An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
Chunichi Dragons Sold backup catcher, Keiji Oyama (31) to Tohoku. 2011 was Oyama’s best season so far, offensively-speaking. He hit .280/.394/.390 in 102 plate appearances. It sounds like Araki and Ibata could be reverting to their old positions, second and short, respectively. Victor Diaz is all but certain to be wearing a Chunichi uniform this [...]
Chunichi Dragons The talk of Araki and Ibata switching back to their original positions, 2nd and short, respectively, continues. Not that anyone cares. Victor Diaz might be on the team’s radar. Diaz played in Korea in 2009. Yomiuri Giants Hayato Sakamoto, Yomiuri’s prized homegrown shortstop, has been reaping the benefits of Shinya Miyamoto’s guidance this [...]
Shinya Miyamoto, Tokyo’s veteran infielder and now 41 years of age, was voted the best defensive third baseman in the Central League this season. It was the third time that he has won the honor in as many seasons. That is, of course, in addition to the six Golden Gloves he had previously won at [...]
Fukuoka win the 2011 Japan Series 4-3 over Chunichi.
2011 Central League champs, the Chunichi Dragons, advanced to the Japan Series after defeating the Tokyo Swallows in six games in the final stage of the playoffs. The Fukuoka (Softbank) Hawks won the Pacific League pennant and then swept the Saitama Seibu Lions to face Chunichi in the best-of-seven series.
It’s now time to decide who will move on to the 2011 Japan Series. The schedule for the final stage of the Climax Series is set to go a little something like this (scroll down for the Pacific League schedule): Central League 2nd place Tokyo Yakult Swallows vs 1st place Chunichi Dragons All games will [...]
May 23rd, 2011 Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 0 Tokyo Swallows 0 Streak: Drew 1 Last 5: LLLLD (Meiji Jingu Stadium) Not a very enjoyable day at Jingu. This game was called after five innings of steady drizzling. The mound had just about turned to mud. Fukuoka 1. Kawasaki SS 2. Honda 2B 3. [...]
June 15th, 2010 Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 10 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 2 Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: WWWWL (Meiji Jingu Stadium) Tokyo’s longest winning streak of the season came to a screeching halt at the hands of the Hokkaido Fighters who refused to be swept. In fact, they were so adamant about not being [...]
June 14th, 2010 Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 3 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 8 Streak: Won 5 Last 5: WWWWW (Meiji Jingu Stadium) When this game was originally scheduled to be played (May 23rd), Takada was still at the helm, the birds had just gotten whupped by Chiba 20-4, and the team was in the midst [...]
June 13th, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 1 Streak: Won 4 Last 5: LWWWW (Kleenex Stadium Miyagi) Hats off to the birds for the current winning streak which ties their season-best of four games. And may I remind you that the last two wins came against Iwakuma and Tanaka, two [...]
June 12th, 2010 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4 Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 1 Streak: Won 3 Last 5: WLWWW (Kleenex Stadium Miyagi) The Swallows now have themselves a three-game winning streak–a feat that first took place back in March after an opening day defeat. That first three-game run was extended to four, but that fourth [...]
