An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
April 29th, 2011 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2 Hanshin Tigers 6 Streak: Lost 2 Last 5: WWWLL (Koshien Stadium) One bad inning and the bend-but-don’t-break pitching of the Tigers cost the Swallows the game. The Swallows debuted their much speculated Whitesell/Hatakeyama lineup, with Hatakeyama getting the start in left and Whitesell making his return to [...]
Call this part of the “There are no ‘Ham Fighters’ or ‘Tokyo Giants’ and the Hanshin Tigers are not the Boston Red Sox of Japan” series of ongoing gripes to which we give voice from time to time. OK, to which I give voice. David and Christopher are off the hook on this one. To [...]
I find it hard to disagree with Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci that Fenway Park is the greatest venue in all of sports. I was even lucky enough to see Billy Hatcher steal home there on August 3, 1992 – a feat no Red Sox player has pulled off since. Nonetheless, this part of the essay [...]
