An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
Chunichi Dragons Sold backup catcher, Keiji Oyama (31) to Tohoku. 2011 was Oyama’s best season so far, offensively-speaking. He hit .280/.394/.390 in 102 plate appearances. It sounds like Araki and Ibata could be reverting to their old positions, second and short, respectively. Victor Diaz is all but certain to be wearing a Chunichi uniform this [...]
A lot has happened since we last offered up our insights on what’s happening with your Tokyo Swallows. Some of the major goings-on include: Norichika Aoki has joined the Milwaukee Brewers Lastings Milledge was snagged as a free agent before signing with another major league club Orlando Roman was lured away from the Brother Elephants [...]
Chunichi Dragons The talk of Araki and Ibata switching back to their original positions, 2nd and short, respectively, continues. Not that anyone cares. Victor Diaz might be on the team’s radar. Diaz played in Korea in 2009. Yomiuri Giants Hayato Sakamoto, Yomiuri’s prized homegrown shortstop, has been reaping the benefits of Shinya Miyamoto’s guidance this [...]
Happy New Year, everyone. Here’s another stab at a news roundup for our beloved Central League. Chunichi Dragons Under new management, the Dragons seem to be taking the whole ‘fan experience’ thing very seriously. Both the manager and the head of the team’s player group, starter Kazuki Yoshimi, have a bunch of ideas that range [...]
Happy holidays everyone! Hope that everyone out there has had a chance to spend some time with loved ones. This is the first of what will likely be an on-again, off-again column detailing what’s going on with Tokyo’s competition in the Central League. Chunichi Dragons Morimichi Takagi took over as Chunichi’s new coach following the [...]
We’re back! It’s been a while since our last audio edition, but David and Christopher sat down again on a Sunday afternoon to make fun of each other a little bit and talk about everything that has happened since the Central League playoffs kicked off at Meiji Jingu Stadium at the end of October. After [...]
Tokyo third baseman, Shinya Miyamoto, and center fielder, Norichika Aoki, were voted into the Central League’s best nine today. Miyamoto earned the award for the first time in his 17-year career while it was the seventh time that Aoki has been voted in during his eight seasons as a pro. This comes just after both [...]
Shinya Miyamoto, Tokyo’s veteran infielder and now 41 years of age, was voted the best defensive third baseman in the Central League this season. It was the third time that he has won the honor in as many seasons. That is, of course, in addition to the six Golden Gloves he had previously won at [...]
Get your calendar ready. NPB posted a preliminary schedule recently, and it looks like the Swallows will begin the 2012 season with a three-game away series at Tokyo Dome against crosstown rival, Yomiuri. That series will be played the weekend of March 30th through April 1st. No word on start times for any of the [...]
Fukuoka win the 2011 Japan Series 4-3 over Chunichi.
2011 Central League champs, the Chunichi Dragons, advanced to the Japan Series after defeating the Tokyo Swallows in six games in the final stage of the playoffs. The Fukuoka (Softbank) Hawks won the Pacific League pennant and then swept the Saitama Seibu Lions to face Chunichi in the best-of-seven series.
