An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
August 17th, 2011 Yokohama BayStars 10 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 10 Streak: Tied 1 Last 5: LWLWT (Jingu Stadium) Tokyo is certainly in the entertainment business. I was prepared to ponder Kawabata’s batting third and to make up for my discounting of Shichijo’s previous outing, which was solid. Instead, I find myself thinking more of [...]
July 3, 2011 Hiroshima Carp 3 Tokyo Swallows 7 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: DDWLW (Mazda Stadium) Tokyo pounced on some iffy pitching early to build a lead that would eventually give the wobbly Masubuchi the win even though he surrendered three runs off of eights hits over five innings of 98-pitch [...]
June 15th, 2011 Saitama Seibu Lions 8 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 0 Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: DLWWL (Meiji Jingu Stadium) Yamamoto did his thing – nullifying Ks with RBIs and BBs, while the offense did a little reprise of their earlier Interleague performance by leaving their bats on the rack. Tokyo: 1. Aoki (CF) [...]
September 1st, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Yomiuri Giants 3 Streak: Drew 1 Last 5: WLLWD (Tomiyama) After finishing out a very respectable August with an 18-8 record, by far the best W-L tally in the Central League, the birds began September with a draw. Lineup: 1. Aoki CF 2. Tanaka 2B 3. Iihara [...]
August 10th, 2010 Yomiuri Giants 3 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4 Streak: Won 7 Last 5: WWWWW (Jingu Stadium) The birds put their six-game winning streak on the line against Yomiuri in the latest version of the Tokyo derby. And even though they did a few things wrong, they did just enough things right to [...]
July 20th, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Yomiuri Giants 4 Streak: Lost 4 Last 5: WLLLL (Tokyo Dome) After allowing double-digit runs in their last two games, the Swallows were able to keep things a little more under control this evening. But the birds lost this one in extra innings nonetheless. Tonight’s lineup: 1. [...]
July 19th, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 8 Yomiuri Giants 14 Streak: Lost 3 Last 5: WWLLL (Tokyo Dome) The Swallows dropped another one, and suffered their second big inning in as many days, as cross-town rivals, Yomiuri, returned to winning ways after being beaten in dramatic fashion by Yokohama last night. Tonight’s lineup: 1. [...]
July 18th, 2010 Hanshin Tigers 11 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4 Streak: Lost 2 Last 5: WWWLL (Meiji Jingu Stadium) Yoshinori was his same annoyingly inconsistent self to start things off today. Randy Messenger, on the other hand, looked sharp for Hanshin. He needs to quit that chewing tobacco habit though. Starting lineup: 1. Aoki [...]
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 [...]
