his spot in the first team rotation, Tateyama pitched a decent seven innings and helped Tokyo take a game from the visiting Hanshin Tigers.
Pitcher Shouhei Tateyama (no. 25) has returned to the top team after a brief spell on the farm. The right-handed ace was sent down after a shelling at the hands of the Giants, and his absence has been clearly evident as the replacement contingent hasn’t done a very good job of filling in for him. [...]
