An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
Friend of Tsubamegun “M”, has taken the shinkansen down to Nagoya to cheer on the Swallows as they attempt to do what they failed to do at all down the stretch – flourish in the Nagoya Dome. The prize at stake is restoration of Swallows pride and much more importantly, a place in the Japan [...]
Last night’s glorious edition of Fuji TV’s Pro Yakyu News featured their stab at predicting the Swallows starters for the upcoming series in Nagoya. Here is what they thought: Game 1 (11/2): Tateyama Game 2 (11/3): Ishikawa Game 3 (11/4): Masubuchi Game 4 (11/5): Akagawa Game 5 (11/6): Tateyama Game 6 (11/7): Ishikawa Of course [...]
October 29th, 2011 Yomiuri Giants 2 Tokyo Swallows 3 Series: Swallows Lead 1-0 (Meiji Jingu Stadium) Tokyo came from behind to down their beloved neighbours off the back of a Tateyama-Muranaka starter’s relay and, thank the lord of your choice, some timely hitting. In a packed and buzzing Jingu it was Tateyama, not Ishikawa as [...]
October 18th, 2011 Tokyo Swallows 4 Hanshin Tigers 0 Streak: Won 2 Last 5: LLLWW (Koshien) After huffing and puffing for a while, the CL’s most boring team finally clinched their second straight pennant in Yokohama with…..a 3-3 tie. How apt. For a while Tokyo’s championship hopes looked like they may live to see [...]
October 11th, 2011 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1 Chunichi Dragons 3 Streak: Lost 2 Last 5: WLWLL (Nagoya Dome) Tokyo’s CL title hopes moved yet further into the distance as they fell to Chunichi once more in Nagoya. Tonight’s win means that the Dragons have now moved 2.5 games ahead of the Swallows and become the first [...]
October 8th, 2011 Hiroshima Carp 7 Tokyo Swallows 4 Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: LLLWL (Meiji Jingu Stadium) On a night which saw Chunichi shut down and beaten by Yomiuri, a win for Tokyo would have sent them back to the top of the CL. But a battling come-from-behind performance was undone [...]
October 4th, 2011 Tokyo Swallows 3 Hanshin Tigers 9 Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: WLLWL (Kyocera Dome) Tokyo’s season-defining twelve game stretch got off to the worst possible start as their ailing pitching staff were knocked about by Hanshin to the tune of fourteen hits and nine runs. Meanwhile in Nagoya, an almost [...]
September 27th, 2011 Hanshin Tigers 4 Tokyo Swallows 8 Streak: Won 2 Last 5: LLLWW (Meiji Jingu Stadium) After failing to grasp the chance to put some decent breathing room between them and the second-placed Dragons in Nagoya last week, every game for the remaining three weeks or so of the regular season is essentially [...]
September 23rd, 2011 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2 Chunichi Dragons 6 Streak: Lost 3 Last 5: LWLLL (Nagoya Dome) One of these teams has a boatload of experience of being in contention down the home stretch of the season, while the other doesn’t. After Tokyo wasted chance upon chance and had a late inning bullpen collapse [...]
Sepember 21st, 2011 Hiroshima Carp Tokyo Swallows Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: WDLWL (Meiji Jingu Stadium) Not surprisingly, given the typhoon that seems to be hitting the Tokyo area as I write this, tonight’s game against the Carp has been cancelled. Expect the game to be rearranged for sometime in mid-October. [...]
