Well, the festive season is over and the 2010 baseball season can be spotted lurking on the horizon, just waiting to take over our lives again. Here’s a round up of what’s been going on in SwallowsLand so far this offseason that hasn’t been covered elsewhere on the site: The Swallows made only their second ever [...]
It was reported that Ryota Igarashi, long-time set-up and closer out of the Tokyo bullpen, will be spending the winter training in the United States as he works through the process of signing with a team there. A couple of teams have apparently
Japan are the 2009 WBC Champions. But unlike 2006, there will be no disputing their right to call themselves such this time. A clutch two out two RBI single from Ichiro in the top of the 10th inning was enough to break a 3-3 tie and win the game for team Japan. Their thrilling victory [...]
The 2009 WBC final will be between Japan and Korea after Japan rolled over a lackluster USA team in the second semi-final at Dodger Stadium. A five run 4th inning did the bulk of the damage for the Japanese, damage from which the USA never recovered despite a late attempt at a comeback. Daisuke Matsuzaka [...]
A quartet of singles in the top of the 8th inning yielded three runs and broke a 2-2 tie to help Japan overcome Korea and claim the top seed’s position in Pool 1 of Round 2 of the WBC. Given that both teams were going to the semi-finals in Los Angeles regardless of today’s result, [...]
A day after being brushed aside so easily by Korea, Japan had to pick themselves up to face the Cubans for the second time in four days. This time however, there were no second chances, the loser would be heading home. Japan rode to victory three days earlier on the back of six innings of five hit [...]
This one did not start well for Yu Darvish and team Japan. Darvish threw far more balls than strikes in the first inning of this game. His first three pitches were balls above the strike zone, and his first two pitches to Korea’s second, third and fourth batters were outside the zone. Behind in the [...]
Japan announced their arrival in the second round of the 2009 WBC with a comprehensive victory over the much fancied Cubans in San Diego on Sunday afternoon. The victory was based around strong pitching, with a majestic start from Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Japanese ace pitched 6 innings of five hit ball, striking out eight and walking [...]
Well what a difference a day makes. Korea, wounded by their trouncing at the hands of Japan on Saturday evening, took out their frustrations on China on Sunday. They eliminated the Chinese from the competition with a 14-0 demolition, called after 7 due to the mercy rule. The Koreans were aided by some appalling fielding [...]
Well, where do I start? Let’s start with the afternoon game, which saw China shock Taipei 4-1 to send Terry Collins’ Chinese team through to Sunday’s game to face the loser of the big one, Japan vs Korea. Taipei were never really in the game and have looked listless during their two outings, scoring just [...]
