An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
UPDATED: January 13, 2011 Since the end of the season, the Swallows have lost some players through cuts and retirement, the team has also gained some players through free agency and the draft. The team also managed to keep Chang-Yong Lim by resigning him to a lucrative contract. We have covered some of these moves, [...]
October 3rd, 2010 Yokohama BayStars 1 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Streak: Won 2 Last 5: WWLWW (Meiji Jingu Stadium) With little more than pride and a couple of personal records for Aoki at stake, the Tokyo Swallows hosted the Yokohama BayStars for the final time in 2010. With all the talk of Yokohama’s possible [...]
September 26th, 2010 Chunichi Dragons 1 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: LWWLW (Meiji Jingu) In yet another absolute must-win situation, the Tokyo Swallows bested the first place Dragons on the back of a decent start by Yoshinori and a solid first inning on offense. Tonight’s lineup: 1. Aoki CF 2. [...]
September 22nd, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 4 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: WLWLW (Mazda Zoooom Zooooooooooooom Stadium Hiroshima) With the Swallows playoff hopes now all but extinguished, and 4th place effectively long since in the bag, the goal of improving on 2009′s one game under .500 finish is all that [...]
September 7th, 2010 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 5 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 6 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: DWLDW (Meiji Jingu Stadium) After a desperately disappointing series in Yokohama at the weekend, Tokyo looked to keep alive their faint hopes of a playoff spot against the 2010 CL’s other doormat outfit. And keep those hopes alive they did, [...]
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 [...]
June 27th, 2010 Hanshin Tigers 4 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 8 Streak: Won 2 Last 5: WLLWW (Meiji Jingu Stadium) Tokyo won a series against a Central League team for the first time since the beginning of April (4/2-4/4 versus Yokohama). Today’s lineup: 1. Aoki CF 2. Tanaka 2B 3. Iihara RF 4. D’Antona 1B [...]
June 25th, 2010 Hanshin Tigers 9 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4 Streak: Lost 2 Last 5: WLWLL (Meiji Jingu Stadium) The birds ran headlong into a hot-hitting Hanshin side in Barnette’s return to the top team after a short spell on the farm with gout. Starting lineup: 1. Aoki CF 2. Tanaka 2B 3. Takeuchi [...]
Ever since the Swallows signed Josh Whitesell to a contract, I have been contemplating the various roster adjustments the Swallows could make in order to maximize the talent available to the team. With various news sources reporting that Whitesell will make his Swallows debut on the 25th against Hanshin, I’d like to share some of [...]
June 19th, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1 Hiroshima Toyo Carp 5 Streak: Lost 2 Last 5: WWWLL (Mazda Stadium) Tokyo had to wait an extra day to re-start their Central League program after yesterday’s game in Hiroshima was rained out. And for a while their return to CL duties was a tightly contested affair, [...]
