Nakamura has some nerves to steady, and some big shoes to fill, but he's doing well so far.

Something for you to read while fielding offers for a more appropriate gig.

Swallows of the Week

Week 2

Ishikawa was the week one MVP, but he tanked after that. Hopefully the same fate does not await the winner of the week two polling.

31 people voted this time around, and they had five choices:

Shingo Kawabata (SS)
Orlando Roman (P)
Wladimir Balentien (RF)
Tony Barnette (P)
Takehiko Oshimoto (P)

And here’s how the community voted:

Players	Votes	%
Tony Barnette	18	58
Wladimir Balentien	8	26
Shingo Kawabata	2	6.5
Takehiko Oshimoto	2	6.5
Orlando Roman	1	3

Congratulations to Mr. Barnette! Hopefully the Tokyo bats continue to churn out enough runs that his services won’t be necessary more than a few times a week. It sure would be nice to have him with us for the pennant race this time around.

I must say that I actually didn’t expect a closer to win the community voting on this one so early in the season. I didn’t expect it, but I like it. Any time a closer wins the voting, it means that the team is winning, and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t appreciate that.

Week 3

Tokyo played five games this past week, three at Jingu and two in Matsuyama. In case you missed them, here are the game reports:

April 10th vs Yokohama (Home)
April 11th vs Yokohama (Home)
April 12th vs Yokohama (Home)
April 14th vs Hiroshima (“Home”)
April 15th vs Hiroshima (“Home”)

The series against Yokohama started OK, but was pretty dreary for the last two games. Please don’t tell me that we’re going to revert to our old ways against Yokohama. Remember how they always used to piss on our collective pillow, at least through the 2010 season, even though they generally didn’t know how to play baseball? Ugh. Hopefully 2011 wasn’t an anomally.

Saturday’s game versus Hiroshima was an enjoyable one to watch for Tokyo fans. Sunday’s was a good one, too, although not nearly as easy on the heart.

And here’s the compiled data for the top five performers from week 3:

Hiroyasu Tanaka (2B) – Beavis scored two hero interviews this week, one on Tuesday and another yesterday evening (shared with Akagawa). His game winning hit against Yokohama and decisive RBI single against Hiroshima on Sunday were just two of his team-high six hits last week. He was 6-17 at the plate with three RBI and three walks.

Lastings Milledge (LF) – Despite spending another week in the batter’s box against pitchers he’d never seen before, Milledge was one of Tokyo’s biggest contributors this week. His quick feet and arm in left kept opposing base runners honest while he also presented himself as a constant nuisance when it was his turn to to start targeting extra bases. In addition to his heads-up base-running, Milledge was 5-19 at the plate. Two doubles and a home run helped lead to three RBI this week, and he added a walk just for good measure. Oh, and get this–he’s actually been seen running hard to first base even on routine grounders. Weird.

Kyohei Muranaka (P) – Tokyo’s socially-awkward southpaw from Kanagawa Prefecture earned his first win of the year with a very solid eight-inning performance on Saturday against Hiroshima. He threw 116 pitches and allowed just one run off of eight hits and two walks. He also struck out five while lowering his ERA to 2.25. He leads the team in winning percentage (100%), innings pitched (20), hits allowed (18), HBP (2), and strikeouts (13).

Katsuki Akagawa (P) – Like Muranaka above, Akagawa earned his first win of the year this past weekend. He threw 105 pitches in seven innings of very solid work. He didn’t strike anyone out, but he kept his pitches down and allowed just four hits (all singles), three walks, and one beaned batter. He’s now 1-1 with an impressive 1.40 ERA through three starts and 19.1 innings.

So let’s hear it, Tsubamegun. Who was your MVP? Cast your vote below. Please vote only once.

This poll is closed. To see who won the voting, please check next week’s Snapshot.

Roster Updates

With Aikawa and Kawamoto both out with injuries, we’re down to our 3rd, 4th, and 5th string catchers now. Hopefully Nakamura shows us that he’s up for the challenge. He’s been playing pretty well so far.

Here’s what the roster looks like as of game time on Sunday April 15th:

Pitchers
Muranaka, Ishikawa, Masubuchi, Tateyama, Barnette, Hidaka, Akagawa, Watanabe, Roman, Abe, Oshimoto, Hirai

Catchers
Nitta, Fukukawa, Nakamura

Infielders
Kawabata, Miyamoto, Tanaka, Takeuchi, Yamada, Hatakeyama, Morioka

Outfielders
Hiyane, Balentien, Iihara, Yuhei, Ueda, Milledge

(28 players total)

From the Farm

Yoshinori got some work in during an exhibition game on Friday (4/13) against Fuji Heavy Industries. Final line: 8 IP, 8 H, 3 K, 0 BB, 3 R (all earned). Fernandez gave up one unearned run in the ninth to allow Fuji Heavy Industries to come back and tie the game for a 4-4 final score. (The team’s official Japanese write-up is here.)

Saturday’s game against the Futures was rained out.

The Week Ahead

Beavis isn't hitting the cover off the ball, but he's been pretty clutch recently.

Tokyo will next head to Koshien Stadium to take on the Hanshin Tigers for the second time this year. All three of the games start at 6PM from Tuesday – Thursday, and it seems likely that the pitching matchups will look a little something like this:

Tuesday
Messenger 1-0, 5.40 ERA (Hanshin) vs Tateyama 0-0, 2.08 ERA (Tokyo)

Wednesday
Kubo 1-0, 1.17 (Hanshin) vs Ishikawa 1-2, 5.19 (Tokyo)

Thursday
Ando 1-0, 0.69 (Hanshin) vs Roman 0-2, 3.97 (Tokyo)

Hanshin currently lead the season series 1 W, 0 L, 1 T against Tokyo.

And then Tokyo play host to crosstown rivals, Yomiuri, next weekend. Again, all three games start at 6PM, but I’m going to hold off on making predictions about starters at this point since things can so easily change in these parts.

Tokyo currently lead the season series 2-1 against Yomiuiri.

Around the Central League

Chunichi has opted to send slugger Tony Blanco down to the farm for some extra practice since he’s striking out a bit too much these days. Victor Diaz was sent down with him.

In other Chunichi news, starter Kenshin Kawakami is still out of action after tweaking his back on a high bouncer back to the mound  early in his April 7th start against Tokyo.

Elsewhere, NPB umpires have expressed concerns about showing replays of close calls on the big screens at various stadia. (Read: they are worried about their horrid decisions being advertised to the entire audience.)

First placed Hanshin finished the week with 3 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie. They will play host to Tokyo in a three-game series starting on Tuesday. They were 2-0-1 against Hiroshima early in the week, but then dropped both weekend games against Chunichi. Their record of 7-4-3 puts them half a game clear of Chunichi and Tokyo in second place.

Tied with Tokyo for second place in the Central, Chunichi followed two losses to the Swallows at Nagoya Dome the weekend prior (Saturday’s game report; Sunday’s game report) with a tie and two losses away to Yomiuri, and an opening game loss at Koshien on Friday. However, they prevailed over the weekend by outscoring the Tigers 10-4. Their record of 7-5-2 is good enough for a tie with Tokyo for second place in the Central.

Hiroshima slid into sole possession of fourth place in the Central League after dropping both of its “away” games to the Swallows. They were outscored 11-1 in the two weekend games (Saturday and Sunday), and this followed two losses and a draw against Hanshin on Hiroshima’s home soil. The Carp are now 6-6-2 so far this season.

Yomiuri is starting to show some life, but they’re not nearly as good as they likely will be this summer. They lost to Yokohama in walk-off style yesterday afternoon, but that was the only real blemish during a week that the team posted a 3-1-1 record. Their 5-8-1 record leaves them a game and a game and a half behind fourth place Hiroshima, and half of a game ahead of last place Yokohama.

Yokohama had its best week of the season by taking two of three from the Swallows and one of two from the Giants. At 4-8-1, and once again gurgling in the CL cellar, Yokohama’s start hasn’t yet met many people’s expectations, but nobody’s particularly surprised by that nugget of reality either.

Former Swallows

It seems that catchers in the Pacific League squat a bit closer to home plate than we’re used to here in the Central. Former Tokyo first baseman, Josh Whitesell, took out a catcher with his backswing on both Thursday and Friday evenings. Call it whatever you want, a slump or unfair treatment of a foreign player, but Josh was removed from the active roster following Friday’s game.

Norichika Aoki has only seven at-bats so far this season, but he’s not embarrassing himself. He’s currently hitting .429/.556/.429 and is generally one of the first bats off the bench plus a pretty consistent late game replacement on defense. Here’s video of Aoki’s first big league hit.

Alright, that’s all for this edition of the snapshot. Please excuse me while I cut off a media outlet or two.

Drink up!

Tokyo Swallows

The inimitable Gen Sueyoshi has published his additions/subtractions post for the 2012 Tokyo Swallows. On a scale of -10 to +10, how do you feel the team compares to its 2011 rendition?

Chang-yong Lim may start the 2012 regular season on the farm team due to soreness in his throwing arm. Does that mean that Balentien’s roster spot  is safe for now? And more importantly, who’s going to close?

Yoshinori has been taking it easy since taking a ball off the leg during an exhibition game against Hiroshima on the 11th. It’s a “contusion” at this point, and there’s no definite word on how long he’ll be sidelined. Provided it’s not a serious injury, the silver lining is that he’s already thrown more than enough during spring training and could probably benefit from a bit of a breather. In case anyone cares, Tokyo won that game 5-4.

Quick hypothetical: would you be in favor of Hideki Matsui in a Tokyo Swallows uniform? He is still without an employer.

How about Kozo Ota in a Tokyo Swallows uniform?

Here’s Johnny Knoxville in one.

Despite having scads of practice games scrapped due to rain and poor field conditions, the Tokyo Swallows currently have the second best pre-season record (3-1-2; .750 winning %). Not that it means anything.

Elsewhere in NPB

Gen also reported that the Japanese National Baseball Team is in search of a new manager. I hereby recommend David Watkins for the post. All in favor?

Milledge has been making the most of his plate appearances this pre-season.

Team News

• No idea whether this is for real or not, but Ogawa has said that he likes having Yuhei around because he can be used in the outfield or as a pitcher (LHP). Yuhei was a top pitching prospect that never panned out for the Swallows. He started working on converting to the outfield after the 2009 season.
• Tokyo lost 1-3 to the KIA Tigers of the KBO on February 27th. Both Tateyama and Yoshinori pitched well and were able to throw strikes. Yamada came up with the team’s lone RBI in the ninth.
• The farm team beat their counterparts from Fukuoka 1-0 on February 28th. Yuichi, playing first and batting cleanup, recorded the game’s sole RBI on a double in the bottom of the fourth.
• Tokyo played to a 4-4 draw against Hokkaido on March 3rd. Masubuchi started and pitched five innings while surrendering four earned runs. Not that it matters since it was just a pre-season game. On offense, Milledge (2-3, 1 run) and Hatakeyama (3-4, 1 run, 1 RBI) seem to be seeing the ball well. Balentien did not make the trip up north for this game.
• And they played to another draw, 3-3 this time, against Hokkaido on the following day. Yamada was 2-5 at the plate and Milledge had another 2-3 day as the starting DH. He tied the game in the top of the fourth with a solo shot to right off of Hokkaido reliever, Hisashi Takeda.
• It sounds like Kyuko’s rehab is going pretty well, and he may be able to make it back to the top team roster by the beginning of the regular season. Like Tateyama, he had surgery on his hand at the end of 2011 to deal with some blood-flow problems.
• However, Kawabata’s rehab is not moving along quite as quickly, and there is a strong likelihood that he won’t be ready to play by the beginning of the season.

Former Swallows News

• We reported earlier that Norichika Aoki‘s (Milwaukee Brewers) playing time took a serious hit when Ryan Braun avoided a 50 game suspension. However, starting right fielder Corey Hart just had arthroscopic surgery on his knee after an MRI showed a meniscus tear in his knee. He’ll miss the rest of spring training and might not be in the dugout when the season gets under way.
• Ryota Igarashi (Pittsburgh Pirates) retired the side when he pitched the eighth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on March 3rd.

Rookie Hiyane is helping to keep things interesting in the team's quest to reconfigure the outfield.

• Tsubamegun got one hell of a shout out from fellow Japanese baseball watcher, NPB Tracker. Thanks, Patrick!
• Tokyo batting coach, Takao Ise, has been selected as one of the six coaches representing the nation as part of this year’s Samurai Japan team. One coach was selected from each of the top three teams in the Central and Pacific Leagues with Fukuoka’ Koji Akiyama taking on the role as manager. Masanori Ishikawa is the only Tokyo player on the team.
• Yoshinori, despite not being able to last an entire season (last season it was a shoulder injury), continues to be pushed hard in spring training. According to Nikkan Sports, he threw 66 pitches during batting practice. This was, of course, after he had already thrown a slightly larger number during his bullpen session. So, what do you think? 15 appearances this season? 16?
• 24-year-old rookie outfielder, Wataru Hiyane, has managed to swipe more bases than games he’s played in so far (six bags in five games).
• Tokyo has practice games in Okinawa against Hanshin on Friday and Tohoku on Saturday. Both games start at 1PM.

Former Tokyo Players

• Norichika Aoki is now taking part in his first pro spring training wearing something other than a Tokyo uniform. He will be competing against Carlos Gomez, Corey Hart, Nyjer Morgan, and possibly Logan Schafer for time in the outfield. Oh, and 2011 National League MVP, Ryan Braun, once he gets done with his suspension for a banned substance. For shits and giggles, check out this video that Nyjer Morgan starred in.
• Ryota Igarashi is hoping to earn a place on Pittsburgh’s roster. To his credit, he’s taking part in spring camp without the help of an interpreter because he says that he wants to communicate directly with his coaches and teammates.
• Former Tokyo Swallow and major leaguer, Akinori Iwamura, who now plays for Tohoku, shaved 10 kilograms from his overweight ass during the off-season. He was apparently using the “okazairu” diet which involves eating a salad before dinner. You might recall that he has been asked  repeatedly to get himself into better shape.

Tsubamegun wishes you a speedy recovery, Yuji.

2011 fifth round draft pick, Yuji Nakane, had surgery on his ACL (right knee) today. Recovery and rehab are expected to consume the entirety of the 2012 season.

The official announcement comes through the Tokyo Swallows Japanese-language website.

The Swallows were aware of Nakane’s knee issues when they selected him late in the draft but felt that his upside was worth the risk of time off.

The Swallows are confident that he would have gone earlier in the draft if not for his ACL injury. Kozo mentioned a history of injuries shadowing his potential in his draft recap at the end of last year. Oh, and he’s Yoshinori’s former teammate from high school.

Let’s hope that the Tohoku Fukushi University alum experiences a swift and complete recovery.

We need to officially change the name of this column, since it’s not Monday and I don’t want to be limited by the title. It’s something we’ll have to work on in the offseason. In the meantime, I’ll be giving you some news updates and roster analysis to mull over before the start of the Climax Series next Saturday.

Senryokugai Players: Earlier this month the Swallows announced that 8 players will be cut by the team at the end of the season. The players are LHP Masaru Sato, RHP Shun Takaichi, RHP Hiromitsu Takagi, RHP Masahiro Yoshikawa, LHP Naoya Okamoto, C Atsushi Kinugawa, INF Ryo Yoshimoto, and OF Toshihiro Nakao. Of the listed players, Kinugawa will be given a front office position with the team, and many of the other players were undecided as to what they wanted to do in the future. No major surprises here, and we wish all these players the best in their future endeavors.

Potential Roster Moves: The Swallows have been going crazy with roster moves since the last Monday Review, and we won’t be going over them all. Instead, we’ll be examining where certain players are now and how our post-season roster is shaping up. As of today the Swallows only have 23 players out of a possible 28 on their active roster. Any player removed from the active roster on or before the 19th would be eligible to return in time for Game 1 of the Climax series on the 29th. Among the players not on the active roster who may get recalled in the playoffs are Ishikawa, Kawabata, Whitesell, Kyuko, Barnette, Muranaka, Yoshinori, Shichijo, and Iihara. I’ll give a quick update on the status of each player.

• Ishikawa was removed from the active roster on the 19th, and he should be expected to return on the 29th. Many outlets are now reporting that Ishikawa will be the Swallows’ game 1 starter, and that he may throw in a Phoenix League (fall league) game as warm up. The chances of Ishikawa NOT getting recalled seems slim to none at this point.
• Kawabata was removed from active roster at the same time as Ishikawa. Apparently he had been feeling pain in his left wrist since a game against Hiroshima in September, and was taken off the active roster for that reason. The pains may have been what contributed to his 5-for-45 batting in October. He’s said he’ll be aiming to return in time for the CS, but the status of his health is concerning.
• Whitesell was taken off the roster with right flank pains on the 9th. But there have been no other reports as to his status since. Obviously having Whitesell’s bat on the bench would be a big help to a team struggling to get its offense going.
• Kyuko returned to the team on the 11th, but had a couple of rocky outings (2.1 IP, 5 ER, in 3 appearances) and was taken of the active roster on the 20th. No word as to whether Kyuko is injured and whether he can be expected back for the playoffs. Since Kyuko was taken off the active roster on the 20th, he would only be eligible to return for Game 2 of the first round.
• Barnette’s case is even more mysterious than Kyuko’s case. Barnette was recalled to the active roster at the same time as Kyuko but was taken off the roster 3 days later without ever getting into a game. Barnette has not pitched in a first team game since September 3, and hasn’t pitched in ni-gun games as far as I can see. No details have been released as to Barnette’s condition. Like Kyuko, we’d love to have a prime Barnette back for the playoffs, but it would be a concern if he takes the mound for the first time in the CS.
• Muranaka was taken off the active roster on the 15th after pitching ineffectively on the 14th. Muranaka is healthy as far as we know, so I’d expect him back on the roster for the playoffs.
• The current word on Yoshinori is that he could potentially return if the team makes it to the Nippon Series, but not any sooner.
• Shichijo was demoted from the team after a series of rough outings in late September, but would be available to the team unless he has a hidden injury. He was not on the initial Phoenix League roster so he may be rusty if he were to join the team.
• Finally Iihara would be available to the team if he is needed.

As you can see from the above list our team has been suffering through injury and our roster is somewhat in flux and other players have not been able to fill in the gap. As reported earlier by Chris, Keizo Kawashima will not be able available to the team as he underwent ligament surgery (possibly Tommy John surgery?) on his right elbow and will be out for a whole year.

Left Field: One of the first topics I ever handled on the Monday Review was our left field situation. At the time, the solution was putting Hatake in left, and that worked for a while. However, the big man’s defensive inability in left combined with some cooling off by Whitesell led to a re-opening of the hole in left. The team has tried Iihara, Ueda, and Fukuchi over the last month. While all of them are more than adequate replacements in left field they haven’t been able to make up for the offense lost by having Whitesell come off the bench. It seems the team has settled on Ueda for the stretch run.

Have we settled on a left fielder for the playoffs?

2011 Draft: The 2011 Draft will occur on the 27th. I will be posting a draft preview sometime next week. Let me know if there are any players you’d like me to cover.

Retirement Game: Our last game is on Tuesday, and as predicted in the last Monday Review, the final game will be a retirement game. Hirotoshi Ishii will be given an opportunity to pitch in one last pro game prior to his retirement. There were no comments in regards to Hamanaka and Guiel, but it seems those players will not be coming into the game.

I Want Love: As mentioned by Chris and Dave in their last podcast, I”m in need to love and feedback for this column. Let me know if you like this column and if there’s anything I can do to make it better.

After a couple of weeks of feeling like there wasn’t much to write about, we’re back with another Monday review! This week we’ll cover the major roster moves made this week, well as go over all the retirement announcements made recently, and we’ll also spend a lot of time going over the stretch run from multiple view points.

Looking Back

Roster Moves: Due to injury and ineffectiveness our roster has been in flux recently. Muranaka was taken off the active roster on September 28 citing tightness in his throwing shoulder after a string of ineffective starts. Shichijo took his place on the roster, but lost it a day later after an ineffective start against the Tigers. Meanwhile Ishikawa and Kyuko both reportedly had fevers. Kyuko was taken off the active roster with Shichijo to get some rest, while Ishikawa missed his scheduled start but remained on the active roster. LHP Okamoto was brought up with the Kyuko/Shichijo demotion, but lost his top team spot on the 2nd in a major roster shake up. Okamoto, Tetsuya Yamamoto, Takeuchi, and Miwa lost their spot on the active roster in favor of Hitoshi Yamamoto, Kato, Hashimoto, Fukuchi, and Yuichi. One day later, Keizo Kawashima was taken off the active roster. The Swallows’ active roster currently stands at 26 men, which means that 2 spots are open for a call up. Kyuko and Muranaka would be eligible to return this upcoming weekend. Yoshinori was rumored to be coming back during the Swallows’ 9 game stretch in September, but subsequent rumors have mentioned that he would not be able to return during the regular season. Tony Barnette was supposed to be shut down for 3 weeks at the beginning of September, so he may be coming back soon, but there is no news on Tony’s present condition.

While the moves on the offensive side are mostly cosmetic since our starting core has been fairly established, the moves on the pitching side point to a team in flux. We’re starting to run out of quality starters and we’ll have to hand the ball to a group of younger unproven relievers if the starters can’t go deep. The absence of Kyuko and Barnette also puts a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Matsuoka and Oshimoto late in the game in key situations. Our current rotation is Tateyama, Masubuchi, Akagawa, Hitoshi Yamamoto (?), and Ishikawa (assuming he returns tomorrow). Not quite the rotation that got us here.

Retirement News: We’ve already covered the retirement announcement of Aaron Guiel, but two more Swallows announced their intention to retire after the season. Hirotoshi Ishii and Osamu Hamanaka will be retiring after the season.

Hirotoshi Ishii

Hirotoshi Ishii is a life-long Swallow that was drafted in the 4th round of the 1995 draft. Starting in 1999, Ishii started getting regular playing time as a lefty arm out of the bullpen. He had a breakout season in 2002 in which he appeared in a league high 69 games, and posted a 1.51 ERA with a 0.84 WHIP, on his way to be named Most Valuable Reliever. Ishii and Ryota Igarashi made up the duo ‘Rocket Boys’ as the top lefty/righty pair out of the bullpen after the departure of Shingo Takatsu in 2004. Beyond his play with the Swallows, Ishii has played for Japan in the 2004 Olympics and the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006. Ishii had always expressed a strong desire to play in the Majors, but the team would not post him. The team initially promised to post him after the 2004 season, but reneged on the promise after the team changed managers in the off-season. The team finally promised to post Ishii after the 2006 season if he pitched one more full season. Unfortunately, Ishii injured his shoulder during that season and would not pitch at the top level again. Ishii has been rehabbing his shoulder ever since and has appeared in a handful of ni-gun games over the years. Ishii announced his decision to retire on the 29th and thanked the club for giving him the opportunity to try to return to baseball.

Osamu Hamanaka joined the Swallows prior to this season as a potential right handed bat off the bench. After a hot spring, Hamanaka was the team’s opening day stater in left field but lost the job to Hatakeyama after only 3 games. Hamanaka was drafted in 1996 by the Tigers and spent 11 years with the club before moving to the Orix Buffaloes in 2008. Since 2003, Hamanaka has been bothered by a right shoulder injury which has kept him out of the line up on and off for years. Hamanaka cited the injury and his inability to give it his all on the field as reasons for retiring after the season.

Quo Vadimus

The Schedule Up Ahead: The Swallows are about to start a stretch in which they will play 12 games in 12 days. Things will kick off at the Kyocera Dome tomorrow with a 3 game series against the Tigers, followed by a 3 game weekend series at Jingu. Then, the Swallows will travel to Nagoya for a critical 4 game series against the Dragons which may decide the pennant race. The marathon will cap off with a rain make up game against the Tigers at Jingu, followed by another make up game at Yokohama. After that insane stretch, the Swallows will get 2 days off before visiting Koshien for a game, and a game at Nagoya the next day. The Swallows will have 5 days rest before finally wrapping up their regular season with a home game at home.

Win Percentage Table: The final standing are calculated by winning percentage in which ties do not count, formula is W%=W/(144-T).. Therefore a team with 14 ties will have their winning percentage calculated out of 130 games, rather than 144 games.  Thus, with the season winding down, you can make a table of what the team’s win percentage will be depending on their record in the remaining games. Using the table you can see how you compare with other teams depending on their records. Thus we present the win percentage tables as of October 3rd for the top 4 teams in the Central League.

The first thing you may notice is that the Swallows have already guaranteed themselves a winning season. The table also illustrates the gulf that exists between the Swallows and the Tigers, meaning the Swallows’ place in the Climax series is quite safe. You can also use the table to figure out the minimum number of wins the team will need depending on how they do in a head to head. So if the Swallows take 4 out of 5 games from the Dragons, the Dragons would finish with a .5735 winning percentage if they win all their other games. Thus, the Swallows would need to go 5-5 in their other games to finish above the Dragons. Obviously, as games get played you can eliminate possible records and narrow the list of scenarios. If any teams tie the table will need to be reworked to lower the denominator.

Retirement Ceremony Scenarios: The team has traditionally used the last home game of the year to recall the retiring players to the top team to give them one last chance to play at Jingu and give the fans a chance to say goodbye. While imports have typically not received this kind of treatment, the team has hinted that they would try to work something out with Guiel in response to the outpouring of support by the fans. However, this year, depending on where we end up in the standings the team may not be able to afford removing an active player from the roster lest we lose their services for the beginning of the playoffs. Because players removed from the active roster cannot be re-added for 10 days, the team will have to know their playoff situation at least 10 days prior to their first Climax Series game (Oct. 29 for round 1, Nov. 2 for round 2).

Hoping for some more fun times!

Yomiuri Giants  7

Tokyo Swallows  10

Streak: Won 3  Last 5: LLWWW

(Jingu)

What do get when you mix together solid hitting, shoddy relief pitching, and a typhoon? Why, just another early September game at Jingu of course.

	Yomiuri		Tokyo
1	2B Fujimura	1	CF Aoki
2	1B Kemei	2	2B Tanaka
3	CF Chono	3	SS Kawabata
4	RF Takahashi	4	1B Hatakeyama
5	SS Sakamoto	5	RF Takeuchi
6	C Abe	6	3B Miyamoto
7	RF Ramirez	7	LF Iihara
8	3B Furuki	8	C Aikawa
9	P Tohno	9	P Yoshinori

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	F	H	E
Yomiuri	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	4	1	7	16	0
Tokyo	0	1	4	1	0	0	2	2	X	10	13	0
W: Yoshinori (7-6) L: Tohno (6-9; 2 saves)

This game went on for ever and ever. The rain delay helped stretch things to four hours and three minutes. Well, that and the late-inning field day that Yomiuri had on our relievers.

But a win is still a win, and it was nice to see the team score with a bit more regularity.

Many of us in the stands were worried that Yoshinori would walk three or first guys in the first inning, as he seems so fond of doing, and that we’d be playing catch-up for the first few frames. But after allowing a single to the first batter he faced, Yoshinori buckled down and didn’t let another runner on base until the beginning of the fourth.

And get this–Yoshinori didn’t issue a single walk during his seven innings of work. Yes, you read that correctly.

Not only that, but Yoshinori was also able to make a difference at the plate.

In the bottom of the second, Tokyo started a two-out rally thanks to an Iihara walk and an Aikawa single to right.

Yoshinori then stepped up to the plate and hit a soft blooper over the infield’s head to score Iihara. 1-0 Tokyo.

The lead was supplemented mightily in the third inning thanks to a Tanaka walk and Kawabata’s second home run of the season. 3-0 Tokyo.

Yoshinori reacts after striking Chono out in the fifth.

Hatakeyama followed that with another walk, and then two outs later, Iihara and Aikawa drove in one run apiece care of a double to left and a single to center, respectively. 5-0 Tokyo.

But the home crowd’s elation was soon tempered when Aoki led off the fourth by getting beaned in the right hand by an inside pitch from Hoshino. He was immediately removed from the game, and Miwa took his place on first base.

But even Ogawa’s decision to have Tanaka Tak-bunt Miwa over to second with a five run cushion couldn’t keep the Swallows bats from continuing the momentum from earlier innings. Kawabata came through once again with a single to left that plated the fleet-footed Miwa from second. 6-0 Tokyo.

Good news: Aoki’s injury has been diagnosed as a contusion. Apparently there are no fractured bones in his hand.

Yoshinori finally lost his footing in the fifth when the Giants were able to cobble together two runs off of four base hits. 6-2 Tokyo.

But the Swallows got things going again in the bottom of the seventh. Hatakeyama led off with a very rare (for him) infield single, and then Takeuchi drew a walk. Miyamoto then sacrifice bunted the two runners over, and then, mysteriously, Yomiuri intentionally walked Iihara in order to get to Aikawa.

This was an interesting gamble on Hara’s (Yomiuri’s manager) part because Aikawa already had two hits in his first three plate appearances. It turned out to be a bad decision as Aikawa singled to center and both Hatakeyama and Takeuchi were able to trot home. 8-2 Good guys.

Then things started to get a little out of hand.

Barnette took the mound for the start of the eighth inning and promptly gave up a solo home run to Yomiuri’s first batter, Chono, on a 2-0 outside heater.

One out later, Tony gave up consecutive doubles to Sakamoto and Abe with another run scoring as a result. Barnette then got out number two by inducing Ramirez to fly out to second base, but he then conceded a fourth hit to Furuki which brought Abe around to score.

Matsuoka then took the mound and picked up right where Barnette had left off. He walked pinch-hitter, Tani, on five pitches, and then he allowed an RBI single to Ohmura for the fourth and final run of the inning (all charged to Barnette). Kyuko was finally called in to throw just one pitch and record the final out. 8-6 Tokyo.

But the birds showed some spine and put another couple of runs on the board in the bottom of that inning to dilute the potency of Yomiuri’s half of the inning. Hatakeyama hit an RBI single to the fence in left, and then Takeuchi hit his first homer of the season, a solo shot off of Takagi, to cap the Swallows scoring at 10 runs. 10-6 Tokyo.

Lim was then called in to take care of the non-save situation and showed that he has yet to regain his old form.

Tohno didn't even last three full innings.

He allowed three consecutive two-out hits (the third of which was an RBI double) to let Yomiuri claw one back in the top of the ninth, but luckily that was as far as the visitors could get. 10-7 Final.

So Yoshinori came away with the win after his very impressive performance on the mound even though the bullpen endured a bit of a crisis. He gave up two earned runs from eight hits and struck out seven. His pitch count reached 111, and his record now stands at 7-6 while his ERA moved slightly to 2.86.

The other very positive thing that we can take from this game is that the offense is capable of some good run production when a couple of players are in a groove.

On offense, Aikawa went 3-4 and amassed three RBIs. Kawabata also chipped in with three RBIs by going 2-4, and Takeuchi added another RBI in his own 2-4 night at the plate (plus one walk).

Iihara also deserves credit for drawing three walks (one intentional) and doubling in a run. Tonight’s game was a huge boost to his OBP.

Game three of this series is scheduled for tomorrow night at 6 PM.

Notes:

The only players in the starting lineup to not record a base hit were Aoki and Miyamoto.

This game was the first time this season that a non-Japanese player was not in the starting lineup.

The Swallows drew six walks and one HBP in this contest.

Tokyo Swallows 0

Hanshin Tigers 1

Streak: Lost 3    Last 5: WDLLL

(Koshien)

The Swallows lost their third in a row as they failed to figure out the in-form Randy Messenger.

Yoshinori was good, but Messenger was better

Tokyo:

Kawashima SS
Aoki CF
Guiel LF
Hatakeyama 1B
Balentien RF
Miyamoto 3B
Tanaka 2B
Kawamoto C
Yoshinori P

Hanshin:

Hirano 2B
Shibata CF
Toritani SS
Arai 3B
Murton RF
Kanemoto LF
Morita 1B
Fujii C
Messenger P

Yoshinori threw a pretty decent game this time and managed to avoid any major meltdowns like the one he suffered last week in the first inning against the Giants.

His ‘quality start’ consisted of a full seven frames pitched, one run off of six hits, and six strikeouts. However, as usual he also issued five walks and had two wild pitches to humanize his numbers a bit.

That one earned run came at the end of his start. In the bottom of the seventh, Yoshinori commenced proceedings with a strikeout of Morita. Then things started to wobble just a bit. Fujii singled, and then Hiyama (pinch-hitting for Messenger) followed in kind. Hirano then swatted the first pitch he was offered into left to score Fujii from second. 1-0 Final.

And that was it really. The Swallows only managed four hits in this entire game. Messenger was that good. He threw 118 pitches through seven innings, struck out 10, didn’t walk anyone, and kept Tokyo off the board. His record improved to 9-3 while Yoshinori’s sank back to .500 (6-6).

The Swallows are now a mere 3.5 games ahead of Chunichi, Yomiuri and Hanshin who are all tied for second place in the Central League.

The Swallows now have the day off before welcoming the fifth place Carp to town for a three game series from Tuesday to Thursday this week.

Notes:

Aoki was moved to second in the lineup as Ogawa searched to give number one a boost. He has failed to regain his timing at the plate, and his slow slide into mediocrity continues. Hopefully Takao Ise, one of the team’s batting coaches, has him on a diet of watching video of his own at-bats like he did with Balentien.

Guiel nearly maimed a few Hanshin supporters when his bat slipped out of his hands during his at-bat in the fourth. There’s a high screen protecting the seats behind the home team’s dugout, so the bat tumbled harmlessly into the dugout.

]]> http://tokyoswallows.com/2011/08/28/82811-hanshin-away/feed/ 0 http://tokyoswallows.com/2011/08/20/82011-yomiuri-away/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=82011-yomiuri-away http://tokyoswallows.com/2011/08/20/82011-yomiuri-away/#comments Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:46:25 +0000 Christopher Pellegrini http://tokyoswallows.com/?p=10178 August 20th, 2011

Yomiuri Giants 7

Tokyo Swallows 2

Streak: Lost 2  Last 5: WDWLL

(Tokyo Dome)

The lead at the top of the Central League shrank to five games after yesterday’s frustrating loss to the Giants.

Yoshinori looked determined to make the lead shrink a game further early on in this contest.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	F	H	E
Tokyo	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	5	1
Yomiuri	4	0	0	0	0	o	0	3	X	7	8	0
W: Tohno (5W, 8L, 2S; 3.22 ERA) L: Yoshinori (6W, 5L; 3.01 ERA)

	Tokyo		Yomiuri
1	Aoki CF	1	Sakamoto SS
2	Fukuchi RF	2	Fujimura 2B
3	Kawabata SS	3	Chono CF
4	Hatakeyama RF	4	Takahashi RF
5	Whitesell 1B	5	Ogasawara 1B
6	Miyamoto 3B	6	Abe C
7	Tanaka 2B	7	Kamei LF
8	Aikawa C	8	Furuki 3B
9	Yoshinori P	9	Tohno P

Yoshinori was disaster personified in the first. He generally got ahead in the count and then lost the strike zone shortly thereafter. He found himself facing a full count no less than four times in that first frame, and nothing positive came of any of it. The first three times he faced a full count, he issued walks. Bases loaded, thanks to those three walks, and one out.

The fourth time he let the count get worked full in that inning, Ogasawara smacked a double off the wall that

Junji Ogawa (L) reacts to Yoshinori's magnificence.

scored two. 2-0 Gomiuri.

And then, thanks to Yoshinori leaving a fastball up in the zone, Abe added a double of his own to make it 4-0 Gomiuri.

Yoshinori added a fourth walk in that dark first inning as Aikawa made him pitch around Furuki in order to get to the pitcher, Tohno. The gambit paid off, and Yoshinori finally got out of the inning after throwing a laughable 41 pitches.

Yoshinori ended up making it through the next four innings without giving up any more hits, but he was forced to walk Furuki a second time when a runner reached second in the fifth care of Hatakeyama’s fielding error in left. That’s a total of six walks in five innings of work.

Yomiuri starter, Tohno, was a different story altogether. Despite struggling with his control at times, he had a no-hitter going through five and  two-thirds innings. Pinch-hittter, Morioka, finally broke up the no-hit bit with an infield single with two outs on the board.

Making his first ever top-team appearance in the bottom of the sixth innings was second-year RHP Tetsuya Yamamoto. And he was one of the only bright spots that Tokyo had during this game. He struck Sakamoto out looking, got Fujimura to fly out harmlessly to right, and then made Chono flail away at a whole bunch of pitches before grounding out to second.

Tokyo finally got a runner past first base on Kawabata’s double over Takahashi’s head in right. It was the third time that Kawabata made solid contact in this game. The only difference was that he didn’t hit the ball near center fielder, Chono, this time.

Hatakeyama’s high bouncer to second advanced Kawabata to third, and Whitesell’s two out rocket off the wall in center brought Kawabata home from third. Unfortunately, Whitesell was thrown out easily while trying to stretch his hit into a double, and that ended the inning. 4-1 Gomiuri.

Watanabe took the mound for the Swallows in the bottom of the 7th, and he sat the Giants down in order.

But Tanaka hit into another double play to keep the team from building on the momentum that was started in the seventh.

Watanabe wasn’t quite as sharp in the eighth as he let a pair of runners get on base with two outs. Matsuoka was brought in to face the pinch-hitting Ramirez, but he walked him rather quickly to load the bases. And that set the stage for Kenichi “Mr. Two-Run” Matsuoka (as he is known by some Swallows fans) to live up to his moniker.

He outdid himself, actually. Chono smacked the second pitch he saw, a high forkball, off the wall in center to score three and officially put the game out of reach. 7-1 Gomiuri.

As is so often the case, Tokyo showed a little life when their backs were against the wall in the top of the ninth. Takeuchi, pinch-hitting for Matsuoka, marched a slow grounder up the middle into shallows center. He was then moved over to second on Aoki’s single.

Fukuchi finally got on base when he hit an awkward grounder to short that forced Aoki out at second, but both Takeuchi and Fukuchi were safe at the corners. Fukuchi then stole second on the first pitch that Tohno threw to Kawabata.

Kawabata managed  to hit a sac fly to right, but Fukuchi got caught trying to sneak over to third. 7-2 Final.

Tokyo will attempt to salvage some pride tomorrow in game three of this series.

Notes:

Miyamoto has now hit into 10 double plays. However, that’s only good enough for second place on the team. First belongs to Balentien who has hit into 13 vibe-killers.

The Swallows now lead the Central League by a mere four games.