An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
Here are a few things that you might not remember about the players currently on the Tokyo roster: In Fukuchi’s first year with the Swallows (2008), he hit .320/.366/.449. Keizo Kawashima stole 20 bags in his first year with the team (2008) while only getting caught once. However, in 2009 he stole eight but got [...]
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 [...]
The Tokyo Swallows put out a two sentence blurb (Japanese text) on their website today stating that Keizo Kawashima will not be on the bench for the playoffs as he had reconstructive surgery on his right elbow yesterday. Keizo had surgery at a hospital in Gunma Prefecture, and the team predicts that it will take about [...]
Welcome to the Monday Review, in which we’ll look back at the week that was and look ahead to the week that will be. We hope a recurring weekly review column will help readers identify some trends that can’t be covered in a single game report. We’re still trying to work out the format, so [...]
August 10th, 2011 Tokyo Swallows 3 Hiroshima Carp 4 Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: LLLWL (Mazda Stadium) The Swallows were not able to ride the momentum from last night’s victory, as they fell 4-3 to the Carp in Hiroshima. The lineup was tweaked slightly by getting Keizo Kawashima’s hot bat into the lineup and giving [...]
July 30th, 2011 Yomiuri Giants 2 Tokyo Swallows 2 Streak: Tied 1 Last 5: LWLWD (Meiji Jingu Stadium) After gritty pitching win last night, the Swallows looked to take the series win against the Giants at Jingu. With Miyamoto taking a rest day the Swallows start Keizo at short and move Kawabata to third. Furthermore, [...]
Now, if you’re reading this expecting some kind of new high-brow niche in adult entertainment from Japan, please accept my apologies and look elsewhere. This here be about baseball. Just as it did last year, the new Swallows Official Goods Catalogue popped through my letterbox this last week, goading me to waste yet more money [...]
Pitchers Kyouhei Muranaka (no. 15) and Mikinori Katoh (no. 16), the alleged future of the pitching staff, were brought up to the top team on the 18th of September. Muranaka, a fourth year lefty from Kanagawa, has been one of 2009′s bigger letdowns as far as the rotation is concerned. He resurfaces on the parent [...]
September 16th, 2009 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 7 Yokohama BayStars 3 Streak: Won 2 Last 5: LLLWW (Yokohama Stadium) The Swallows won two games in a row for the first time since July 31st and August 1st when the team was playing the Dragons at home. Coincidentally, that was also the last time that the birds [...]
September 16th, 2009 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 6 Yokohama BayStars 2 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: LLLLW (Yokohama Stadium) Huh. Imagine that.
