When I plan to put up a big post.
Here is some Japanese Baseball ACTION. And by ACTION, I mean "wow this japanese pitcher sure is a pussy."
Showing posts with label japanese baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label japanese baseball. Show all posts
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Come back Boriskov!
Doesn't that even sound stupid? Come back Boriskov? It sounds like something Sylvester Stallone would star in. Yet, like Obi Wan, Boriskov was my only hope.
Last year, I started religiously following Japanese Baseball. Finding the scores was easy enough, and I can still do that. The problem is the stats. Boriskov's now deceased geocities page was the only place on the internet that had the stats in English, and without him, I felt completely lost. You may notice one sidebar link that still works and has some stats for my Hanshin Tigers, the Tigers Today page, which is probably the first website in history dedicated to how well Ryan Vogelsong and Esteban Yan are doing.
The closest thing we have is JapanBaseball.com's rudimentary stats page. I applaud the moderator (who I think goes by michaelbaystars) for taking this measure, but it still leaves out so much context. Weak hitters, Weak pitchers. I can't tell these things from a leaderboard. All I can tell is that Hanshin has struggled early to find consistent pitching and that Kanemoto is a badass. They also have a message board, which led to this post by Baseball Prospectus SABR Japan guy Mike Plugh:
So I had been planning a huge analysis, predictions; everything. For a long time now. But without the stats, it's kinda meaningless, eh? You'll just have to settle for the fun factoid that on this day in 2003, Shingo Takatsu set the NPB saves record. Because all I can look up is past events.
Come back Borisov!
Last year, I started religiously following Japanese Baseball. Finding the scores was easy enough, and I can still do that. The problem is the stats. Boriskov's now deceased geocities page was the only place on the internet that had the stats in English, and without him, I felt completely lost. You may notice one sidebar link that still works and has some stats for my Hanshin Tigers, the Tigers Today page, which is probably the first website in history dedicated to how well Ryan Vogelsong and Esteban Yan are doing.
The closest thing we have is JapanBaseball.com's rudimentary stats page. I applaud the moderator (who I think goes by michaelbaystars) for taking this measure, but it still leaves out so much context. Weak hitters, Weak pitchers. I can't tell these things from a leaderboard. All I can tell is that Hanshin has struggled early to find consistent pitching and that Kanemoto is a badass. They also have a message board, which led to this post by Baseball Prospectus SABR Japan guy Mike Plugh:
He replied to me. Very cryptic and grim. It sounded like something terrible has happened, but I didn't pry. I don't think he's planning to resurface anytime soon unfortunately. I send my prayers out to him for whatever he's dealing with.
So I had been planning a huge analysis, predictions; everything. For a long time now. But without the stats, it's kinda meaningless, eh? You'll just have to settle for the fun factoid that on this day in 2003, Shingo Takatsu set the NPB saves record. Because all I can look up is past events.
Come back Borisov!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
Series Recap: Both series get knotted up
Tigers 3, Cardinals 1 -
Kenny Rogers Kenny Rogers Kenny Rogers Kenny Rogers. Heres a fun fact about today, one of the NFL's best rookies in recent years (Shawne Merriman) got suspended for steroids. Let me go ahead and try to find a column about that. Oh wait, there aren't any. It's not even in the top 5 NFL stories on Yahoo. Kenny Rogers has a smudge of dirt on his hand and all of the sudden reactionary cunts like Dan Wetzel make a huge deal of it. Whoooa it's almost like Gaylord Perry didn't make a career out of that! Anyway, the game. There was no real semblance that this was a game at any point until the ninth inning, when Todd Jones proved that you can suck and still save a three run lead. You can argue about Zumaya and Walker and Rodney being better choices to close, but in a three run game, it doesn't really matter all that much. Teams with a three run lead in the ninth win something like 98% of games.
Fighers 5, Dragons 2
Fuck, I can do this hold on.
FUCK.
Ok, ok.
Ok. The Fighters got a two-run single from Makoto Kaneko in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead and hand forty-one year old Masahiro Yamamoto a loss. Fernando Seguignol added on a two-run home run in the eighth for the final scoreline, and Micheal Nakamura picked up the save. Rookie Tomura Yagi went 6 for the Fighters, allowing just 3 hits and a walk, but two of the hits were solo homers, by Fukudome and Hirokazu Ibata.
Kenny Rogers Kenny Rogers Kenny Rogers Kenny Rogers. Heres a fun fact about today, one of the NFL's best rookies in recent years (Shawne Merriman) got suspended for steroids. Let me go ahead and try to find a column about that. Oh wait, there aren't any. It's not even in the top 5 NFL stories on Yahoo. Kenny Rogers has a smudge of dirt on his hand and all of the sudden reactionary cunts like Dan Wetzel make a huge deal of it. Whoooa it's almost like Gaylord Perry didn't make a career out of that! Anyway, the game. There was no real semblance that this was a game at any point until the ninth inning, when Todd Jones proved that you can suck and still save a three run lead. You can argue about Zumaya and Walker and Rodney being better choices to close, but in a three run game, it doesn't really matter all that much. Teams with a three run lead in the ninth win something like 98% of games.
Fighers 5, Dragons 2
Fuck, I can do this hold on.
FUCK.
Ok, ok.
Ok. The Fighters got a two-run single from Makoto Kaneko in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead and hand forty-one year old Masahiro Yamamoto a loss. Fernando Seguignol added on a two-run home run in the eighth for the final scoreline, and Micheal Nakamura picked up the save. Rookie Tomura Yagi went 6 for the Fighters, allowing just 3 hits and a walk, but two of the hits were solo homers, by Fukudome and Hirokazu Ibata.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Series Recaps: The AL can't hit Braden Looper and Tyrone Woods gets the Bonds treatment
Cardinals 7, Tigers 2
Not much of a chance to point out strategic moves in this game, as the Cardinals handily won the battle of the starters and it was an AL game. I didn't watch any but the last inning of it so I can't comment on the umpiring. I bet the Tigers weren't expecting to lose to Anthony Reyes. It was the first NL World Series win since Game 6 in 2003. All of the sudden, I find myself not rooting against the Cardinals so much. Or at least not caring much if they win. It would rub it in the face of all those AL superiority cunts, and also would make the Mets look better in retrospect even though everyone smart will know that it doesn't matter much.
Dragons 4, Fighters 2
A poor start for my predictions as Kenshin Kawakami overcame early jitters to put up a good effort for he Dragons. Tyrone Woods was walked twice and went 1-2. Alex Ochoa has a chance to become one of very few players to win a World Series and a Japan Series. Bonus points if you find out who the others are with baseball-reference, because I'm sure not that dedicated.
Not much of a chance to point out strategic moves in this game, as the Cardinals handily won the battle of the starters and it was an AL game. I didn't watch any but the last inning of it so I can't comment on the umpiring. I bet the Tigers weren't expecting to lose to Anthony Reyes. It was the first NL World Series win since Game 6 in 2003. All of the sudden, I find myself not rooting against the Cardinals so much. Or at least not caring much if they win. It would rub it in the face of all those AL superiority cunts, and also would make the Mets look better in retrospect even though everyone smart will know that it doesn't matter much.
Dragons 4, Fighters 2
A poor start for my predictions as Kenshin Kawakami overcame early jitters to put up a good effort for he Dragons. Tyrone Woods was walked twice and went 1-2. Alex Ochoa has a chance to become one of very few players to win a World Series and a Japan Series. Bonus points if you find out who the others are with baseball-reference, because I'm sure not that dedicated.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Japan Series Preview
CL Winner) Chunichi Dragons (87-54-5) (All other stats for CL as of Oct. 10th)
653 RS, 482 RA (.647 pyth %)
Team Avg: .270/.333/.409
Team ERA: 3.10
PL Winner) Nippon Ham Fighters (82-54-0)
567 RS, 452 RA (.611 pyth %)
Team Avg: .269/.323/.418
Team ERA: 3.05
Defeated Softbank Hawks 3-0 in the second stage of the PL Playoffs
Based purely on momentum, this series looks to be the Fighters for the taking. Nippon Ham came into the last week of the season in second place by one game against Seibu, and with Softbank just two games behind facing them in a huge three game series. The Fighters plugged Softbank, sweeping them and taking first place after Seibu faltered against Bobby Valentine's Chiba Lotte Marines. After a pitching-dominated two game sweep of the Hawks in the second stage (The #1 seed gets an automatic win in the PL playoffs) in which they allowed just one run, Nippon Ham will look for more of the same against the Dragons.
Chunichi came into September with a nine game lead on my beloved Hanshin Tigers, and despite a 16-4 record put up by Hanshin (who have the coolest curse in baseball), still managed to wrap up the season early last week with a five-run twelvth inning on the Yomiuri Giants.
The Pacific League winner has won the last three Japan Series, with the last CL title coming by Yomiuri as a four game sweep back when they still had Hideki Matsui in his prime. However, two of the last three series have gone to seven games.
Dragons Regular Lineup
Masahiro Araki (R) 2B, .297/.337/.355, 2 homers, 28-35 SB
Hirokazu Ibata (R) SS, .280/.353/.363, 8 homers, 17-29 SB
Kosuke Fukudome (L) RF, .351/.436/.648, 30 homers, 11-13 SB
Tyrone Woods (R) 1B, .312/.403/.640, 47 homers, 143 RBI's
Alex Ochoa (R) CF, .278/.345/.429, 15 homers, 77 RBI's
Kazuki Inoue (L) LF, .308/.338/.475, 11 homers (263 AB's)
Masahiko Morino (L) 3B, .278/.319/.390, 9 homers, 50 RBI's
Motonobu Tanishige (R) C, .229/.343/.343, 9 homers, 70 BB's
The Dragons are led by former Red Sox farmhand Tyrone Woods, who won the CL HR (47) and RBI Titles (144) hitting behind Kosuke Fukudome. Before getting into Japanese baseball, Woods was a firefighter in Tampa. Fukudome, probably the crown jewel of the Nippon League after Daisuke Matsuzaka gets posted this offseason, won the batting title at .351 and also led the CL in OBP (.436), SLG (.648), doubles (46), and runs scored 115).
Another key player is Alex Ochoa, who was the man Chunichi signed after the ridiculous voiding of Kevin Millar's contract. Ochoa, however, has gotten old enough that Dragons manager Hiromitsu Ochiai loves to put him in LF through double switches that involve CF Hidenori Kuramoto (.215/.266/.237) when the Dragons have the lead. Chunichi has no real bench hitters to throw out there when the series shifts to Hokkaido and allows the DH, look for Kuramoto to get some starts in center at that point.
Araki and Ibata, despite their mediocre bats (especially Araki's), have both won back-to-back CL Gold Glove awards and back-to-back CL Best Nine (think Sporting News All-Star nomination, except voted on by over 200 people and people give a shit) appearances. Inoue is ancient, so he may very well be the DH in Hokkaido. Tanishidge is also pretty old, but he's had a long and established career (177 homers and 1406 hits, 1 Best Nine spot in 1998).
Fighters Regular Lineup
Hichori Morimoto (R) LF, .285/.343/.413, 9 homers, 13-22 SB
Kensuke Tanaka (L) 2B, .301/.358/.415, 7 homers, 21-28 SB
Michihiro Ogasawara (L) 1B, .313/.397/.573, 32 homers, 100 RBI
Fernando Seguignol (B) DH, .295/.356/.532, 26 homers, 77 RBI
Atsunori Inaba (L) RF, .307/.355/.522, 26 homers, 75 RBI
Tsuyoshi Shinjo (R) CF, .258/.298/.416, 16 homers, 62 RBI
Jose Macias (B) 3B, .229/.264/.344, 3 homers, 21 RBI
Shinji Takahashi (R)/Shinya Tsuruoka (R) C, .258/.289/.363 and .241/.251/.340
Makoto Kaneko (R) SS, .254/.300/.380, 6 homers, 7-8 SB
The Fighters lineup is keyed around a deadly 3-4-5, with Ogasawara, Seguignol, and Inaba all being equally dangerous. Ogasawara led the PL in Home Runs (32), RBI's (100), and extra-base hits (64). He has a couple of years experience at third base, so manager Trey Hillman (rumored to be a possible managerial candidate for the Texas Rangers) may play him at third while they lose the DH so that Seguignol can stay in the lineup. Ogasawara also won back-to-back Best Nine awards at third before Bobby V's club swept the voting last year (even Matt Franco won a Best Nine in 2005!). Another reason to do this is because Jose Macias can't hit. Even in the Nippon Leagues.
Seguignol put up solid numbers again in his third season for the Fighters, he's now over 100 homers in the Nippon League. A fun fact about Fernando is he was once traded straight up for John Wetteland, and that his son is named "Kendall". Inaba had one of the best seasons of his had an exemplary career, which even had included a workout to judge potential MLB interest at one point. The 26 homers this year is a career high.
Morimoto has had a career season for the Fighters, mostly fueled by his batting average (career .231 coming into this season). Kensuke Tanaka, his fellow twenty-five year-old tablesetter, got his first chance to play this season and came through with a huge year. Kaneko is a pretty solid shortstop overall, with no real strengths and no real weaknesses. Takahashi had a HUGE year in 2004, hitting .285/.345/.535 with 26 homers, but since then has battled injuries and ineffectiveness. Tsuroka is a pup.
Tsuyoshi Shinjo is one of the most popular players in Japan thanks to his wacky antics, and this will sadly be his final year as he has announced he will retire after the year. Shinjo has 3 Best Nine Appearances and 8 Gold Gloves, including 6 in a 7 year span. He is also probably naked right now. Or dressed as Darth Vader. My favorite Shinjo antic is that for a few games late in the season, he had a scrolling LCD belt buckle and put messages on it. I only wish I knew what they said.
Dragons Staff
Kenshin Kawakami (R) 16-7, 2.55, 189-39 K/BB in 212 innings
Kenta Asakura (R) 12-6, 2.83, 103-33 K/BB in 149 innings
Masahiro Yamamoto (L) 11-7, 3.38, 121-36 K/BB in 167 innings
M. Soto (R) 9-3, 2.25, 81-23 K/BB in 125 innings
CL Hitoki Iwase (L) 2-2, 1.33, 40 saves, 42-8 K/BB in 54 innings
Masafumi Hirai (R) 5-3, 2.32, 22 holds, 43-16 K/BB in 62 innings
Katsunori Okamoto (R) 4-1, 3.46, 18 holds, 55-25 K/BB in 52 innings
Yoshihiro Suzuki (R) 1-0, 1.71, 8 holds, 54-15 K/BB in 52 innings
Yuichi Hisamoto (L) 2-2, 1.76, 3 holds, 19-12 K/BB in 30 innings
You couldn't ask for 3 more experienced starters for a playoff series. Kawakami is only 31, but has already shown that he is an elite pitcher, he's never had a "dominant" season but he's very consistent. Twenty-five year-old Asakura broke through in a big way this year, as his career ERA before this year was 4.18, most of the improvement came from cutting his walks. 41-year-old Yamamoto became the oldest player in Nippon history to throw a no-hitter this year, and has been a franchise icon for the Dragons since joining them in 1988. He also pitched in America briefly for the Vero Beach Dodgers, where he acquired the screwball. I have next to no information on this Soto kid, but his numbers are threatening enough that I might start him ahead of Yamamoto.
Iwase has won the saves crown the last two years, and is as good as it gets in the late game. The rest of the pen is the class of the CL, but not quite up to the Nippon Ham pen. Hisamoto is the only lefty, which limits the matchups that Ochiai can play late in games.
Fighters Staff
Tomura Yagi (L) 12-8, 2.48, 108-51 K/BB in 171 innings
Yu Darvish (R) 12-5, 2.89, 115-64 K/BB in 150 innings
Satoru Kanemura (R) 9-6, 4.48, 57-43 K/BB in 143 innings
Naoyuki Tateishi (R) 3-2, 2.72, 26-15 K/BB in 49 innings
CL Michael Nakamura (R) 5-1, 2.19, 39 saves, 67-20 K/BB in 65 innings
Hirashi Takeda (R) 5-3, 2.09, 40 holds, 61-8 K/BB in 81 innings
Hideki Okajima (L) 2-2, 2.14, 20 holds, 63-14 K/BB in 55 innings
Yoshinori Tateyama (R) 3-3, 3.06, 8 holds, 30-10 K/BB in 47 innings
Oshimoto 5-0, 1.50, 6 holds, 30-16 K/BB in 36 innings
The Nippon Ham resurgence can be traced directly to their top two starters, rookie twenty-two year-old Tomura Yagi and sophomore twenty-one year old Yu Darvish. Darvish, best known for being caught smoking at age eighteen and being sent back to the Hokkaido training complex, won Game 1 of the Second Stage with a complete game 1 ER gem. Yagi won Game 2 with a shutout. Kanemura was actually banished for the Second Stage because he called out manager Trey Hillman after he was not allowed a chance to win his tenth game of the season, saying that a foreign manager doesn't care about his players stats. They have kissed and made up, but look for him to be on a short leash anyway as he is by far the worst starter in this series for either team.
Mike Nakamura (former Blue Jay) dominated in his first season in the Nippon Leagues, leading the PL in saves. Takeda actually was better last season, when he had a 0.79 ERA in 34 innings. Okajima has closing experience with Yomiuri, and rebounded after a couple of poor years in a row. The other two aren't as good, but lets face it, if we get to those two, the game probably isn't close.
Chunichi has the clear advantage in the rotation, Nippon has the clear edge with the bats, and a slightly better bullpen. Last year, Bobby V demolished the overmatched Tigers in the JS, 4-0. I like Chunichi a lot, but I think the Fighters bring Hokkaido it's first Nippon League Title.
Fighters in 6.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Postseason Recap: A's falter, Weaver good?
Detroit 5, Oakland 1
Detroit 8, Oakland 5
In game one, the A's came out a lot like the Twins did in their first couple of games: fighting and clawing to strand every runner possible. They managed to score one on a groundout, but took the dreaded 0-for with RISP that decided this game. The Tigers got three of their runs on two out RBI's as Barry Zito took his potential FA treasure trove from 15 million a year to 14 million a year.
In game two, the Tigers got a career game from the unlikely Alexis Gomez and started Neifi Perez for some reason as they KO'ed Esteban Loaiza. Oh I know Sean Casey is injured. Theres just still no reason to ever start Neifi Perez. The A's stranded eight more runners and couldn't knock out Nate Robertson.
I had an idea that the Tigers may be doing this by putting low OBP/high SLG guys in the lineup, thinking maybe that they were drawing fewer walks, however, they've drawn the second most among teams remaining. Maybe it's just that since everyone in the lineup other than Polanco is a power threat, pitchers still have to pitch carefully. Wheras good pitchers won't walk hitters like David Eckstein in the postseason.
Mets 2, Satanic Fowl 0
I like Carlos Beltran. He hits homers for the New York Mets.
No really, I saw someone on ESPN this morning (Brantley? I think) talking about how stupid it was for TLR to leave Jeff Weaver in to face him. Jeff Weaver had a one-hit shutout and there were two outs. If Tony had taken him out in that instance, it would've been GROSS incompetence. A bigger problem for the Redbirds is that with the Mets' perceived ability to not be able to hit left-handers, they used Tyler Johnson for 20 pitches and this series is going to play five straight games (or four, I wouldn't complain if there were four). The only other left-hander in their pen is Randy "BERMAN THINKS I AM FUNNY" Flores, who had a 5.8 ERA.
My gut reaction when I saw the Mets rotation being put to the test in five straight games was it was going to hurt the Mets because Randolph wouldn't be able to be as proactive. But what about the Satanic Fowl? They have just two left-handers in their pen. Also, their bullpen is horrendous. I don't care what they've done so far in the postseason, the only real pitcher of any competence is Wainwright.
(No Box Scores Yet)
Nippon Ham Fighers 3, Softbank Hawks 1
Nippon Ham Fighers 1, Softbank Hawks 0
In game one, right-hander Yu Darvish turned out to be too much for the Hawks, as he threw a CG and struck out eleven. Darvish allowed his run in the first on a sacrifice fly after back-to-back hits and a bunt. The Fighters took the lead for good on Tsuyoshi Shinjo's two-out single in the third.
Another gutwrenching loss for Kazumi Saito in Game Two, as he went a CG and only gave up the winning run in the ninth off an infield single to Atsunori Inaba. He had walked the leadoff hitter, Hichori Morimoto, on four pitches. He was bunted over, and then they intentionally walked PL HR King Michihiro Ogasawara to pitch to Fernando Seguignol. Seguignol struck out, but the infield single by Inaba won the game for the Figters. Saito was matched by 22-year-old rookie lefthander Tomoya Yagi, who threw the CG SO for the Fighters to send them to their first Japan Series since 1981.
In other news, Chunichi clinched the CL by taking the Yomiuri Giants 9-3 in 12 innings. Fukudome broke the tie with a bases loaded single and then Tyrone Woods put the game away for good with his second grand slam in two days, and 47th of the year (leading all of Japanese baseball). Ham Fighters-Dragons will meet in the Japan Series, and FC will be previewing it here sometime this coming week.
Detroit 8, Oakland 5
In game one, the A's came out a lot like the Twins did in their first couple of games: fighting and clawing to strand every runner possible. They managed to score one on a groundout, but took the dreaded 0-for with RISP that decided this game. The Tigers got three of their runs on two out RBI's as Barry Zito took his potential FA treasure trove from 15 million a year to 14 million a year.
In game two, the Tigers got a career game from the unlikely Alexis Gomez and started Neifi Perez for some reason as they KO'ed Esteban Loaiza. Oh I know Sean Casey is injured. Theres just still no reason to ever start Neifi Perez. The A's stranded eight more runners and couldn't knock out Nate Robertson.
I had an idea that the Tigers may be doing this by putting low OBP/high SLG guys in the lineup, thinking maybe that they were drawing fewer walks, however, they've drawn the second most among teams remaining. Maybe it's just that since everyone in the lineup other than Polanco is a power threat, pitchers still have to pitch carefully. Wheras good pitchers won't walk hitters like David Eckstein in the postseason.
Mets 2, Satanic Fowl 0
I like Carlos Beltran. He hits homers for the New York Mets.
No really, I saw someone on ESPN this morning (Brantley? I think) talking about how stupid it was for TLR to leave Jeff Weaver in to face him. Jeff Weaver had a one-hit shutout and there were two outs. If Tony had taken him out in that instance, it would've been GROSS incompetence. A bigger problem for the Redbirds is that with the Mets' perceived ability to not be able to hit left-handers, they used Tyler Johnson for 20 pitches and this series is going to play five straight games (or four, I wouldn't complain if there were four). The only other left-hander in their pen is Randy "BERMAN THINKS I AM FUNNY" Flores, who had a 5.8 ERA.
My gut reaction when I saw the Mets rotation being put to the test in five straight games was it was going to hurt the Mets because Randolph wouldn't be able to be as proactive. But what about the Satanic Fowl? They have just two left-handers in their pen. Also, their bullpen is horrendous. I don't care what they've done so far in the postseason, the only real pitcher of any competence is Wainwright.
(No Box Scores Yet)
Nippon Ham Fighers 3, Softbank Hawks 1
Nippon Ham Fighers 1, Softbank Hawks 0
In game one, right-hander Yu Darvish turned out to be too much for the Hawks, as he threw a CG and struck out eleven. Darvish allowed his run in the first on a sacrifice fly after back-to-back hits and a bunt. The Fighters took the lead for good on Tsuyoshi Shinjo's two-out single in the third.
Another gutwrenching loss for Kazumi Saito in Game Two, as he went a CG and only gave up the winning run in the ninth off an infield single to Atsunori Inaba. He had walked the leadoff hitter, Hichori Morimoto, on four pitches. He was bunted over, and then they intentionally walked PL HR King Michihiro Ogasawara to pitch to Fernando Seguignol. Seguignol struck out, but the infield single by Inaba won the game for the Figters. Saito was matched by 22-year-old rookie lefthander Tomoya Yagi, who threw the CG SO for the Fighters to send them to their first Japan Series since 1981.
In other news, Chunichi clinched the CL by taking the Yomiuri Giants 9-3 in 12 innings. Fukudome broke the tie with a bases loaded single and then Tyrone Woods put the game away for good with his second grand slam in two days, and 47th of the year (leading all of Japanese baseball). Ham Fighters-Dragons will meet in the Japan Series, and FC will be previewing it here sometime this coming week.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Japanese Baseball: Matsuzaka and Saito have a duel for the ages
Pacific League Playoffs
Seibu 1, Softbank 0 - Both Kazumi Saito and Daisuke Matsuzaka came into this game dealing, and it was a true pitchers duel as Kazuhiro Wada doubled in the games only run in the seventh when Hiroyumi Nakajima and Alex Cabrera strung together back-to-back singles with nobody out. Both pitchers threw a complete game, Saito went eight, giving up four hits and two walks, while striking out nine. Matsuzaka went all nine, yielding just six hits and striking out thirteen and hitting four different batters. Sadaharu Oh decided to seperate his best hitters out while letting Jolbert Cabrera bat third, and Jolbert left five runners on base.
Central League Playoff Push
Hanshin 5, Yomiuri 3 - Hanshin put up a furious rally in the eighth to win their ninth out of ten and pull within two of the Chunichi Dragons in the CL. Tomoaki Kanemoto hit his twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth homers of the year, including a three-run shot in the eighth to break up a 2-2 tie. Kyuji Fujikawa gave up a run in the ninth to raise his ERA to 0.7, but picked up his seventeenth save. Yoshinobu Takahashi hit his fifteenth homer in the top of the eighth to tie the game for the Giants.
Yokohama 3, Chunichi 2 - Dragons manager Hisashi Yamada played the percentages and got burned in the eighth. With a 2-0 lead, he brought in LHP Masato Kobayashi to face three left-handed hitters in a row, and despite walking the first, he had gotten a strikeout and a quick popup. He then turned to RHP Shinya Okamoto (4-1), as there were three right-handed hitters in a row. Okamoto walked the first batter, then gave up a three-run game losing homer to Shuuichi Murata (33rd). Marc Kroon picked up the save for the Bay Stars, his twenty-sixth. Chunichi's magic number stayed at four.
Hiroshima 4, Yakult 3 - In a game dominated by ex-MLB players, the Swallows jumped off to a 3-1 lead off a homer by Adam Riggs, his thirty-eighth (good for third place in the CL). Alex Ramirez hit his twenty-fifth homer, a three-run bomb that made a loser out of Masaki Hayamashi (2-4). Shinjo Takatsu picked up his thirteenth save with a shaky (1 bb, 1 h) ninth.
Seibu 1, Softbank 0 - Both Kazumi Saito and Daisuke Matsuzaka came into this game dealing, and it was a true pitchers duel as Kazuhiro Wada doubled in the games only run in the seventh when Hiroyumi Nakajima and Alex Cabrera strung together back-to-back singles with nobody out. Both pitchers threw a complete game, Saito went eight, giving up four hits and two walks, while striking out nine. Matsuzaka went all nine, yielding just six hits and striking out thirteen and hitting four different batters. Sadaharu Oh decided to seperate his best hitters out while letting Jolbert Cabrera bat third, and Jolbert left five runners on base.
Central League Playoff Push
Hanshin 5, Yomiuri 3 - Hanshin put up a furious rally in the eighth to win their ninth out of ten and pull within two of the Chunichi Dragons in the CL. Tomoaki Kanemoto hit his twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth homers of the year, including a three-run shot in the eighth to break up a 2-2 tie. Kyuji Fujikawa gave up a run in the ninth to raise his ERA to 0.7, but picked up his seventeenth save. Yoshinobu Takahashi hit his fifteenth homer in the top of the eighth to tie the game for the Giants.
Yokohama 3, Chunichi 2 - Dragons manager Hisashi Yamada played the percentages and got burned in the eighth. With a 2-0 lead, he brought in LHP Masato Kobayashi to face three left-handed hitters in a row, and despite walking the first, he had gotten a strikeout and a quick popup. He then turned to RHP Shinya Okamoto (4-1), as there were three right-handed hitters in a row. Okamoto walked the first batter, then gave up a three-run game losing homer to Shuuichi Murata (33rd). Marc Kroon picked up the save for the Bay Stars, his twenty-sixth. Chunichi's magic number stayed at four.
Hiroshima 4, Yakult 3 - In a game dominated by ex-MLB players, the Swallows jumped off to a 3-1 lead off a homer by Adam Riggs, his thirty-eighth (good for third place in the CL). Alex Ramirez hit his twenty-fifth homer, a three-run bomb that made a loser out of Masaki Hayamashi (2-4). Shinjo Takatsu picked up his thirteenth save with a shaky (1 bb, 1 h) ninth.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Baseball around the World, 9/31/06
MLB
Two new pennant winners guaranteed as Astros hand division crown to 83-78 Cardinals - Perhaps Roger Clemens should have started on one days rest. EVERYONE KNOWS HE'S ON THE ROIDS AFTER ALL.
Tigers roll over, hand division to Twins, 1st pick to Devil Rays - There may be a day when a team gets back-to-back #1 overall picks, but not this year. A squad that consisted of David DeJesus batting third and Emil Brown hitting cleanup dropped four on Fernando Rodney in the eight and two on Kenny Rogers in the twelfth to allow the Royals to finish at exactly 100 losses.
Padres win division crown, set playoff date with St. Louis for second consecutive year - Brandon Webb was lit up for seven runs in four innings as the Padres took home the NL West crown for a second consecutive year, both with under 90 wins. Trevor Hoffman tried really hard to blow it by allowing 2 homers in the ninth, but with the aid of a questionable call at second, got his 46th save.
Playoff Matchups:
AL
Tigers @ Yankees G1 Tuesday 8 ET
Athletics @ Twins G1 Tuesday 1 ET
NL
Dodgers @ Mets G1 Wednesday 4 ET
Cardinals @ Padres G1 Tuesday 4 ET
Nippon Central League
Chunichi @ Hanshin - After a 7-1 win to bring the Chunichi Dragons lead back to 3 games yesterday, today's game was rained out. The Dragons magic number is 7.
Yakult 9, Yokohama 4 - Takumi Nasuno (3-8) got blown up, allowing the Swallows to romp to an easy win. The lone homer in the contest was by veteran SS Noriykui Shiroishi, it was his 21st career in over 10 seasons.
Hiroshima 3, Yomiuri 0 - A group effort by Hiroshimas pen after a spot start by Saitou (1-0), four other relivers combined on the six hit shutout. Yomiuri's promising young Chiang (3-2) went 8, allowing only 1 earned run, to take the loss. WBC Hero S Y Lee was held to a 1-4 by the Carp, dropping him to a tie for second in the batting race at .319 (well, it's not much of a race, Fukudome is batting .357).
Dutch Series
Pioneers scored one in the first, but Kinheim has turned this game into a laugher with two innings to play by dropping four in the second and six more in the third. Roger Kops is sure to take the loss after allowing six runs in two plus innings. Check it out live here.
Update: Despite lack of scoreboard updates, Kinheim has won the game 13-5 and are the Dutch League Champions. Congratulations, Dirk Van't Klooster!
Two new pennant winners guaranteed as Astros hand division crown to 83-78 Cardinals - Perhaps Roger Clemens should have started on one days rest. EVERYONE KNOWS HE'S ON THE ROIDS AFTER ALL.
Tigers roll over, hand division to Twins, 1st pick to Devil Rays - There may be a day when a team gets back-to-back #1 overall picks, but not this year. A squad that consisted of David DeJesus batting third and Emil Brown hitting cleanup dropped four on Fernando Rodney in the eight and two on Kenny Rogers in the twelfth to allow the Royals to finish at exactly 100 losses.
Padres win division crown, set playoff date with St. Louis for second consecutive year - Brandon Webb was lit up for seven runs in four innings as the Padres took home the NL West crown for a second consecutive year, both with under 90 wins. Trevor Hoffman tried really hard to blow it by allowing 2 homers in the ninth, but with the aid of a questionable call at second, got his 46th save.
Playoff Matchups:
AL
Tigers @ Yankees G1 Tuesday 8 ET
Athletics @ Twins G1 Tuesday 1 ET
NL
Dodgers @ Mets G1 Wednesday 4 ET
Cardinals @ Padres G1 Tuesday 4 ET
Nippon Central League
Chunichi @ Hanshin - After a 7-1 win to bring the Chunichi Dragons lead back to 3 games yesterday, today's game was rained out. The Dragons magic number is 7.
Yakult 9, Yokohama 4 - Takumi Nasuno (3-8) got blown up, allowing the Swallows to romp to an easy win. The lone homer in the contest was by veteran SS Noriykui Shiroishi, it was his 21st career in over 10 seasons.
Hiroshima 3, Yomiuri 0 - A group effort by Hiroshimas pen after a spot start by Saitou (1-0), four other relivers combined on the six hit shutout. Yomiuri's promising young Chiang (3-2) went 8, allowing only 1 earned run, to take the loss. WBC Hero S Y Lee was held to a 1-4 by the Carp, dropping him to a tie for second in the batting race at .319 (well, it's not much of a race, Fukudome is batting .357).
Dutch Series
Pioneers scored one in the first, but Kinheim has turned this game into a laugher with two innings to play by dropping four in the second and six more in the third. Roger Kops is sure to take the loss after allowing six runs in two plus innings. Check it out live here.
Update: Despite lack of scoreboard updates, Kinheim has won the game 13-5 and are the Dutch League Champions. Congratulations, Dirk Van't Klooster!
Friday, September 29, 2006
Japanese Baseball - Pacific League Playoff Preview Part II: Seibu Lions vs. Softbank Hawks
#2 seed) Seibu Lions (80-54-2)
645 RS, 556 RA (.574 pyth %)
Team Avg: .275/.342/.421
Team ERA: 3.64
#3 seed) Nippon Ham Fighters (75-55-5) (1 game left to play)
553 RS, 468 RA (.582 pyth %)
Team Avg: .260/.325/.374
Team ERA: 3.12
Season Series: 10-9-1 Seibu
This will be a classic three game set held in the Seibu Invoice Dome (the Invoice Dome? I thought Enron Field was bad.), a struggle between heavy hitting and great starting pitching that involves the two best pitchers in the Pacific League and arguably the two best in all of Nippon baseball. Both teams come in on kind of a down note, as Seibu choked away a two game lead for the top seed with 3 games to play and Softbank rolled over for Nippon Ham to allow them the top seed. This is the third straight year that 2004 Japan Series winners Seibu have made the PL playoffs.
Any discussion of Seibu begins with Daisuke Matsuzaka. The soon-to-be Mariner/Yankee/Met starter has been overshadowed a bit this year by Softbank ace Kazumi Saito, but still finished 17-5 with a 2.13 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 186 1/3rd innings (all of these are good for second place in the PL behind Saito). However, an ill omen for the Lions came when Matsuzaka was bombed in his last start by Bobby Valentine's Marines, giving up a season high five earned runs on seven hits, two walks, and two hit batsmen. Matsuzaka took a line drive off of his pitching arm in the start before that, and while he wouldn't use that as an excuse, it's clear that something may indeed be off about him.
If Matsuzaka is still hurting, this will be a tough series for the Lions to win, and the key for them will once again be the offense. They led the PL in runs, almost 100 runs greater than second place Nippon Ham. The key to the Seibu attack is former MLB 1B Alex Cabrera, who has put up another stellar year, hitting .315/.404/.564 with 31 homers, good for second in the league behind Michihiro Ogasawara. Beyond Cabrera, there is the declining left fielder Kazuhiro Wada, who put up 19 homers and hit .298/.392/.493, and one of the rising stars of Japanese Baseball, 23 year old shortstop Hiroyumi Nakajima (.306/.368/.481, 19 homers). The rest of the lineup doesn't have much power, the Lions get most of their offense via a very high team OBP (.342, the second place team, Nippon, finished at .325); there isn't a player who had more than 125 at-bats with an OBP under .327. Former MLB'er Jeff Liefer may play a role in this series as well, as he provided yet another power hitter down the stretch, socking 13 homers in just 143 AB's.
Beyond Matsuzaka, the Seibu staff is pretty ordinary. Their second best starter, Hideaki Wakui, put up a 12-8 3.24 line. The bullpen, led by young closer Chikara Onodera (7-3, 2.82, 29 saves), is pretty non-descript compared to the Nippon Ham 1-2-3. Those two are the only pitchers on the staff with an ERA under 3.49 besides Matsuzaka, which led to their uninspiring middle of the table performance in runs allowed (556 is good for third, but they are only 14 ahead of the fifth place Orix Buffaloes, as compared to 88 behind the second place Fighters). Tsutomo Ito will have to hope that Matsuzaka can give him a quality start, or the Seibu team may be in trouble.
Softbank comes into the first stage of the playoffs with an injured starter as well, as third starter Nagisa Arakaki (13-5, 3.01) was hospitalized with an accute infection of the intestine. The good news for Softbank manager Sadaharu Oh is that he may not need a third starter with obvious Sawamura Award candidate Saito (18-5, 1.75, 205 K's in 201 IP) and Softbank's own Wada, left-hander Tsuyoshi (14-6, 2.98, 136 K's in 163 IP). It doesn't get any easier in the bullpen, where Oh can hand the game over to twenty-three year old Takahiro Mahara (0-4, 1.66, 29 saves of his own) and bridge the gap with the Okas: Fujioka (2.34, 26 holds) and Takeoka (1.88).
The Hawks also have the fortune of owning LF Nobuhiko Matsunaka, who led the league in OPS by hitting .327/.454/.532, and 1B Julio Zuleta, who smacked 29 homers with a 879 OPS. Unfortunately, the Hawks have very little else in their lineup. CF Nayoki Omura and SS Muneori Kawasaki both are solid table-setters, but then it starts to get sketchy. The regular fifth hitter is ex-Indian and Dodger Jolbert Cabrera, who only managed a .263/.317/.401 line, and from there it gets uglier.
That said, I'd be shocked if the Hawks didn't find a way to win this series. They do have the best pitcher and the best hitter, it's only three games, and the best starters often seem to punish the strike zone enough to take away the huge OBP advantage that Seibu enjoys. I'll say the Hawks sweep 2-0 and move on to take on the Fighters.
Once we get to the Nippon Series, I will run a preview of the CL winner juxtaposed with the winner of the PL. Until then, look for periodic updates as they come in.
645 RS, 556 RA (.574 pyth %)
Team Avg: .275/.342/.421
Team ERA: 3.64
#3 seed) Nippon Ham Fighters (75-55-5) (1 game left to play)
553 RS, 468 RA (.582 pyth %)
Team Avg: .260/.325/.374
Team ERA: 3.12
Season Series: 10-9-1 Seibu
This will be a classic three game set held in the Seibu Invoice Dome (the Invoice Dome? I thought Enron Field was bad.), a struggle between heavy hitting and great starting pitching that involves the two best pitchers in the Pacific League and arguably the two best in all of Nippon baseball. Both teams come in on kind of a down note, as Seibu choked away a two game lead for the top seed with 3 games to play and Softbank rolled over for Nippon Ham to allow them the top seed. This is the third straight year that 2004 Japan Series winners Seibu have made the PL playoffs.
Any discussion of Seibu begins with Daisuke Matsuzaka. The soon-to-be Mariner/Yankee/Met starter has been overshadowed a bit this year by Softbank ace Kazumi Saito, but still finished 17-5 with a 2.13 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 186 1/3rd innings (all of these are good for second place in the PL behind Saito). However, an ill omen for the Lions came when Matsuzaka was bombed in his last start by Bobby Valentine's Marines, giving up a season high five earned runs on seven hits, two walks, and two hit batsmen. Matsuzaka took a line drive off of his pitching arm in the start before that, and while he wouldn't use that as an excuse, it's clear that something may indeed be off about him.
If Matsuzaka is still hurting, this will be a tough series for the Lions to win, and the key for them will once again be the offense. They led the PL in runs, almost 100 runs greater than second place Nippon Ham. The key to the Seibu attack is former MLB 1B Alex Cabrera, who has put up another stellar year, hitting .315/.404/.564 with 31 homers, good for second in the league behind Michihiro Ogasawara. Beyond Cabrera, there is the declining left fielder Kazuhiro Wada, who put up 19 homers and hit .298/.392/.493, and one of the rising stars of Japanese Baseball, 23 year old shortstop Hiroyumi Nakajima (.306/.368/.481, 19 homers). The rest of the lineup doesn't have much power, the Lions get most of their offense via a very high team OBP (.342, the second place team, Nippon, finished at .325); there isn't a player who had more than 125 at-bats with an OBP under .327. Former MLB'er Jeff Liefer may play a role in this series as well, as he provided yet another power hitter down the stretch, socking 13 homers in just 143 AB's.
Beyond Matsuzaka, the Seibu staff is pretty ordinary. Their second best starter, Hideaki Wakui, put up a 12-8 3.24 line. The bullpen, led by young closer Chikara Onodera (7-3, 2.82, 29 saves), is pretty non-descript compared to the Nippon Ham 1-2-3. Those two are the only pitchers on the staff with an ERA under 3.49 besides Matsuzaka, which led to their uninspiring middle of the table performance in runs allowed (556 is good for third, but they are only 14 ahead of the fifth place Orix Buffaloes, as compared to 88 behind the second place Fighters). Tsutomo Ito will have to hope that Matsuzaka can give him a quality start, or the Seibu team may be in trouble.
Softbank comes into the first stage of the playoffs with an injured starter as well, as third starter Nagisa Arakaki (13-5, 3.01) was hospitalized with an accute infection of the intestine. The good news for Softbank manager Sadaharu Oh is that he may not need a third starter with obvious Sawamura Award candidate Saito (18-5, 1.75, 205 K's in 201 IP) and Softbank's own Wada, left-hander Tsuyoshi (14-6, 2.98, 136 K's in 163 IP). It doesn't get any easier in the bullpen, where Oh can hand the game over to twenty-three year old Takahiro Mahara (0-4, 1.66, 29 saves of his own) and bridge the gap with the Okas: Fujioka (2.34, 26 holds) and Takeoka (1.88).
The Hawks also have the fortune of owning LF Nobuhiko Matsunaka, who led the league in OPS by hitting .327/.454/.532, and 1B Julio Zuleta, who smacked 29 homers with a 879 OPS. Unfortunately, the Hawks have very little else in their lineup. CF Nayoki Omura and SS Muneori Kawasaki both are solid table-setters, but then it starts to get sketchy. The regular fifth hitter is ex-Indian and Dodger Jolbert Cabrera, who only managed a .263/.317/.401 line, and from there it gets uglier.
That said, I'd be shocked if the Hawks didn't find a way to win this series. They do have the best pitcher and the best hitter, it's only three games, and the best starters often seem to punish the strike zone enough to take away the huge OBP advantage that Seibu enjoys. I'll say the Hawks sweep 2-0 and move on to take on the Fighters.
Once we get to the Nippon Series, I will run a preview of the CL winner juxtaposed with the winner of the PL. Until then, look for periodic updates as they come in.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Japanese Baseball Update - A Dicky Gonzalez sighting!
Rakuten picks high school fastballer Tanaka in draft- Apparently the Japanese draft system is just a little different from ours. In the first round, every team may select any player, and then through a complex lottery (with records and all that), players claimed by multiple teams are awarded to one team for exclusive negotiation rights. Teams that fail to recieve the player get an alternate pick, which may also be subject to lottery. Tanaka was named on the most bids in the first round, with 4. He throws around 95 and in his free time, has a thing for grafitti. Naoichi Domoue was selected by three different clubs and awarded to Chunichi, despite being a shortstop who hit fifty-five homers in high school.
Somewhere, the Japanese version of this man is screaming at people about this.
The standings in the CL show us a two team race down the stretch:
CL
Chunichi 75-49-5, .605, -- (M# 12)
Hanshin 75-55-4, .577, 3
Yakult 64-64-2, .500, 13
Yomiuri 62-71-2, .466, 17.5
Hiroshima 56-70-5, .444, 20
Yokohama 52-76-3, .406, 25
In Chunichi's last game, they were stifled by Dicky Gonzalez, who pitched a four-hitter to win 4-1. The amazing Kosuke Fukudome provided the only offense for the Dragons, a solo shot in the second inning. He is leading the CL in batting average (.356), OBP (.441), OPS (1.110), doubles (40), and runs (105).
In the PL, where the season ends a little earlier because they actually HAVE a playoff system, we're looking at this:
x-Seibu 79-53-2, .598 -- (M# 2)
x-Nippon Ham 80-54-0 .597 0.0
x-Softbank 75-53-5 .586 2.0
Lotte 63-69-1 .477 16.0
Orix 51-80-3 .389 27.5
Rakuten 45-83-4 .352 32.0
Bobby Valentine's squadron will not be defending their title this year. Seibu has 2 games left, Nippon Ham and Softbank have 3, 2 of which are against each other. Lets all root against Seibu, who are best known for unleashing Kaz Matsui on the American mainland. Those sick bastards.
Either way, with all three having already clinched, expect a playoff preview sometime in the near future. The rest of the season is still VERY important, because after seeing it's top two teams lose in it's first two years of adopting a playoff system, the Pacific League has guaranteed the winner of the regular season both the bye, homefield, AND one free win in a best-of-five.
Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to Dragons P Masahiro Yamamoto for becoming the oldest player in Japanese baseball history to throw a no-hitter, 3-0 over Hanshin. Yamamoto, 41, held the Tigers without a hit or a walk (the perfect game was ruined by an error). Hanshin is relying heavily on other teams to help them win the CL, as they are a pathetic 5-13-1 against the front-running Dragons.
Somewhere, the Japanese version of this man is screaming at people about this.
The standings in the CL show us a two team race down the stretch:
CL
Chunichi 75-49-5, .605, -- (M# 12)
Hanshin 75-55-4, .577, 3
Yakult 64-64-2, .500, 13
Yomiuri 62-71-2, .466, 17.5
Hiroshima 56-70-5, .444, 20
Yokohama 52-76-3, .406, 25
In Chunichi's last game, they were stifled by Dicky Gonzalez, who pitched a four-hitter to win 4-1. The amazing Kosuke Fukudome provided the only offense for the Dragons, a solo shot in the second inning. He is leading the CL in batting average (.356), OBP (.441), OPS (1.110), doubles (40), and runs (105).
In the PL, where the season ends a little earlier because they actually HAVE a playoff system, we're looking at this:
x-Seibu 79-53-2, .598 -- (M# 2)
x-Nippon Ham 80-54-0 .597 0.0
x-Softbank 75-53-5 .586 2.0
Lotte 63-69-1 .477 16.0
Orix 51-80-3 .389 27.5
Rakuten 45-83-4 .352 32.0
Bobby Valentine's squadron will not be defending their title this year. Seibu has 2 games left, Nippon Ham and Softbank have 3, 2 of which are against each other. Lets all root against Seibu, who are best known for unleashing Kaz Matsui on the American mainland. Those sick bastards.
Either way, with all three having already clinched, expect a playoff preview sometime in the near future. The rest of the season is still VERY important, because after seeing it's top two teams lose in it's first two years of adopting a playoff system, the Pacific League has guaranteed the winner of the regular season both the bye, homefield, AND one free win in a best-of-five.
Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to Dragons P Masahiro Yamamoto for becoming the oldest player in Japanese baseball history to throw a no-hitter, 3-0 over Hanshin. Yamamoto, 41, held the Tigers without a hit or a walk (the perfect game was ruined by an error). Hanshin is relying heavily on other teams to help them win the CL, as they are a pathetic 5-13-1 against the front-running Dragons.
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