An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
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 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 [...]
September 20th, 2011 Tokyo Swallows 1 Yomiuri Giants 6 Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: WDLWL (Tokyo Dome) Tokyo’s last game of the season with Yomiuri was one to forget. But it shouldn’t overshadow the 12W-8L-4D winning record for the year, which represents the Swallows’ first winning season against the brainwashed orange tribe in eleven years. [...]
September 13th, 2011 Tokyo Swallows 4 Hiroshima Carp 1 Streak: Won 7 Last 5: WWWWW (Mazda Zoooooom Zooooooom Stadium) After dispatching the hoodoo that Hanshin had held over them in 2011 with that ultra-satisfying sweep this last weekend, the first series of this new week presented another opportunity to turn the tables on a [...]
September 6th, 2011 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 8 Yokohama BayStars 3 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: WWWLW (Yokohama Stadium) If Tokyo have any pretensions of taking the Central League title this year, then they need to win a majority of their six games with Yokohama in September. And tonight they made a pretty good start on the road [...]
August 31st, 2011 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 10 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2 Streak: Lost 5 Last 5: LLLLL (Meiji Jingu Stadium) Things go from bad to worse as Tokyo see their lead shrink to a paltry 1.5 games after a game about which the less said the better. Us: Aoki (CF) Tanaka (2B) [...]
