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 25th, 2011 Hiroshima Carp 1 Tokyo Swallows 2 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: LWWLW (Meiji Jingu Stadium) This game very nearly sucked. But in the end, it turned out to be a very satisfactory way to end the regular season. The unimportance of this contest was lost on very few people [...]
As if things weren’t already bad enough on the injury front, Tokyo has at least one new headache to deal with. It was reported in the Chunichi Sports online paper that second year infielder, Takahiro Araki, sustained a fractured left ankle during practice. He will miss all future 2011 games. We covered this a bit [...]
July 19th, 2011 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 6 Yokohama BayStars 3 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: WLLDW (Yokohama Stadium) Tokyo returned to winnings ways in Yokohama as Balentien re-discovered his mojo in a major way. Us: Aoki (CF) Tanaka (2B) Whitesell (1B) Hatakeyama (LF) Balentien (RF) Miyamoto (3B) Kawabata (SS) Aikawa (C) Tateyama (P) Them: Ishikawa [...]
July 1, 2011 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 1 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: LWDDW (Mazda Stadium) After two disappointing ties against 4th placed Yomiuri, Tokyo closed out the 5th placed Carp tonight. After a slow June, Balentien began July like it was May. Here are the lineups: Tokyo: Aoki [...]
June 12th, 2011 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 1 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: WLDLW (Yahoo Dome) The birds looked to be in trouble when Tokyo starter, Tateyama, was ejected in the fourth inning after beaning Fukuoka’s third baseman in the head. But Tokyo’s bullpen kept the Hawks offense in check [...]
June 8th, 2011 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 0 Orix Buffaloes 7 Streak: L1 Last 5: LWWWL (Kyocera Dome) What? We lost, OK? Want to keep reading, make us feel bad? Tokyo: 1. Aoki (CF) 2. Tanaka (2B) 3. Whitesell (DH) 4. Hatakeyama (1B) 5. Balentien (RF) 6. Yuichi (LF) 7. Miyamoto (3B) 8. Fujimoto (SS) 9. [...]
July 14th, 2010 Chunichi Dragons 1 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2 Streak: Won 4 Last 5: LWWWW (Nagoya Dome) A quality seven innings from Kyohei Muranaka laid the foundations for what initially looked like would be a straightforward win in Nagoya. Only an almighty wobble from closer Lim in the bottom of the 9th threatened [...]
July 4th, 2010 Chunichi Dragons 8 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5 Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: WWWWL (Akita Komachi Stadium) Don’t let the article image fool you! The Swallows fail to extend their winning streak in a very sloppy game against the Chunichi Dragons. Aoki did manage to collect career hit #1000, but aside from [...]
How We Got There The Swallows came into June fresh off the Takada firing, and were only 4 games into the Ogawa regime. The Birds were looking to build on the 1-2-1 record they had compiled under Ogawa, by exacting revenge on the Pacific League teams that had swept them in May. How We Did [...]
