Now that preseason play has begun, you’re probably either spending your afternoons at Jingu or you’re wondering how the squad is shaping up. Newcomer Takahiro Araki, 23, has been the regular at short and looks pretty good in the field, although he seems to be swinging for the fences a bit much; Eulogio de la [...]

Former Swallows reliever Ryota Igarashi is in Port St. Lucie with the Mets, where he was interviewed for a piece about him in the New York Daily News yesterday.
Among the article’s gems:

During his 11-year career with the Yakult Swallows, Igarashi would wear a WWE-style mask and take on the persona of “Swallows Man.” A photo of him [...]

Well, the festive season is over and the 2010 baseball season can be spotted lurking on the horizon, just waiting to take over our lives again. Here’s a round up of what’s been going on in SwallowsLand so far this offseason that hasn’t been covered elsewhere on the site:

The Swallows made only their second ever free [...]

October 12th, 2009

Yomiuri Giants 3
Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5
Streak: Won 6   Last 5: WWWWW
(Jingu Stadium)
The Swallows closed out their regular season with a come from behind win against the Giants, ending their terrible run of losses against Yomuri. Not that this game meant too much really.

October 11th, 2009

Chunichi Dragons 3

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 4

Streak: Won 5    Last 5: WWWWW
(Jingu Stadium)
With the Swallows clinching 3rd and a Climax Series place on Friday, this preview matchup between the two teams that will be contesting the first round of the post-season was meant to be a nice quiet game, with both teams having little [...]

Ah, Shigeru Takada. Our esteemed manager. Regular readers of Tsubamegun will know that he’s not too popular around these parts, what with our “Takada Count” (currently at 14) keeping a tab on all his boneheaded exploits throughout this season.

October 9th, 2009

Hanshin Tigers 1

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3

Streak: Won 4      Last 5:  LWWWW
(Jingu Stadium)
Whisper it, we are A-Class. No f*uck that. Shout it from the rooftops, WE ARE A-CLASS!!
In the biggest game the Swallows have faced in years, they did what was necessary and beat the Hanshin Tigers to secure 3rd place in [...]

October 8th, 2009

Hanshin Tigers 0

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5

Streak: Won 3      Last 5:  WLWWW
(Jingu Stadium)
The birds rode a complete game shutout by starter Tateyama to their third win in a row and reclaimed third place in the Central League in the process.

October 7th, 2009

Yokohama BayStars 4

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 5

Streak: Won 2   Last 5: LWLWW
(Jingu Stadium)
Aaron Guiel. Aaron Guiel. Aaron Guiel!!

October 6th, 2009

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 10

Yokohama BayStars 4

Streak: Won 1   Last 5: LLWLW
(Yokohama Stadium)
For quite a while, it looked as though Yokohama would frustrate Tokyo for the 14th time this year. But in the end, the Swallows extra class told as they put up eight runs in the 8th inning (ooh, a big inning, [...]