An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
Yakult, Tokyo’s parent company, surprised many when it decided to post Norichika Aoki after the 2011 season. Why? Aoki won’t have the service time to earn international free agency until partway through the 2013 season, so most Tokyo fans were expecting another year at Jingu Stadium for the team’s perennial Golden Glove, Best Nine and [...]
March 27th, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 10 Yomiuri Giants 5 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: LW (Tokyo Dome) Tokyo’s bats finally exploded into life and Yoshinori pitched a gem as the Swallows ran out easy winners in the home of their beloved neighbours. Yoshinori pitched 8 superb innings, tossing a career high 135 pitches, [...]
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 [...]
Aoki’s surgery was successfully completed yesterday at a hospital in Tokyo. Aoki had surgery on both of his ankles to remove small pieces of bone. It was reported that he should be able to leave the hospital within a week.
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 [...]
September 4th, 2009 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Yomiuri Giants 3 Streak: Drawn 1 Last 5: LLLWD (Tokyo Dome) Tokyo and those stupid orange fuktards Yomiuri played out the longest game in the CL this year, as they couldn’t be separated in 5 hours and 27 minutes of baseball. Tragically, the Swallows were robbed of a [...]
July 8th, 2009 Chunichi Dragons 6 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 11 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: LWLLW (Jingu Stadium) While the starting pitching again left something to be desired, the Tokyo bats awoke from their slumber as they knocked in eleven runs off fifteen hits in overturning the Dragons at Jingu. Yuki Tanaka (4.68) started for [...]
June 17th, 2009 Chiba Lotte Marines 1 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 10 Streak: Won 4 Last 5: LWWWW (Jingu Stadium) The two-run homer was the Swallows’ weapon of choice, with Aoki, D’Antona, Aikawa and Takeuchi all going deep as Tokyo rolled over the Marines at Jingu. Yoshinori made his second start since rejoining the top [...]
