An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
Tokyo Swallows fans witnessed it all in 2010: the resumption of the 2009 slump which ended up consuming the first two months of 2010; a change in manager; the addition of a cleanup bat; veteran pitchers refinding their form; an authoritative return to winning; and a bit of flirtation with the third and final playoff spot. With any luck, 2011 [...]
The fourth and final installment in a series of articles about Bobby Valentines’s rise and fall with the Chiba Lotte Marines baseball organization. Robert Whiting, author of the irreplaceable You Gotta Have Wa, interviews players and personnel both in and outside the organization to present a rounded account of what went on behind the scenes.
A common conundrum encountered by enthusiasts of NPB is that of the sac bunt. It happens all the time, especially in the Central League where there’s no designated hitter (DH). And because of the absence of a DH, the pitcher often has to hit. You can occasionally find guys that know how to swing a [...]
The Japan Times‘ Jason Coskrey reported today that Chiba Manager Bobby Valentine, with whom we were lucky enough to have a chat back in July, told reporters on Tuesday that a Marines official asked him to resign back in late July. Valentine broke the news while chatting with the reporters about the possibility of his [...]
So what happened last Thursday? The Tsubamegun at Chiba Marine Stadium? Hostile territory, one might think. Not when Mr. Larry Rocca is around. First of all, Mr. Rocca wears nice suits. We were a bit taken aback when he appeared out of thin air in 90 degree sunlight wearing a blue and white striped three-button [...]
The point of this post is really just to start an open thread and give our readers a chance to offer some input while it’ll still really make a difference. Like Michael Westbay of Japanese Baseball.com and Deanna of Marinerds, etc. before us, we here at the Tsubamegun have been invited to spend a day [...]
