An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
The Birds kicked off Interleague play with a disastrous 0-4 homestand. Starting tomorrow, the team takes their show on the road with two games each against the Seibu Lions and the Lotte Marines. That means for the first time this season, the Swallows will be able to feature a lineup with a designated hitter. The [...]
May 2nd, 2010 Yokohama Baystars 4 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 1 Streak: Lost 1 Last 5: LLLWL (Meiji Jingu Stadium) Quick quiz: can you actually remember the last time that the birds won a series? Neither can we. Starting for the BayStars was Tomokazu Ohka. Yikes. Tonite’s lineup: 1. Fukuchi LF 2. Miyamoto 3B 3. Aoki [...]
August 16th, 2009 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3 Chunichi Dragons 1 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: LLLLW (Nagoya Dome) Takada is largely avoiding the bunt these days, but that’s partly because the team hasn’t been hitting and giving him many chances. Ironically, now that there’s a green light to swing, two of our best hitters [...]
June 20th, 2009 Saitama Seibu Lions 4 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5 Streak: Won 6 Last 5: WWWWW (Jingu Stadium) Tonight was a good-ole’, extra-innings game, and you need to know only two words in order to understand all the fun that it entailed: Jamie D’Antona.
June 17th, 2009 Chiba Lotte Marines 1 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 10 Streak: Won 4 Last 5: LWWWW (Jingu Stadium) The two-run homer was the Swallows’ weapon of choice, with Aoki, D’Antona, Aikawa and Takeuchi all going deep as Tokyo rolled over the Marines at Jingu. Yoshinori made his second start since rejoining the top [...]
June 14th, 2009 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 14 Orix Buffaloes 10 Streak: Won 3 Last 5: WLWWW (Kyocera Dome) After its low-scoring win over Orix yesterday, Tokyo looked to complete the sweep Sunday afternoon. Ishikawa (6-3) took the mound for Tokyo, and Hirano (2-2) got the start for the Buffs. Orix has won only one [...]
June 8th, 2009 Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 3 Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4 Streak: Won 1 Last 5: LWWLW (Jingu Stadium) A 9th inning timely Takeuchi RBI single broke a 3-3 tie as Tokyo had themselves their first sayonara victory of 2009. It was a great end to a truly absorbing game between two closely matched [...]
