An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
Before spending a good deal of time on the top team toward the end of the 2011 season, Tsuyoshi Ueda had himself a very strong season on the farm team. Number 50, who turned 23 in October and grew up in Okayama Prefecture, stole 55 bases this year to easily win the Eastern League crown. [...]
Masayoshi Miwa (no. 60), a second year infielder currently toiling on Tokyo’s farm team, was named the July player of the month in the minor league’s Eastern division. The 25-year-old Miwa hails from Yamaguchi prefecture, and the speedster throws righty and bats lefty. While he has made three appearances on Tokyo’s top team so far [...]
Jamie D’Antona has been named the Central League’s most valuable position player for the month of July.
Know what’s a heartbreaker? Seeing the Central League MVP and Best Nine announcements and seeing that a third of the Best Nine, the MVP, and the best pitcher in the CL are all Giants, then realizing that that would be true of the Swallows had Tokyo been willing to pay a bit and offer multi-year [...]
