Japan Times staff writer, Jason Coskrey, waxes positive about what went on during the second half of last season. Both Fukuchi and Guiel are quoted in the piece. The main themes are: a) we surprise everyone by making the playoffs last year, b) we need to step it up this year, and c) we have a [...]

October 19th, 2009 Tokyo Swallows 4 Chunichi Dragons 7 Series: Chunichi 2-1 Tokyo (Nagoya Dome) Chunichi was definitely the better team today, but they should never forget that they had the flu and a little bit of Takada on their side. Either way, the season came to an end for the Swallows while the Dragons [...]

October 18th, 2009 Tokyo Swallows 2 Chunichi Dragons 3 Series: Chunichi 1-1 Tokyo (Nagoya Dome) The Dragons leveled the series with a come-from-behind win and made sure that both team’s season will survive at least one more day.

October 17th, 2009 Tokyo Swallows 3 Chunichi Dragons 2 Series: Chunichi 0-1 Tokyo (Nagoya Dome) Game one of the 2009 Central League Climax Series kicked off in Nagoya with Chen on the mound for the home team, and Ishikawa taking the reigns for the visiting Tokyo Swallows. And Tokyo came up with the goods versus [...]

October 17th, 2009 Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 1 Tohoku Rakuten Eagles 4 Best of 3 Series: Fukoka 0 – 2 Tohoku (Kleenex Stadium) The Eagles rode a solid performance from starting pitcher, Masahiro Tanaka, to sweep the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and earn a trip to Hokkaido to face the Pacific League champions.

The regular season ended on Monday when Tokyo came from behind to beat Yomiuri, and the Swallows’ resulting 71-72-1 record earned them praise for a modest improvement over last year and the team’s first ever advancement to the Climax Series. The team’s solid play at the end of 2009 was a refreshing bookend to a [...]

October 12th, 2009 Yomiuri Giants 3 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5 Streak: Won 6   Last 5: WWWWW (Jingu Stadium) The Swallows closed out their regular season with a come from behind win against the Giants, ending their terrible run of losses against Yomuri. Not that this game meant too much really.

October 11th, 2009 Chunichi Dragons 3 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4 Streak: Won 5    Last 5: WWWWW (Jingu Stadium) With the Swallows clinching 3rd and a Climax Series place on Friday, this preview matchup between the two teams that will be contesting the first round of the post-season was meant to be a nice quiet game, [...]

Ah, Shigeru Takada. Our esteemed manager. Regular readers of Tsubamegun will know that he’s not too popular around these parts, what with our “Takada Count” (currently at 14) keeping a tab on all his boneheaded exploits throughout this season.

October 9th, 2009 Hanshin Tigers 1 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Streak: Won 4      Last 5:  LWWWW (Jingu Stadium) Whisper it, we are A-Class. No f*uck that. Shout it from the rooftops, WE ARE A-CLASS!! In the biggest game the Swallows have faced in years, they did what was necessary and beat the Hanshin [...]