Miyamoto won the vote for who Tsubamegun want to see playing third.

We posted a poll on the 25th asking you some general questions about the state of affairs with the team. Aoki’s gone, and there are some question marks hanging over the team as spring camp gets under way down in Urasoe, Okinawa.

We here at Tsubamegun tend to see these question marks as opportunities, and the majority of respondents to the poll seemed to agree with us. Not a single voter had the team finishing the 2012 season any lower than fourth place in the Central League.

There were 25 complete responses to the poll, and for your perusal we have laid out the numbers in an easily digestible format.

1. Do you approve of Tokyo’s decision to post Aoki at the end of 2011?

Response	Votes	%
Yes	15	60%
No	6	24%
Undecided	4	16%

2. Who do you want to get the most starts at third base for the Tokyo Swallows this season?

Response	Votes	%
Shinya Miyamoto	13	52%
Tetsuto Yamada	3	12%
Shingo Kawabata	3	12%
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama	2	8%
Ryosuke Morioka	1	4%
Takahiro Araki	0	0%
Other	0	0%
Undecided	3	12%

3. Who do you want to get the most starts at center for the Tokyo Swallows this season?

Response	Votes	%
Tsuyoshi Ueda	14	56%
Yasushi Iihara	3	12%
Kazuki Fukuchi	1	4%
Yuichi Matsumoto	1	4%
Other	1	4%
Undecided	5	20%

4. With the players currently under contract, do you believe that Tokyo can make up for the loss of Aoki’s defense and his 2011 slash line of .292/.358/.360?

Response	Votes	%
Yes	9	36%
No	14	56%
Undecided	2	8%

5. Do you think that the front office made enough moves during the off-season to bolster the starting rotation and bullpen?

Response	Votes	%
Yes	7	28%
No	13	52%
Undecided	5	20%

6. What place to you think the Tokyo Swallows will finish the 2012 regular season in?

Response	Votes	%
Central League Champions	7	28%
2nd place	6	24%
3rd place	6	24%
4th place	6	24%
5th place	0	0%
6th place	0	0%

Interesting responses although not entirely unexpected. Even though it’s an exceedingly small sample size, feel free to offer your interpretations in the comments section below.

Aoki is now a Brewer. Makes me proud. I was once a brewer, too. Long live Otter Creek Brewing (Middlebury, VT).

The Milwaukee Brewers announced that the team signed Norichika Aoki, Tokyo’s star 30-year-old outfielder, to a multi-year deal.

Congratulations to both Aoki and the Brewer community! We here at Tsubamegun hope that it truly is a match made in Milwaukee heaven.

Details are sketchy at this point, but it seems like the two sides were able to come to some kind of preliminary agreement.

It’s a two-year deal with a club option for 2014.

Milledge had his longest stint at Pittsburgh.

Bio

Born April 5th, 1985 in Bradenton, Florida, Lastings Darnell Milledge was a standout baseball player from a young age and hit the national stage in elementary school when he helped his Little League team, Manatee East, reach the finals of the national tournament in 1997.

Manatee East lost in the finals when Milledge was 12 years old, but he soon made an impact at the international level when he helped the US beat Venezuela for the gold medal in the IBAF’s U16 Baseball World Championship four years later.

Milledge graduated from Lakewood Ranch High School in 2003 after the school’s baseball team was crowned Florida 5A champions.

Professional Baseball

Even though he was touted as the top junior prospect in the nation when he was in 11th grade, his transition to professional baseball was not a smooth one. News that he had been expelled from Northside Christian High School at the age of 17 dogged him and largely prevented him from being selected in the top five after his senior year.

Milledge was drafted in the first round (12th overall) of the 2003 draft by the New York Mets. However,

Milledge started his MLB career in New York.

additional details about his high school expulsion slowed contract negotiations, and he was only able to play in a few games at the tail-end of the 2003 minor league season.

Milledge worked his way through the New York Mets minor league system during the 2004 through 2006 seasons. In 2006, just before his 21st birthday Milledge was the starting right fielder for New York’s triple A affiliate, the Norfolk Tides of the International League.

He was awarded his major league debut on May 30th, 2006 a little less than two months after his 21st birthday. That made him the youngest player in the National League that season, and he would go on to play both left and right field in 56 games while batting .241/.310/.380 for the Mets that season.

His top team action was limited somewhat in 2007 due to a foot injury, and he was traded to the Washington Nationals at the end of the season.

It was with Washington in 2008 that Milledge appeared in a career-best 138 games. He hit .268/.330/.402 that season while working as the team’s everyday center fielder. His strong performance that year was in spite of the fact that he spent a month on the DL due to a groin injury that season.

A slow start to the 2009 season plus an injury while at AAA Syracuse helped convince Washington to trade the 24 year old outfielder to Pittsburgh along with pitcher Joel Hanrahan in exchange for outfielder Nyjer Morgan and pitcher Sean Burnett.

In 2009 he played in only 65 major league games, seven with Washington and 58 for the Pirates after overcoming his injury.

In 2010, Milledge appeared in 113 games for Pittsburgh and played both left (63 games) and right (45 games). However, after hitting .277/.332/.380, the Pirates decided not to extend his contract, and he signed a minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox in February of 2011.

He only appeared in two games for the Sox though, and he spent the remainder of 2011 with the team’s AAA affiliate in Charlotte where he hit .295/.364/.441 in 123 games (444 at-bats). He had 12 homers and 27 stolen bases for the Charlotte Knights in 2011, and he was in the middle of a solid winter league campaign with the Aragua Tigres in Venezuela when he signed with the Tokyo Swallows.

Wecome to Tokyo!

The Tokyo Swallows announced on Tuesday December 27th, 2011 that they had signed 26 year old Lastings Milledge to a two-year contract. It seems like a basic agreement was reached on the seventh of that month, and the Swallows first publicly acknowledged interest in Millege at the beginning of November.

Milledge was brought in to help soften the offensive and defensive blow of losing Norichika Aoki to the Milwaukee Brewers via the posting system.

According to reports at the end of 2011, the Swallows were planning to use him in left field.

Milledge was assigned the number 85 which is the same number that he wore while playing for the Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates. First base coach Tetsuya Iida gave up the number so that Milledge could have it. Iida switched to the number 88 which was last worn by Tokyo’s former manager and Tsubamegun favorite, Shigeru Takada.

Stats

MLB Offensive Statistics

Key:
NYM = New York Mets
PIT = Pittsburgh Pirates
G = Games
AB = At-bats
R = Runs
H = Hits
2B = Doubles
3B = Triples
HR = Home Runs
RBI = Runs Batted In
SB = Stolen Bases
BB = Walks
HBP = Hit By Pitch
K = Strikeouts
Avg. = Batting Average
OBP = On-Base Percentage
Slg. = Slugging Percentage

Other Milledge News and Notes

Lastings Milledge invited some controversy early in his pro career with the Mets when he was featured in a friend’s rap song involving typical hip hop lyrics. Mets GM Omar Minaya was quite unhappy with the negative PR that ensued, and Milledge was traded following the 2007 season.

The song was produced by one of Milledge’s companies, Soulja Boi Records. However, it doesn’t look like the company has done anything of interest since the controversy in 2007. The company’s website, as of the end of 2011, was still inactive.

In the second half of 2011 Milledge started an LLC with Deon Troupe called Pro Live Connect that attempts to give professional sports fans a chance to interact with their favorite athletes.

Milledge also played 145 games for the Nationals.

It’s been a while since our last audio edition, but David and Christopher sat down again on a Sunday afternoon to make fun of each other a little bit and talk about everything that has happened since the Central League playoffs kicked off at Meiji Jingu Stadium at the end of October.

After a brief recap of the playoffs and Japan Series, David and Christopher run through some of the off-season player moves and what might be in store for 2012.

They hit on Norichika Aoki’s upcoming move to Milwaukee, Yomiuri’s free-spending consumption of the best free agent’s from both leagues, and soap that smells like bacon.

Happy holidays to everyone out there who keep checking and listening in. All the best to you and yours!

With their alternate first pick the Swallows chose...

The night started off with the Swallows vying for Shuhei Takahashi along with the Dragons (as expected) and the Buffaloes. After each team’s rep had drawn their envelopes there was a few moments of confusion as it seemed for a moment that no one had drawn a lucky envelope. But then the Dragons’ future manager Takagi figured out he was holding the winning ticket and the Dragons had Takahashi. After losing out on Takahashi, the Swallows chose high school outfielder/pitcher Ryuhei Kawakami of Kosei Gakuin High School. While he’s listed as a pitcher/outfielder, the Swallows have him as just an outfielder. The right-hander hit 3 homeruns (including an inside-the-park HR) during the most recent summer Koshien tournament. Kawakami possesses a strong arm, and good speed, and while his upside is much lower than Takahashi’s, it seems the club is looking for him to become a 5-tool player down the line.

After Kawakami, the Swallows decided to go a little bit older electing to draft only university and industrial league guys. The first of those players was Ryohei Kiya of Nihon Bunri University. The right-handed pitcher throws a 145 km/h fastball as well as a splitter. The Swallows like his mound presence and believe he can find his way into the rotation in the very near future.

With their third and fourth picks the Swallows chose players from Nippon Paper Ishinomaki, Kyuko’s old Industrial League team. The first of those picks was Wataru Hiyane who is a right-handed outfielder with speed and defensive ability. The Swallows have a quote from Kyuko calling Hiyane very fast, and the Swallows themselves note that he could be a regular if his bat can adapt to the pro game. The second player the Swallows took from Nippon Paper was Yuya Ota, a left-handed pitcher with a dropping curve and a cut fastball. It seem the Swallows will be looking for him to follow in Kyuko’s footsteps and have an impact on the bullpen immediately.

In the fifth round the Swallows selected right-handed pitcher Yuji Nakane from Tohoku Fukushi University. Nakane was a high school teammate of Yoshinori. Unfortunately, injuries have held him back. When healthy Nakane exhibits a fluid fastball and if he can avoid any more injuries the Swallows believe he can be a rotation regular with his old teammate.

The Swallows final pick in the regular draft was Masato Furuno from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe. Like many Industrial League pitchers Furuno has a fairly slow fastball (MAX 143km/h), but has a variety of breaking balls to keep hitters guessing. The Swallows believe he will be able to contribute to the bullpen right away.

The Swallows made 2 additional picks in the ikusei portion of the draft. Their first ikusei pick was Takeaki Tokuyama from Ritsumeikan University. The right-handed pitcher, who also bats switch, throws an array of pitches and the Swallows seem to consider him a high ceiling guy. The final pick for the Swallows in the 2011 draft was used for Hugo Kanabushi from Hakuoh University. While very rough, the left-hander has a strong fastball and the Swallows no doubt hope he’ll follow in the footsteps of another former Hakuoh University Brazillian, Fernandes.

Going through the picks beyond the Kawakami pick, it seems that the Swallows have drafted a few arms that can contribute right away in the bullpen. Unlike last year’s draft class, this class seems to have a lower potential ceiling but will have a higher immediate impact.

2011 Swallows' Draftees

For those of you who are new to the Japanese draft format and are not familiar with how it works, check out the post I wrote last year about the process. I’ll be presenting a few players that may be of interest to Swallows fans and draftniks in general. Like last year, I have not seen any of the players I will be presenting. Instead, I will be summarizing data that is available in the Japanese media and draft sites. This year’s draft doesn’t seem as deep as last years, but there are a couple of big prospects that are on many team’s radar. However, it seems the Swallows have already chosen their man.

Shuhei Takahashi

The Swallows’ front office has confirmed that they will be attempting to select the lefty shortstop from Tokai Kofu High School. Takahashi, with his 71 career homeruns, has been compared to Yoshitomo Tsutsugo of the Yokohama BayStars. Every draft magazine and site I have read raves about Takahashi’s incredible bat speed. Unlike his high school peers, Takahashi has been swinging a wooden bat since his first year. He was part of the Japanese team that played in the IBAF U-18 Asian Championships that were held in Yokohama earlier this year, and was named MVP of the tournament. His ability to hit to all fields and for impressive power, has the Swallows pegging him as the kind of talent that appears only once every 3-4 years. While most other teams will be going for the Big 3 college pitchers coming out in this draft, the Swallows seem to be content with their crop of young pitchers (Yoshinori, Muranaka and Akagawa) and will be going for offensive power in this draft. The Dragons are the only other team that have confirmed their intention to draft Takahashi, thus it looks likely that the Swallows will have a 50% chance of landing their man tomorrow. Although the Swallows think up to 4 teams will name Takahashi with their initial pick. As a plus, it seems that Takahashi is a Swallows fan and has said he would like to play for the Swallows.

The Next Swallow?

Should the Swallows lose out on Takahashi it looks likely that the Swallows will go after a pitcher. Exactly which pitcher(s) the Swallows have an interest in is not very clear. The following names have come up as possible Swallows picks in various draft sources. Unlike last year, I’ll keep the descriptions short, but I’ll compensate by including YouTube clips. These players are in no way the only players the Swallows have shown interest in, and the draft will no doubt feature a number of surprises.

Kazuo Ito

The tall right-handed pitcher from Tokyo International University is seen as a pro ready fastball pitcher. His fastball tops out at 150 km/h, but not much has been written about his other pitches. His strong performance in the University Championships has raised his stock considerably.

Yoshinao Kamata

The right-handed pitcher from Kanazawa High School in Ishikawa is seen as a high upside pitcher with a strong 150+ km/h fastball and a developing breaking ball. Kamata is generally seen as needing a few years of seasoning in ni-gun before being able to contribute to the top team.

Yuhei Nakaushiro

The southpaw from Kinki University throws a 150 km/h fastball from a side arm angle. His ability to throw from different angles from the left side is a valued ability, and is seen as a pro-ready reliever.

Ken Togame

Is considered one of the best Industrial League prospects in this draft. The right-handed pitcher for JR East throws a 149 km/h from a sidearm. The durable pitcher can throw a wide array of breaking balls but none are as impressive as his fastball.

Kosuke Tomita

The right-handed closer for the Shikoku Island League’s Kagawa Olive Guyners throws a 152 km/h fastball and seems to have drawn high interest from Swallows scouts.

Felipe Natel

The 21 year old Brazillian right-hander who currently pitches for Yamaha in the Industrial League hails from the same high school that produced Rafael Fernandes. Natel is a fastball/slider pitcher that may garner some interest from us, as all 3 Brazillian player in NPB are on the Swallows roster. Because Natel has met the NPB’s residency requirements, and thus is draft-eligible, he would not count towards the import limit.

With only one game left to go in the regular season, hosts David Watkins and Christopher Pellegrini look ahead to the first stage of the playoffs which will be played at Jingu next weekend.

After talking briefly about why the Swallows finished second in the Central League, David and Christopher move on to probable pitching matchups against Yomiuri and throw a few predictions out there just for fun.

Just like last time, Dave came equipped with some of his noise-making toys.

As always, thank you very much for listening!

PS. If you have subscribed to our podcasts through iTunes, please give us a nice review and lots of stars.

We need to officially change the name of this column, since it’s not Monday and I don’t want to be limited by the title. It’s something we’ll have to work on in the offseason. In the meantime, I’ll be giving you some news updates and roster analysis to mull over before the start of the Climax Series next Saturday.

Senryokugai Players: Earlier this month the Swallows announced that 8 players will be cut by the team at the end of the season. The players are LHP Masaru Sato, RHP Shun Takaichi, RHP Hiromitsu Takagi, RHP Masahiro Yoshikawa, LHP Naoya Okamoto, C Atsushi Kinugawa, INF Ryo Yoshimoto, and OF Toshihiro Nakao. Of the listed players, Kinugawa will be given a front office position with the team, and many of the other players were undecided as to what they wanted to do in the future. No major surprises here, and we wish all these players the best in their future endeavors.

Potential Roster Moves: The Swallows have been going crazy with roster moves since the last Monday Review, and we won’t be going over them all. Instead, we’ll be examining where certain players are now and how our post-season roster is shaping up. As of today the Swallows only have 23 players out of a possible 28 on their active roster. Any player removed from the active roster on or before the 19th would be eligible to return in time for Game 1 of the Climax series on the 29th. Among the players not on the active roster who may get recalled in the playoffs are Ishikawa, Kawabata, Whitesell, Kyuko, Barnette, Muranaka, Yoshinori, Shichijo, and Iihara. I’ll give a quick update on the status of each player.

• Ishikawa was removed from the active roster on the 19th, and he should be expected to return on the 29th. Many outlets are now reporting that Ishikawa will be the Swallows’ game 1 starter, and that he may throw in a Phoenix League (fall league) game as warm up. The chances of Ishikawa NOT getting recalled seems slim to none at this point.
• Kawabata was removed from active roster at the same time as Ishikawa. Apparently he had been feeling pain in his left wrist since a game against Hiroshima in September, and was taken off the active roster for that reason. The pains may have been what contributed to his 5-for-45 batting in October. He’s said he’ll be aiming to return in time for the CS, but the status of his health is concerning.
• Whitesell was taken off the roster with right flank pains on the 9th. But there have been no other reports as to his status since. Obviously having Whitesell’s bat on the bench would be a big help to a team struggling to get its offense going.
• Kyuko returned to the team on the 11th, but had a couple of rocky outings (2.1 IP, 5 ER, in 3 appearances) and was taken of the active roster on the 20th. No word as to whether Kyuko is injured and whether he can be expected back for the playoffs. Since Kyuko was taken off the active roster on the 20th, he would only be eligible to return for Game 2 of the first round.
• Barnette’s case is even more mysterious than Kyuko’s case. Barnette was recalled to the active roster at the same time as Kyuko but was taken off the roster 3 days later without ever getting into a game. Barnette has not pitched in a first team game since September 3, and hasn’t pitched in ni-gun games as far as I can see. No details have been released as to Barnette’s condition. Like Kyuko, we’d love to have a prime Barnette back for the playoffs, but it would be a concern if he takes the mound for the first time in the CS.
• Muranaka was taken off the active roster on the 15th after pitching ineffectively on the 14th. Muranaka is healthy as far as we know, so I’d expect him back on the roster for the playoffs.
• The current word on Yoshinori is that he could potentially return if the team makes it to the Nippon Series, but not any sooner.
• Shichijo was demoted from the team after a series of rough outings in late September, but would be available to the team unless he has a hidden injury. He was not on the initial Phoenix League roster so he may be rusty if he were to join the team.
• Finally Iihara would be available to the team if he is needed.

As you can see from the above list our team has been suffering through injury and our roster is somewhat in flux and other players have not been able to fill in the gap. As reported earlier by Chris, Keizo Kawashima will not be able available to the team as he underwent ligament surgery (possibly Tommy John surgery?) on his right elbow and will be out for a whole year.

Left Field: One of the first topics I ever handled on the Monday Review was our left field situation. At the time, the solution was putting Hatake in left, and that worked for a while. However, the big man’s defensive inability in left combined with some cooling off by Whitesell led to a re-opening of the hole in left. The team has tried Iihara, Ueda, and Fukuchi over the last month. While all of them are more than adequate replacements in left field they haven’t been able to make up for the offense lost by having Whitesell come off the bench. It seems the team has settled on Ueda for the stretch run.

Have we settled on a left fielder for the playoffs?

2011 Draft: The 2011 Draft will occur on the 27th. I will be posting a draft preview sometime next week. Let me know if there are any players you’d like me to cover.

Retirement Game: Our last game is on Tuesday, and as predicted in the last Monday Review, the final game will be a retirement game. Hirotoshi Ishii will be given an opportunity to pitch in one last pro game prior to his retirement. There were no comments in regards to Hamanaka and Guiel, but it seems those players will not be coming into the game.

I Want Love: As mentioned by Chris and Dave in their last podcast, I”m in need to love and feedback for this column. Let me know if you like this column and if there’s anything I can do to make it better.

Episode three was recorded just a few hours prior to last night’s game against the Hiroshima Carp.

Dave and Christopher also talk about Tokyo’s beleaguered bullpen, answer some listener questions, and end the show by sharing their predictions about how things will turn out.

There’s no intro-outro music this time around as Dave decided to go in a new direction with the beginning of the show. Apologies for the temporary change, but Dave’s creativity is not to be dismissed.

If you’d like to subscribe to these podcasts, you can do so through iTunes by searching for “Tokyo Swallows Podcast”, and you will see our logo appear. Subscribing is free, and if you like what you hear, please write a (glowing) review. Alternatively, you can click here.

We’ll be putting out a fourth episode before the playoffs begin so as to summarize what happened in the pennant race and how the playoffs look to unfold.

Thanks for listening!

Previous episodes:

TS Podcast 01

TS Podcast 02

After a couple of weeks of feeling like there wasn’t much to write about, we’re back with another Monday review! This week we’ll cover the major roster moves made this week, well as go over all the retirement announcements made recently, and we’ll also spend a lot of time going over the stretch run from multiple view points.

Looking Back

Roster Moves: Due to injury and ineffectiveness our roster has been in flux recently. Muranaka was taken off the active roster on September 28 citing tightness in his throwing shoulder after a string of ineffective starts. Shichijo took his place on the roster, but lost it a day later after an ineffective start against the Tigers. Meanwhile Ishikawa and Kyuko both reportedly had fevers. Kyuko was taken off the active roster with Shichijo to get some rest, while Ishikawa missed his scheduled start but remained on the active roster. LHP Okamoto was brought up with the Kyuko/Shichijo demotion, but lost his top team spot on the 2nd in a major roster shake up. Okamoto, Tetsuya Yamamoto, Takeuchi, and Miwa lost their spot on the active roster in favor of Hitoshi Yamamoto, Kato, Hashimoto, Fukuchi, and Yuichi. One day later, Keizo Kawashima was taken off the active roster. The Swallows’ active roster currently stands at 26 men, which means that 2 spots are open for a call up. Kyuko and Muranaka would be eligible to return this upcoming weekend. Yoshinori was rumored to be coming back during the Swallows’ 9 game stretch in September, but subsequent rumors have mentioned that he would not be able to return during the regular season. Tony Barnette was supposed to be shut down for 3 weeks at the beginning of September, so he may be coming back soon, but there is no news on Tony’s present condition.

While the moves on the offensive side are mostly cosmetic since our starting core has been fairly established, the moves on the pitching side point to a team in flux. We’re starting to run out of quality starters and we’ll have to hand the ball to a group of younger unproven relievers if the starters can’t go deep. The absence of Kyuko and Barnette also puts a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Matsuoka and Oshimoto late in the game in key situations. Our current rotation is Tateyama, Masubuchi, Akagawa, Hitoshi Yamamoto (?), and Ishikawa (assuming he returns tomorrow). Not quite the rotation that got us here.

Retirement News: We’ve already covered the retirement announcement of Aaron Guiel, but two more Swallows announced their intention to retire after the season. Hirotoshi Ishii and Osamu Hamanaka will be retiring after the season.

Hirotoshi Ishii

Hirotoshi Ishii is a life-long Swallow that was drafted in the 4th round of the 1995 draft. Starting in 1999, Ishii started getting regular playing time as a lefty arm out of the bullpen. He had a breakout season in 2002 in which he appeared in a league high 69 games, and posted a 1.51 ERA with a 0.84 WHIP, on his way to be named Most Valuable Reliever. Ishii and Ryota Igarashi made up the duo ‘Rocket Boys’ as the top lefty/righty pair out of the bullpen after the departure of Shingo Takatsu in 2004. Beyond his play with the Swallows, Ishii has played for Japan in the 2004 Olympics and the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006. Ishii had always expressed a strong desire to play in the Majors, but the team would not post him. The team initially promised to post him after the 2004 season, but reneged on the promise after the team changed managers in the off-season. The team finally promised to post Ishii after the 2006 season if he pitched one more full season. Unfortunately, Ishii injured his shoulder during that season and would not pitch at the top level again. Ishii has been rehabbing his shoulder ever since and has appeared in a handful of ni-gun games over the years. Ishii announced his decision to retire on the 29th and thanked the club for giving him the opportunity to try to return to baseball.

Osamu Hamanaka joined the Swallows prior to this season as a potential right handed bat off the bench. After a hot spring, Hamanaka was the team’s opening day stater in left field but lost the job to Hatakeyama after only 3 games. Hamanaka was drafted in 1996 by the Tigers and spent 11 years with the club before moving to the Orix Buffaloes in 2008. Since 2003, Hamanaka has been bothered by a right shoulder injury which has kept him out of the line up on and off for years. Hamanaka cited the injury and his inability to give it his all on the field as reasons for retiring after the season.

Quo Vadimus

The Schedule Up Ahead: The Swallows are about to start a stretch in which they will play 12 games in 12 days. Things will kick off at the Kyocera Dome tomorrow with a 3 game series against the Tigers, followed by a 3 game weekend series at Jingu. Then, the Swallows will travel to Nagoya for a critical 4 game series against the Dragons which may decide the pennant race. The marathon will cap off with a rain make up game against the Tigers at Jingu, followed by another make up game at Yokohama. After that insane stretch, the Swallows will get 2 days off before visiting Koshien for a game, and a game at Nagoya the next day. The Swallows will have 5 days rest before finally wrapping up their regular season with a home game at home.

Win Percentage Table: The final standing are calculated by winning percentage in which ties do not count, formula is W%=W/(144-T).. Therefore a team with 14 ties will have their winning percentage calculated out of 130 games, rather than 144 games.  Thus, with the season winding down, you can make a table of what the team’s win percentage will be depending on their record in the remaining games. Using the table you can see how you compare with other teams depending on their records. Thus we present the win percentage tables as of October 3rd for the top 4 teams in the Central League.

The first thing you may notice is that the Swallows have already guaranteed themselves a winning season. The table also illustrates the gulf that exists between the Swallows and the Tigers, meaning the Swallows’ place in the Climax series is quite safe. You can also use the table to figure out the minimum number of wins the team will need depending on how they do in a head to head. So if the Swallows take 4 out of 5 games from the Dragons, the Dragons would finish with a .5735 winning percentage if they win all their other games. Thus, the Swallows would need to go 5-5 in their other games to finish above the Dragons. Obviously, as games get played you can eliminate possible records and narrow the list of scenarios. If any teams tie the table will need to be reworked to lower the denominator.

Retirement Ceremony Scenarios: The team has traditionally used the last home game of the year to recall the retiring players to the top team to give them one last chance to play at Jingu and give the fans a chance to say goodbye. While imports have typically not received this kind of treatment, the team has hinted that they would try to work something out with Guiel in response to the outpouring of support by the fans. However, this year, depending on where we end up in the standings the team may not be able to afford removing an active player from the roster lest we lose their services for the beginning of the playoffs. Because players removed from the active roster cannot be re-added for 10 days, the team will have to know their playoff situation at least 10 days prior to their first Climax Series game (Oct. 29 for round 1, Nov. 2 for round 2).

Hoping for some more fun times!