Takada resigned in May.

Tokyo Swallows fans witnessed it all in 2010: the resumption of the 2009 slump which ended up consuming the first two months of 2010; a change in manager; the addition of a cleanup bat; veteran pitchers refinding their form; an authoritative return to winning; and a bit of flirtation with the third and final playoff spot.

With any luck, 2011 will pick up right where 2010 left off. Minus all of the bunting, of course.

And while hopes may be high at Jingu, there will surely be a lot of optimism when several other teams start spring training in the not-too-distant future.

In an effort to survey current NPB trends and what changes may be afoot, Tsubamegun talked to some of the more well-known writers (English language) in the online yakyu community.

This is the first in a short series of articles featuring their thoughts and insights.

One thing that we asked everyone about was whether or not non-Japanese managers, who have fared very poorly in the league since Trey Hillman’s Fighters won the championship back in 2006, are finished in Japan for the foreseeable future.

Gen Sueyoshi, the one-man show at the irreplaceable Yakyu Baka, thinks that there won’t be any more work visa-toting managers in Japan any time soon.

“Some people think I’m over-reacting when I say this, and perhaps I am, but I tend to think that Marty Brown ruined things for non-Japanese managers.

“It also doesn’t help that the Chiba Lotte Marines won the Nippon Series the year after Bobby Valentine left.  And if Senichi Hoshino manages to do something similar with the Eagles…”

Ah, the Eagles.

Former Tokyo third baseman, Akinori Iwamura, decided to sign with them during the off-season after seeing

Hoshino got Rakuten to open the purse strings.

his MLB career get derailed by a knee injury. They should definitely be an improved unit considering the changes they’ve made over the past couple of months.

Marty Brown is out, and Hanshin-resurrecter, Senichi Hoshino, takes over a retooled offense (Kaz Matsui was also lured back to Japan from MLB).

Additionally, ace pitcher Iwakuma’s somewhat unexpected return to the starting rotation should keep naysayers at bay for the time being.

How nice would it be if the Yakult front office put a little extra coin into attracting top free agent talent like the Eagles and Fukuoka Softbank Hawks?

But before that happens, actually, it would be most prudent to develop the farm team in a way similar to what Yomiuri does. But alas, in the eyes of the parent company (Yakult) the minor league club doesn’t help market the yogurt/feminine beauty products manufacturer.

Idiots.

So how about a new owner for the Tokyo Swallows?

As stated repeatedly on this site, Tsubamegun is not at all opposed to the idea of the team being sold. We’d love to see a group of investors, a la John Henry’s NESV (Boston Red Sox; Liverpool Football Club), buy the team and show the rest of the league how to run a club as a profitable business in its own right.

Nevertheless, that won’t happen because non-Japanese are still banned from owning NPB teams, and even if they weren’t, NESV would quickly discover that doing business their way would involve the inevitable anchor of locking horns with the crusty owners of the Central League’s other five teams.

Where is this league headed?

Indeed, Patrick Newman, lead researcher and writer for NPB Tracker, says that NPB in general, and the Central League in particular, is in need of some fresh thinking.

“I’d really like to see a scrappy, competitive group come in and shake things up a bit,” Newman remarked.

Coincidentally perhaps, it seemed for a brief moment last month that the Swallows might be on the auctioneer’s block. But they weren’t.

Yakyu Baka’s Sueyoshi made the intriguing observation that the Swallows would ideally be purchased by an Internet or technology company of some sort. He pointed to the strength of the teams fronted by Rakuten and Softbank as a model for where NPB might find some fresh legs.

Fresh legs and a second wind are definitely what the league needs as it continues to lose the talent battle with MLB.

There are obviously so many things holding NPB back here. The league shoots itself in the foot, both of them really, at nearly every conceivable opportunity.

As mentioned earlier, player development is still a big concern. So is the way that the owners deal with the athletes and their neutered player’s union.

And these foundational issues, while integral to the righting of NPBs ship, are just the tip of the enormous yakyu dumb-berg.

Sueyoshi pointed to the non-Japanese active roster player quote as one of a litany of problems.

“The NPB could do with more foreign players, especially if good players continue to leave for the MLB.

“I know there are people that are against it because it might end up keeping Japanese players out of the line-up, but really I think it would lead to more competition and would improve the league in general.

“And a more competitive league could help keep current players more interested in staying in the NPB.  It could also lead to better performances on the international stage.”

Newman, for his part, urges increased use of the ikusei contracts to expand the pool of talent that teams have access to.

“Signing and developing amateur talent from other countries is another opportunity; Wei-Yin Chen is obviously the current big success story to look at.”

Indeed, these are concepts that many teams  find hard to grasp. The Tokyo Swallows are no exception.

I’m dreaming a little bit here, but it wouldn’t be a prohibitively expensive investment in a team’s long-term future to set up a second farm team, especially when considering the size and worth of the parent companies involved.

And I’d like to remind owners that their team’s farm club doesn’t necessarily have to be within a 30 minute

The tourist city of Nasu (Tochigi Prefecture) would likely foot part of the bill to bring a minor league baseball club to town.

drive of the top team’s stadium.

There’s nothing wrong with having an ikusei/rookie/second year player squad in a small city a couple of prefectures away. This country isn’t that big, and transportation here is second to none, so why can’t the Swallows place a second farm team in a small tourist city such as Nasu, Izu or Tsukuba?

But since the team’s farm system is mostly an afterthought, the birds seem content to rely on the luck of the annual amateur draft, a gambit that didn’t play out particularly well in 2010.

Further compounding Tokyo’s climb into the playoffs is the well-established fact that Yakult refuses to spend money on talent like Central League rivals Yomiuri, Hanshin and Chunichi routinely do.

In the next edition of this multi-part interview, Tsubamegun asks our yakyu journalism colleagues how well they think the Tokyo Swallows will do in 2011. Please check back here for part two in early January.

In the meantime, Tsubamegun would like to wish you and yours a very happy new year!

You can follow Sueyoshi and Newman on Twitter at @gwynar and @npbtracker, respectively.

For those of us looking on from afar, we’d like to provide a forum for what’s making its way through your head. What are your predictions and what are your real-time reactions to what’s happening–game by game?

If you have a feeling that Sakamoto is going to shine or that Fujikawa will make amends for playoffs past, then let it be heard.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4

Hiroshima Toyo Carp 6

Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: WLWWL

(Jingu Stadium)

This is the way the season ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

With apologies to to T.S. Eliot, that’s the way things went. While Chiba notched their second close win over Saitama to advance to the second round of the Climax Series, the Central League season was finally trundling to an end. (Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it, that one league would be into the second round of the playoffs before the other league had even started?)

Muranaka started tonight’s game needing 14 Ks to pull ahead of Hiroshima’s Maeda, who wasn’t pitching tonight, to take the strike out crown and knock young Maeda out of Triple Crown territory.

Instead, he notched only two Ks, while giving up 11 hits and no walks on his way to letting in five earned runs in as many innings. Not the night he had in mind, to be sure.

The line-ups:

Tokyo:

1. Aoki

   See you next year.

2. Noguchi
3. Hatakeyama
4. D’Antona
5. Iihara
6. Aikawa
7. Miyamoto
8. Kawabata
9. Muranaka

Hiroshima:

1. Soyogi
2. Kimura
3. Iwamoto
4. Kurihara
5. Hirose
6. Akamatsu
7. Kokubo
8. Ishihara
9. Soriano

Muranaka started the game by giving up a base hit to Soyogi, who managed to snake his way over to third on a sac bunt and a foul tip before being driven in by a Kurihara round-tripper. 2-0 Hiroshima.

Soriano got two grounders to first, then a K against Hatakeyama to bring his offense back up, whence Akamatsu led with a double, was moved to third on a grounder, and was batted in by Ishihara, who was then put 90 feet from home by a Soyogi single before Kimura mercifully grounded out. 3-0 Hiroshima.

The Swallows squeezed out a little juice in the second. D’Antona doubled deep, Iihara singled, moving him to third, then a Miyamoto grounder back to the mound allowed him to score. 3-1 Hiroshima.

In the top of the fourth, Kokubo singled, then was driven all the way home by an Ishihara double. Ishihara was then allowed in step by step to make it 5-1 Hiroshima.

In the bottom of the fifth, Kawamoto pinch hit for Muranaka and grounded out, as did Kawabata before him. Aoki came through, though, as did Noguchi following him, putting them both in scoring position for Hatake’s big liner to center that drove them both in. A D’Antona double made things exciting. It got even more exciting when Iihara smacked another line drive. . . which was nabbed a split second later. To give credit where it’s due, Soyogi dove towards second for a highlight reel catch, leaving the score 5-3 Hiroshima.

In the top of the sixth, the retiring Yuki (as in no longer playing, not as in personality) came in for his largely ceremonial last fling and Ishihara dutifully struck out by letting a fastball down the middle go by, what looked like a big, goofy eephus go next, and swinging without conviction at another fastball down the middle. Yuki thus left this game and the game and Masubuchi took over giving up a hit to Soyogi, but striking out Soriano and getting out the inning unscathed.

On the other side of that frame, the Carp brought Ueno in to pitch. (Why let Soriano bat if you’re going to pull him?) Fukuchi and Miyamoto were both retired (from the at-bat, not their careers) before Kawabata knocked one into the home fans. Kawamoto weakly hit the first pitch he saw to get thrown out at first before “Tokyo Ondo” was even over. 5-4 Hiroshima.

Oshimoto took over in the seventh, giving us our first 1-2-3 inning and netting himself a K. He pitched a quick 1-2-3 in the eighth, too.

Shida came in for Iihara in the eighth and weakly grounded out to end his long, if largely quiet career with the Swallows.

In the top of the ninth, though, Matsuoka, making his 74th appearance of the season (no, I’m not exaggerating), gave up a homer to Shima and that would be the final: 6-4 Hiroshima.

Retirement ceremonies followed. Shida cried, Yuki didn’t.

We’ll still be here, posting on the playoffs, updating the faithful in the offseason, but, for those of you who follow a Tokyo baseball site for Tokyo baseball, we’ll see you next Spring.

Don’t forget to check the standings and Player Stats pages for year-end numbers.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

Streak: Won 2 Last 5: WWLWW

(Jingu Stadium)

Rained out – make up tomorrow at 6:00 p.m.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 7

Yomiuri Giants 4

Streak: Won 2 Last 5: WWLWW

(Tokyo Dome)

Tokyo wins!

Not that it matters at this point, but there’s still pride at stake anytime our men venture into Mordor .

From the Shire:

1. Aoki



We like the way you wear your socks, Kawamoto.

2. Kawabata
3. Hatakeyama
4. D’Antona
5. Iihara
6. Tanaka
7. Noguchi
8. Kawamoto
9. Yamagishi

The Forces of Darkness are the Forces of Darkness. Speak not their names. Besides, if you’ve been able to read this far – that’s a lot of words – you clearly hate the Giants.

Top of the first: Aoki doubled, Hatake drove him in. D’Antona singled, but was left there. 1-0 Tokyo.

Yamagishi made it through three innings with but one walk and no hits, but proved himself to be a part of our squad when he added some stress in the bottom of the fourth. Ogasawara single, Rami-chan two-run round-tripper, Abe ground out, Sakamoto ground-rule double, the ever-overrated Takahashi out, Furuki out, then fucking Utsumi doubled in two more. That’s right, Utsumi put the orange folks who see no irony in 1984 up 4-1 Not Tokyo.

Topf the sixth: Aoki singled, Kawabata grounded out, then Hatake reminded us why we like hi chubby ass. Two-run homer. And Utsumi was gone. Kubo came in in relief and walked batters like a mobility company (D’Antona and Morioka), but got as many outs and let no runs in. 4-3 Bad Guys.

Skip ahead to the top of the ninth, when Marc Kroon came in. Now the secret to Kroon is that he couldn’t throw a strike if strikes were “To Be With You” and he was Mr. Big playing a wedding in Japan and he was planning to get booed off stage. (Congratulate for the worst metaphor you’ve ever read.)

Kawamoto almost didn’t get it – he was silly enough to bring a bat into the batter’s box, but walked nonetheless. Fukuchi got out. Aoki walked. Kawabata popped out, then Hatake, fucking hero, drove Kawamoto in to tie it up. 4 All.

Top of the tenth: Iihara singled. Morioka walked on five. Takagi came in. Yuichi sac-bunted (it kind of made sense, for that once in a million shot).  Then Kawamoto again made us wonder why he was ever behind Fukukawa (sorry, unnecessary) and blasted a three-run homer for the win, even though Fukuchi also walked and the Giants got a chance to bat.  7-4 Tokyo.

Kutabare Yomiuri. May you get your asses handed to you by the Tigers. (Tiger fans, leave your sisters and the dog alone for a moment and pay attention: your team is in the playoffs. This means. . . Oh, why bother? A pox on both your houses.)

Lee put in a good 5th and 6th, Oshimoto 7th and 8th, and Matsuoka 9th and 10th for the win.

One more, Saturday night (probably tonight by the time you read this). Come out. Have fun. Meet us and our various friends and acquaintances. Buy the caps that show you to be a true insider. Shake hands. Get your special caps signed if you want. You get the idea.

We shall see you there.

Yuki Tanaka

Yuki Tanaka, who often went by his given name, only pitched for one season for the Swallows. The oft-injured Yuki started his career with the Kintetsu Buffaloes before he was shipped off to the Orix BlueWave where he spent the majority of his career. He came to Tokyo last season when Orix released him after sitting out the entire 2008 season due to injury. Yuki started 19 games for the Swallows, and was instrumental in the late season surge that put the team into the CS. Unfortunately right shoulder injuries kept off the field, and led to his decision to call it quits after 13 years in pro ball.

Munehiro Shida

Munehiro Shida was life-long Swallow, having joined the club when he was drafted out of Aoyama Gakuin University in 2001. Shida was given regular playing time as the team’s leadoff hitter in 2004, where he put up pedestrian numbers. After 2005, with the emergence of Aoki, Shida’s role on the team diminished to coming off the bench as a defensive replacement. Despite his reduced role, he did manage to stay on the top team bench until last season. Shida’s game comes down to speed which gave him the ability to cover ground in the outfield, but without the base-running instincts to steal bases. Shida seems to have decided to retire because he couldn’t see a continued future in baseball.

Both players will be honored with a retirement ceremony at Saturday’s game at Jingu.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp 0

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2

Streak: Won 1 Last 5: LWWLW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Tateyama started his third game in a row against the Carp. He managed to keep the Hiroshima bats at bay and gave another stellar performance.

The starting lineup:

1. Fukuchi LF
2. Tanaka 2B
3. Hatakeyama 3B
4. D’Antona 1B
5. Iihara CF
6. Takeuchi RF
7. Morioka SS
8. Kawamoto C
9. Tateyama P

Aoki was held out of the starting lineup with right knee pains. Although he did manage to make it into the game as a defensive replacement in the ninth.

The game was really about pitching. The Carp’s Yuki Saito allowed runners fairly regularly throughout the game but managed to keep the Birds off the board for 4 innings. But Tateyama kept pace and never allowing more than 2 runners on base after the first inning.

The Swallows finally got on the scoreboard when Tanaka took a 2-1 offering from Saito and put it into the left field stands. 1-0 Swallows

Tateyama finishes the season with his 4th complete game shutout

That was the only run Saito allowed in 7 innings of work. The Swallows managed to score an insurance run in the eighth against the Carp relievers. Tanaka lead the inning off with a single to centre. Hatakeyama and D’Antona followed with 2 quick fly outs. Iihara and Takeuchi managed to load the bases with back-to-back singles. Tanaka came around to score when Morioka was walked on 4 pitches. 2-0 Swallows

Tateyama ended up pitching his 4th complete game shutout of the season, allowing only 5 hits and a walk, to go with 9 strikeouts. Tonight’s win was Tateyama’s 12th of the season, giving him a 12-7 record in 21 starts. He lowered his ERA to 2.92, which is good enough for third in the Central League leaderboard.

Tanaka was the game’s other hero, as he went 3-for-4 and scored both Swallows’ runs. With tonight’s performance, Tanaka’s average crept up to .299. Hopefully he’ll manage to end the season above .300. (Although his .384 OBP keeps us, here in Tsubamegun, quite happy regardless of his BA.)

Tonight’s win also guaranteed the Swallows a winning record, their first since 2004.

The Swallows have tomorrow night off, before they play their final away game of the season against the Giants on Friday.

Hanshin Tigers 17

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4

Streak: Lost 1   Last 5: WLWWL

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

Oh dear. Let’s keep this short shall we? Okay, it’s a deal.

1. Aoki (CF)
2. Fukuchi (LF)
3. Hatakeyama (3B)
4. D’Antona (1B)
5. Ihara (RF)
6. Tanaka (2B)
7. Morioka (SS)
8. Fukukawa (C)
9. Nakazawa (P)

With Hanshin still chasing 2nd place and homefield advantage in the (first round of the) playoffs, they were the only team in this “contest”.

Nakazawa started, and as has often been the case since since around June, he pretty much tossed batting practice for the opposition. The 2nd inning was when most of the damage was done, with a walk, a dead ball and six hits putting Hanshin up by 9. Amongst those hits was one of significance, as outfielder Matt Murton broke Ichiro’s single season hits record by racking up his 211th of the season. He would also hit number 212 and 213 later this game, aren’t we charitable. Congratulations to the man, who has been nothing short of a revelation for the Tigers this year, and seems to be a nice chap to boot. We’ll overlook his gingerness.

With the game all but lost, Nakazawa wouldn’t make it out of the inning as the bullpen was called into some extended action:

Hashimoto gave up two more in the 3rd, Masubuchi one in the 4th, De La Cruz two in the 8th before Watanabe capped it off with three in the 9th.

Tokyo’s consolation runs came in the 3rd (one run via an Aoki sac-fly), and the 5th (five hits yielding three runs).

It will not surprise you to learn that Nakazawa took the loss with his record now at 7-9/5.68.

Aoki, now firmly in the shadow of Murton’s achievement, got his only hit of the game, number 205, in the 5th.

The Carp are the next visitors to Jingu, as the two teams meet for the penultimate time this season tomorrow evening.

Yokohama BayStars 1

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Streak: Won 2    Last 5: WWLWW

(Meiji Jingu Stadium)

With little more than pride and a couple of personal records for Aoki at stake, the Tokyo Swallows hosted the Yokohama BayStars for the final time in 2010.

With all the talk of Yokohama’s possible sale, many in the stadium were left wondering what the visiting team’s uniforms would look like the next time they come to town–not to mention where that team will call home.

At any rate, the game ended in an agreeable way for the home team.

Tonight’s lineup:

1. Aoki CF
2. Tanaka 2B
3. Hatakeyama 3B
4. Whitesell 1B
5. D’Antona LF
6. Iihara RF
7. Kawamoto C
8. Kawabata SS
9. Yoshinori P

Yoshinori didn’t have his best stuff tonight, and he didn’t always get the help he needed on defense, but given that he was facing the BayStars, a team that has lost 90 or more games in each of the past three seasons (NPB record), there wasn’t too much to worry about in the end.

Both starters found themselves in jams multiple times, but it was Yoshinori who was able to fight his way out of the corner. It seemed like there were constantly runners on third base in this game.

This game was basically wrapped up in the second inning. Whitesell led the inning off with a fireball right at the left foot of second baseman, Fujita, and he advanced to second on a wild pitch.

D’Antona then lofted a high home run into the reserved outfield seats in right to start the scoring. 2-0 Tokyo.

Iihara followed the cleanup act with a double to keep the pressure on Yokohama’s starter, and he moved over to second on Kawamoto’s grounder to short. One out.

Kawabata then hit a low-arching fly ball to left which was just deep enough to allow Iihara to score from third. 3-0 birds.

And that was basically it. Yokohama did manage to score a single run in the fourth, but not without the help of a second Tokyo fielding blunder. 3-1 Final.

Yoshinori ended up with the win, his 12th, and saw his ERA improve to 3.60 on six innings of work (116 pitches). As mentioned earlier, he definitely wasn’t unstoppable as evidenced by the six hits, two walks and one HBP that he allowed, but he pitched himself out of some jams and definitely deserves credit for winning 12 times in a single season.

It’s his 12-9 record that likely earned him game MVP honors tonight.

D’Antona definitely deserved some game hero kudos for his 2-3 (2 RBI) evening at the plate.

Masubuchi (2.65), Matsuoka (2.62) and Lim (1.46) kept Yokohama off the scoreboard for the final three innings while Lim picked up his 35th save of the year.

Aoki wasn’t able to extend his consecutive game hitting streak as he went 0-3 with a walk. He also lost some more ground to Murton in the quest to beat Ichiro’s single season hits mark of 210. Murton had one hit today in Hanshin’s win over Hiroshima and he has now equaled Ichiro’s mark with three games left to play. Aoki finished the day at 204 hits and has four games left to play.

Whitesell and D’Antona were the most dangerous guys in the Tokyo lineup tonight. Both had two hits with the latter tallying his 15th home run of the season and 2 RBIs to go with it.

The Swallows will take on the Tigers one final time on Tuesday at Jingu. Look for Hanshin to be very fired up for this one. Home field advantage during the first round of the Climax Series (vs Yomiuri) is at stake. Hanshin and Yomiuri are currently tied.

Random thoughts:

Tokyo currently sports a 70-66-4 record. With four games left to play, the birds are guaranteed to finish the season with at least a .500 record. Imagine that!

Tokyo won the season series versus Yokohama: 14-9-1.

]]> http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/10/03/10310-yokohama-home/feed/ 1 http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/10/02/10210-chunichi-away/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=10210-chunichi-away http://tokyoswallows.com/2010/10/02/10210-chunichi-away/#comments Sat, 02 Oct 2010 14:10:23 +0000 Christopher Pellegrini http://tokyoswallows.com/?p=8077 October 2nd, 2010

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Chunichi Dragons 2

Streak: Won 1   Last 5: LWWLW

(Nagoya Dome)

The Tokyo Swallows beat the first place Chunichi Dragons, but were knocked out of playoff contention with Hanshin’s whupping of Hiroshima this evening.

Tonite’s lineup:

1. Aoki CF
2. Tanaka 2B
3. Hatakeyama RF
4. D’Antona 1B
5. Iihara RF
6. Aikawa C
7. Miyamoto 3B
8. Kawabata SS
9. Muranaka P

Miyamoto’s team-leading 12th error of the season allowed a runner that would come back to haunt him in the first. Morino drove in pinch runner, Nakagawa, with a single to left. 1-0 Chunichi.

The  birds weren’t able to put a reply together until the sixth inning. Aoki doubled and then Tanaka bunted him over to third. Hatakeyama came up with the goods when he hit an RBI single to center to keep the visitors in the game. 1-1.

And Muranaka would walk  away with the win while watching from the bench in the top of the seventh. Aikawa and Miyamoto both hit one out singles before Kawabata hit a pop-up to left for out number two. Whitesell came to the plate in Muranaka’s place to save the day for the Swallows care of a double to left that plated our catcher and third baseman. 3-1 Tokyo.

Oshimoto and Matsuoka came in to lock down the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, before Lim allowed things to get interesting in the bottom of the ninth. The ever-dangerous Morino took Lim yard to put the home team within one run. 3-2 Tokyo.

But Lim (1.48 ERA) retired the next three batters and earned his 34th save of the year for his efforts.

Oshimoto (2.84) and Matsuoka (2.66) pitched in their 59th and 70th games, respectively.

On offense, only Hatakeyama had more than one hit today. Kawabata went 1-2 with two walks.

Tokyo’s next game is a truly meaningless game tomorrow evening at Jingu versus the Yokohama BayStars.

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