Pro Yakyu Super Summer Extravaganza Day 5: Lions Classic @ Seibu Dome 08/05/09

Seibu reliever Koji Mitsui watching Seibu's chances of going to the Climax Series this year go up in smoke. No just kidding, he's watching a fly out while warming up in the bullpen.

Lucky Seven. This is what we in American call "The 7th Inning Stretch". But in Pro Yakyu, it's called "Lucky Seven". Now, why do I bring this up? Well, lately whenever I go to see the Lions, magical and great things happen in the 7th inning. I can't explain it so, I'll let the game report here do the talking for me.

So, I headed back to Seibu Dome after a bad night in Omiya the previous day in hopes of a little redemption. The starters for the game were Hideki Sunaga for the Ham and Kaz Ishii for Seibu. Today was a good day at the Dome as I got to see "Good Ishii" today. You see, it seems every time I go to Seibu Dome, I end up seeing Kaz Ishii pitch and usually it's not good. But today he was ok as he managed to keep Seibu in the game through 7 innings by only giving up 2 runs on 4 hits. But on the other hand, you know it's either going to be one extreme or the other with Ishii so I guess you can call that a good thing. Also too, I was lucky enough to sit right next to the Seibu bullpen in the "Field View Seats" section so in this blog entry, I decided to upload shots of some of Seibu's relievers among other things.

The game didn't have a lot of scoring and like the previous night, the Fighters got on the board in the top of the 5th. Termell Sledge walked to start things off and as per protocol was them moved over to 2nd on a sacrifice bunt by Eichi Koyano. Then, Tomohiro Nioka singled to center which brought in Sledge from 2nd to make it 1-0 Fighters. The, catcher Shinya Tsuruoka promptly doubled to right to make it 2-0 Nippon Ham and that's where the score stayed until the bottom of the 7th.

Nippon Ham outfielder Hichori Morimoto on first after getting on base in the 3rd inning.

Hichori taking a breather at second during a visit to the mound by Seibu's pitching coach.

Tomohiro Nioka. It's still really strange for me not seeing him in an orange, black, and white uniform with #7 on the back. But at the same time, it's almost natural to see him in the gossip columns one way or another these days.

After the customary "Jet Balloons" were let off in the bottom of the 7th, the real fireworks started a bit early for us Lions fans tonight. Hiroyuki Nakajima started things off with an infield single to short and then was moved over to 3rd on a double to left by "Okawari" Nakamura. After a pitching change (Kazumasa Kikuchi) by Nippon Ham and a strike out by pinch hitter Yoshihito Ishii, G.G. Sato singled to center to cut the Ham's lead in half and make it 2-1. Tomoaki Sato then hit a grounder to 3rd which 3rd baseman Tomohiro Nioka tried to make a fielders choice out at home but was unsuccessful and that tied the game at 2 a piece. Then, after back to back RBI singles by Taketoshi Gotoh and Tsumitani Ginjiro, the Fighters made another pitching change (Shintaro Ejiri) and the next batter, Yasuyuki Kataoka, was hit by a pitch. But it really didn't matter as Takumi Kuriyama drove in the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to center and Hiroyuki Nakajima grounded out to short to end the 5 run 7th inning for the Lions. Excellent batting and waiting on pitches were the key here. Seibu showed that they still can drive in runs and make it count.

Koji Onuma.

Takuya Hara playing catch in between innings.

Tetsuya Iwasaki and Chikara Onodera held the Fighters scoreless over the 8th and 9th to lead the Lions to victory after what seemed like an eternity. But despite the fact the Nippon Ham lost, I thought that starter Hideki Sunaga was brilliant as he pitched no hit ball through 6 innings. Pitching in general has been a thorn in the side of Seibu all season but they got it done in this game. But, in the games to follow, the problem reared it's ugly head once again as things didn't go so smoothly during the rubber match of this Lions Classic series.

Jun Yamamoto looking like he had just woke up before the game.

Guess who?

TADA! It's interim Seibu closer and all around bad ass Chikara Onodera who has probably one of the best theme songs in all of Japanese baseball. One of my favorite Seibu players no doubt.

Pro Yakyu Super Summer Extravaganza Day 4: Lions Classic @ Omiya Stadium 08/04/09

Hello again everyone. So, before heading out on the second leg of my “Pro Yakyu Super Summer Extravaganza Tour”, I would like to pass along my thoughts on the recent “Lions Classic” series I attended against the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. As you all know, the Lions have been hosting games in which they have been wearing their 1980’s era throwback uniforms. But for this series against the Ham, things were a little different this time around. For this series, they played the first game of the series at Omiya Stadium in Saitama City which is located in the eastern part of Saitama Prefecture. The games in Omiya always draw really big crowds as the total attendance for the game was 20,473. That’s even more than Seibu Dome does for weeknight games. I applaud Seibu for reaching out to the other side of the prefecture and hosting games in Omiya as it is really smart business.



Seibu shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima showing the fans in attendance some love by throwing a ball in the stands during practice.

Unfortunately, the result of this game was not the one that I and the many other people jam packed into the seats on the 3^rd base side had expected because we ran into a brick wall named the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. You see, the Ham have been unstoppable this season as they just keep winning and winning without showing signs of slowing down. The Ham has “it” so to speak which in my book means that they have great pitching and a great offense. It’s what Seibu had last year (more so on the offensive side in my opinion) and despite the fact that I think Seibu is going to ride this magical cloud to a second championship this season, I have to be realistic and recognize that the Ham will probably end up in first place in the Pacific League and therefore will get home field advantage during the second stage of the Climax Series this year. Seriously folks, could you imagine a Ham/Giants Nippon Series? Just imagine how high the tension would be as both teams used to share Tokyo Dome for a number of years and the Ham was forced to live in the shadow of the Giants somewhat despite being in a totally different league.

But, onto the game in Omiya, shall we? The starters for the day were Seibu ace Hideaki Wakui and Tomoya Yagi for the Ham. So with Wakui being on the mound, I naturally had high hopes. But to the Ham, it really doesn’t matter who is on the mound as they started things off slowly and eventually nailed Wakui (with a little help from Karma too, I believe).

Nippon Ham Starter Tomoya Yagi warming up before the bottom of the 1st inning starts.

Yagi stretches on the mound before making his first pitch of the game.

Seibu ace Hideaki Wakui in the top of the 4th.

Wakui in the 6th. You can tell that he's pretty much out of it by this point.

Eichi Koyano started things off for the Ham with a solo home run to center in the top of the 2^nd to give make it an early 1-0 lead. After that, Kensuke Tanaka hit an RBI double with one on in the top of the 3^rd to make it 2-0 for the Fighters. But not to be outdone, Hiroyuki Nakajima clubbed his 15^th home run of the year to right center field in the bottom of the 4th which cut the Ham’s lead in half to 2-1.

I actually have slowly taken a liking to Nakajima ever since I went to my first Pacific League game at Seibu Dome nearly 2 years ago. Now that I live in Saitama where the Lions get more press coverage, I really have begun to see why Nakajima is so awesome. The energy he brings to the team is like nothing else and he seems to be a genuinely nice guy from what I’ve seen of him.


Nakajima crossing the home plate after hitting his solo home run in the bottom of the 4th.

But again, the Fighters were able to exploit Seibu’s main weakness which is pitching and eventually win the game. Again, I chalk up what happened during this inning to bad Karma. The top of the 6^th started off with Wakui drilling Atsunori Inaba in the left foot on a 1-1 count. Then, DH Shinji Takahashi singled to center which moved Inaba to 3^rd. After that, Termell Sledge walked to load the bases and then Eichi Koyano drew a bases loaded walk to bring in Inaba to make it 3-1. Yoshio Itoi then grounded out to 2^nd which brought in another run and made it 4-1. Then, Nippon Ham catcher Shinya Tsuruoka hit a sacrifice fly to right field which made it 5-1 and that was all the Ham needed as Seibu could do no more in terms of offense.

Wakui wasn’t his normal dominating self for this game despite throwing over 100 pitches (109 according to Seibu’s website) through 6 innings and striking out 4. Yagi on the other hand, had about the same number of pitches (91) but was more effective only allowing 3 hits and 2 strikeouts. He did walk 4 batters though so while that is a small concern, it didn’t really affect things as his only mistake was Nakajima’s home run. All in all, Seibu is going to have to do much better if they are going to defend their Nippon Championship title but as each game passes, the window gets smaller and smaller and I guess come October, I may have to head to Fukuoka this year for some playoff action.

Pro Yakyu Super Summer Extravaganza Day 3 A.K.A. My Greatest Yakyu Fan Moment 08/02/09

Hello everyone. I've taken a few days off from writing here and updating my "Pro Yakyu Super Summer Extravaganza" series because the plane ride back to Haneda Airport last Monday really messed up my sleeping pattern during the last few days. And besides, after Sunday's game, I needed to reflect on it and figure out how exactly I was going to write this article. Because hands down, this was the best game I've seen all year and nothing will probably come close to it and what happened the following day was probably the greatest thing to happen to me as a Pro Yakyu fan.



Catcher Takeshi Hosoyamada and infielder Noriharu Yamazaki sharing a laugh by the water cooler.



Pitcher Kentaro Takasaki after warming up before the game.



Hayato Terahara after warming up before the game.

Let's start out with the basics here in regards to this game shall we? It was a near 4 hour slugfest (3h 55m to be exact) with a total of 31 hits between the Stars and the Carp and honestly, it was like a roller coaster ride with all it's ups and downs for the 26,076 people in attendance. I believe this was Hiroshima's most productive game in regards to hit total but in the end, they could not come away with the win despite jumping all over Yokohama starter Les Walrond in the first inning. Walrond was totally useless on the mound during the 1 2/3 innings he did work and had lousy command to boot. Don't know if it was the summer heat in Hiroshima or just some bad Okonomiyaki from the night before but it wasn't a good performance from yet another Yokohama starter. And while I'm on the subject, "PRIORITIZE PITCHING IN THE OFFSEASON YOKOHAMA".




Les Walrond after his first inning of work. Sad face.



Walrond after throwing a pitch in the second inning.

Hiroshima ace Kan Ohtake did a little better as he only gave up one run on four hits through his first 5 innings over work. But as you will see, he was eventually worn down and tagged for 7 runs in the end.




Hiroshima ace Kan Ohtake in the first inning.



Ohtake playing with his hat during the ceremonial first pitch.

Hiroshima wasted no time in taking an early lead in the bottom of the 1st. Akihiro Higashide started things off with a single to center. Then the very next batter Masato Akamatsu, doubled to left center and just like that it was 1-0 Hiroshima. Both runners then advanced to 3^rd and 2^nd respectively on a double steal and after that, Hiroshima clean up hitter Kenta Kurihara hit a sacrifice fly to deep right to make it 2-0. Now before I go on, if you had ever visited the old ballpark in Hiroshima, you would know that it was probably the easiest park to hit a home run in. That being said, I think that Kurihara’s numbers may take a little dive in the future because of the new park. He hit a number of fly balls in this series that would’ve easily gone for home runs in the old ballpark. Going back to the game, Scott McClain singled to left to make it 3-0 and was eventually moved over to 3^rd thanks to an Andy Phillips walk and a Tetsuya Kokubo single to center. Catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara capped off the scoring for the Carp in the 1^st by hitting a sacrifice fly to center to bring in McClain and make it 4-0.

Hiroshima struck again in the bottom of the 2^nd when Soichiro Amaya singled to right and then was promptly brought in by a Kenta Kurihara double to left center which made it 5-0 and spelled the end for Les Walrond as he was replaced by Kentaro Takasaki.

Yokohama got on the board in the top of the 4^th when both Kazuya Fujita and Seiichi Uchikawa hit back to back singles to right field. Fujita was later brought home by a Yuki Yoshimura single to left which made it 5-1. And from there, something really strange started to happen. Gradually, the Stars started to chip away at Hiroshima ace Kan Ohtake and that brought us to the top of the 6^th. Kazuya Fujita started things of with a single to left. Then later on, Shuichi Murata single to right which brought up Dan Johnson. And with one swing of the bat, Johnson made it 5-4 via a three run home run (his 15^th on the year) to deep right and boy did that ball fly. Now in my opinion, while Johnson’s batting average hasn’t been anything to write home about, he’s been an asset to the Stars on defense and because of his home runs because he usually hits them when there are actually runners on base as opposed to the numerous amounts of solo homeruns I see other players hitting. So really, he's helped the team out quite a bit in my opinion and is worth holding onto for next season and beyond in my opinion.

But the one run lead wouldn’t last as Hiroshima came back with a vengeance in the bottom of the 6^th. After two quick groundouts to start the inning for Hiroshima, pitcher Kan Ohtake singled to center. He was then moved over to 3^rd by Akihiro Higashide via a double to left. And once again, Masato Akamatsu struck again by hitting a 2 run RBI single to left and widening Hiroshima’s lead at 7-4.

But Yokohama was not out for the count as they really made it count in the top of the 7^th. It truly was a “Lucky Seven” for us today. Pinch hitter Tatsuhiko Kinjoh started things off with a hit to right. Then, leadoff man and former Carp Shigeru Morikasa added a hit of his own to center putting runners on 1^st and 2^nd and after that, Fujita moved the runners over with a nice sacrifice bunt which set things up for the heart of our order. Seiichi Uchikawa hit an RBI single to center which made it 7-5 and Hiroshima manager Marty Brown decided Ohtake’s night was over and put in Hayato Aoki to take his place. It didn’t really matter though who was pitching as Yokohama’s offense kept coming as the next batter, Shuichi Murata, hit an RBI single to right center which made it 7-6. And after a walk to Dan Johnson for obvious reasons which loaded the bases and a fly out to short by Yoshimura, shortstop Takehiro Ishikawa was lifted for veteran hitter Takehiro Saeki and Saeki was on point today as he delierved a 2 run RBI single to right which gave Yokohama the lead at 8-7 with runners on 1^st and 3^rd. Unfortunately, catcher Shingo Takeyama flied out to short to end this monumental comeback by the Stars. Seriously, this was amazing to watch I can’t begin to recap the emotions that were going through me at the time.

But just as fast as they got the lead, the Stars lost it again when in the bottom of the 7^th, Hiroshima catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara doubled to right center with one on to tie the game at 8 a piece.

So that takes us to the top of the 10th inning where none other than Yuki Yoshimura leads things off with a solo home run to left to make it 9-8 and slowly earned a little more of my respect. Interesting to note too that Yokohama did load the bases in this inning as well but nothing came of it. But the solo home run was all the Stars needed to win a hard fought game. Yokohama I feel, has a decent offense but again, they can't always rely on their offense to be on their game and need pitching to match what they have. But ranting aside, this was the best game I've been to all year and I don't think anything can match it quite honestly.

Today's game hero Atsushi Kizuka being interviewed for TV after the game. He was absolutely brilliant in the game.

Kizuka on the mound in the 10th inning.

What happened the following day was probably the greatest Yakyu related thing to have ever happened to me. So, I was at Hiroshima Airport waiting for my plane to depart and was watching a recent Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles game which was the first MLB game I've seen in well over 2 years possibly. Anyways, I'm watching the game and I turn around to see none other than Takuro Ishii standing right behind me. So it turns out that the Carp were flying out of town because they had to go to Hokkaido for a short 2 game series against the Giants. After much debate and that fact that I didn't think I'd ever get this chance again, I asked Takuro if I could take a picture with him and he agreed to do it. After that, I saw Marty Brown, Scott McClain, and Mike Schultz having some coffee at a nearby shop. So, it took me about 10 minutes to get the courage to ask Marty to take a picture with him and he said yes also. Marty is a really nice guy and was totally cool with me being a Stars fan and all. Hopefully, the rumors about his job aren't true as I think Marty is a great manager I feel and hopefully the Carp can make it to the Climax Series in the near future as I think I'm not the only one who wants to see them go.

Hiroshima manager Marty Brown and myself at Hiroshima Airport on Monday after the game on Sunday night.



Takuro Ishii and myself at Hiroshima Airport. The greatest photo I've ever taken hands down.

All in all, a great trip to Hiroshima and hopefully, I can get back there in the near future as it's always a pleasure going to my favorite place in Japan.

Pro Yakyu Super Summer Extravaganza Day 2: Yokohama vs. Hiroshima @ Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium 08/01/09

You think you've been to a baseball town? You know your in one when the manhole covers have the local baseball team's logo on them. Hanshin doesn't have anything on Hiroshima baby!

Hello once again everyone. Even though I've traveled around this country far and wide to see professional baseball, Hiroshima will always be my most favorite place to visit. The people are great, the food is the best, and it's just a great place to be all around. So in keeping up with my Super Summer Extravaganza, let's get to the second game of the BayStars/Hiroshima series shall we?



Shuichi Murata playing catch before the game.



Murata practing his glovework so he won't commit anymore errors at 3rd base. ;)


The starters for the game were Ryan Glynn for Yokohama and Keisuke Imai for the Carp. Now, as we all know, this season hasn't been the best for Ryan Glynn as his win/loss record is very ugly and the offense tends to die down whenever he's on the mound A.K.A. he gets no run support whatsoever. But, tonight was different. Ryan was phenomenal through his first 4 innings of work only giving up one hit. Imai too, wasn't that bad either only giving up 3 hits. So the early parts of the game were kind of boring and the scoring didn't really get started until the 5th inning.




Yokohama starter Ryan Glynn after throwing a pitch.




Glynn, Glynn You are my Hero! Hey, Yo Let's Go Ryan!




Keisuke Imai just before throwing his first pitch of the game.




Imai is determined to get that strikeout.

Yokohama started the scoring in this game as Kazuya Fujita hit a 2 run home run to right field in the top of the 5th to give Yokohama a 2-0 lead. But, despite the run support, Glynn imploded in the bottom of the 5th by giving up 3 runs and the game as well. It all started when Takuro Ishii doubled to right along the foul line and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Tsubasa Aizawa then walked which brought up pinch hitter Go Kida who doubled to left center to make it 2-1. Then, Akihiro Higashide brought in two more with a single to center to give Hiroshima a 3-2 lead. Yokohama added another run in the top of the 6th thanks to a wild pitch by pitcher Takeshi Komatsu which tied the game at 3 a piece. Now, what spelled the end for Yokohama in this game was their defense. Much like Hiroshima the night before, commiting costly errors at the wrong time hurt the BayStars but it wasn't as bad in my opinion because Hiroshima had already taken the lead by the time the bottom of the 8th rolled around.



Hiroshima outfielder Masafumi Suenaga at the plate.

Soichiro Amaya singled to left in the bottom of the 8th and Yokohama then changed pitchers taking out Yuya Ishii and putting in Yasuhiro Oyamada. After consecutive walks to Kenta Kurihara and Scott McClain, Yuki Yoshimura misplayed a fly ball (and believe me folks it was terrible) hit by Andy Phillips that went for 2 runs and made it 5-3 Hiroshima. After that, Takuro Ishii used the squeeze bunt play to bring McClain in from 3rd base to add another insurance run to make the final score 6-3.

Also interesting was that Hiroshima closer Katsuhiro Nakagawa earned his 150th career save in this game but I couldn't get a picture of the screen because by this time it had started to rain heavily and about 200 people were jammed into the concourse trying to stay dry. All in all, a great game but Yokohama's errors cost them big time. Hopefully, they'll have better luck against Hiroshima ace Kan Otake tonight.



Katsuhiro Nakagawa after receiving flowers commemorating his 150th save.

(Photo courtesy of the Chugoku Shimbun Online. 写真：中国新聞）

Pro Yakyu Super Summer Extravaganza Day #1: Yokohama vs. Hiroshima @ Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium 07/31/09

Greetings and Good Evening from Hiroshima, Japan everyone. I’m officially on the road for the start of my “Pro Yakyu Super Summer Holiday Extravaganza” in which I will be bringing you Pro Yakyu coverage from almost all parts of Japan. The trip started today (July 31st) when I arrived in Hiroshima for a Carp series against my Yokohama BayStars. But before I go on, I’d like to apologize in advance for this blog. I’m writing this blog entry on July 31st, 2009 but you may be reading this sometime in the distant future. The simple reason for that is because the 旅館 (Japanese style inn) I’m staying at does not have internet access and therefore I can’t update my blog. But rest assured, I just came out of the game a few hours ago so my mind is fresh and brimming with memories of the game. And believe me folks, this game was one to remember when it was all said and done.

Ok, so after eating my daily dose of Hiroshima Okonomiyaki, I headed to the stadium at around 4pm and I could immediately tell that the atmosphere of baseball in Hiroshima had changed. I mean, nothing against the old 広島市民球場 (Hiroshima Municipal Ballpark) but when you walk outside of Hiroshima Station, you can tell that baseball is cool again in Hiroshima and this is in large part because of the new stadium in my opinion. All along the way to the stadium, there are many restaurants and vendors selling various Carp goods and food as well. But the true beauty of going to the new stadium is when you actually walk up to it for the first time. It’s like a breath of fresh air and trust me, if you ever went to the old stadium, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Hands down, Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium is one of the best ballparks in Japan and if I could recommend one stadium to see a game at, this would be it. Don’t let the name fool you as that became secondary after today’s game.



Takuro Ishii having a laugh before the game.



Takuro thinking about the game at hand.



Seiichi Uchikawa walking back to the dugout after warming up in the outfield.



"Hama No Ojisan" Kimiyasu Kudoh signing some things for a few young BayStars fans.


Now as for the game itself, this one was one for the ages in my opinion. It was long yet exciting. It was like pulling teeth because it was very painful to watch at times. It had more twists and turns than a rubix cube. It was the perfect introduction to Mazada Zoom Zoom Stadium for me. The starting pitchers for the game were Yuji Yoshimi for the Stars and Takahiro Aoki (who I’ve seen about 50 times this season already) for the Carp. Both pitchers started out ok with Yoshimi having controls problems through the first couple of innings. Yoshimi’s only mistake was giving up a solo home run to Andy Phillips in the bottom of the 2nd to put Hiroshima on the board first.



Hiroshima lead off hitter Akihiro Higashide at the plate.



Yokohama lead off hitter for the night Tatsuhiko Kinjoh batting right-handed (don't see much of that these days). Kinojh is a switch-hitter too for those out there that didn't know.

And from there things got quiet for the next few innings with both Aoki Taka and Yoshimi each retiring the next nine batters in order. But in the top of the 6th, Yokohama struck back when Seiichi Uchikawa singled to left and then was brought home by and RBI double by Shuichi Murata which tied the game at 1 a piece.



Yokohama starter Yuji Yoshimi warming up in between innings.



Yoshimi pondering what he's going to do next.

Then, things got interesting for the Stars in the top of the 7th when Yuki Yoshimura singled to lead of the inning. After being moved over to second on a bunt by Takehiro Ishikawa, pinch hitter Tatsuya Shimozono walked to put runners on second for the next pinch hitter Dan Johnson. Now honestly, Johnson's batting average has been anything to brag about but he does have 13 home runs on the year, well 14 now because he launched a monster shot to right field which made it 4-1 Yokohama.



But then, things took a turn for the worse. Like a bad movie script, Yokohama's relievers decided to suck and coughed up 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th which gave Hiroshima the lead again. It all started when pitcher Kousuke Katoh decided to hit Takuro Ishii with a pitch (Katoh is now my most hated player on Yokohama for obvious reasons too). After Takuro was checked out by the trainers and was ok thankfully, pinch hitter Jun Hirose doubled to left to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Now, I fully believe in Karma and what happened next was because of the deadball that happened earlier on in my opinion. Akihiro Higashide hit a routine grounder to short but Takehiro Ishikawa misplayed the ball for an error and Takuro scored from 3rd to make it 4-2. And what happened after that was also due to Karma as well in my opinion. By this time, Hiroki Sanada had replaced Katoh but it didn't matter who was on the mound as pinch hitter Masafumi Suenaga TRIPLED to right center field which tied the game at 4 a piece. But Hiroshima wasn't done yet as Soichiro Amaya singled to center to give Hiroshima the lead which made it 5-4.



But Yokohama wasn't finished as Takehiro Ishikawa singled to second to lead off the top of the 9th. After that, he was moved over to second on a bunt hit by Tatsuya Shimozono. Shimozono then stole second and after a fly out by pinch hitter Shingo Takeyama, pinch hitter Yoshiyuki Kuwahara grounded into a force out at third as Ishikawa was tagged out at home on the play. Then, Hiroshima closer Katsuhiro Nakagawa threw a wild pitch which brought in Shimozono and tied the game at 5 and also Kuwahara advanced to second on the play. Kazuya Fujita then singled to left which put runners on 1st and 3rd and after that, Seiichi Uchikawa hit a grounder to third which Scott McClain misplayed for an error and allowed Kuwahara to score to make it 6-5. Shuichi Murata then singled to right to bring in Fujita and that made it 7-5.


Hiroshima tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the 9th but could only manage one run on a sacrifice fly by Jun Hirose despite Shun Yamaguchi's control problems and the score ended up at 7-6 on a wild night in Hiroshima. As I said earlier, Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium was great and it was probably the most fun I've had at a baseball game in quite sometime. The atmosphere in Hiroshima is great for baseball as I can't remember it being so lively at the stadium in Hiroshima. If any team needed a turnaround in terms of marketing and attendance, it was the Carp and hopefully, fans can enjoy the new stadium and great baseball for years to come.



Hiroshima closer Katsuhiro Nakagawa sweating bullets so to speak after he had just blown his save chance.



Yokohama closer Shun Yamaguchi sweating bullets so to speak as he was in the middle of his own little jam in the bottom of the 9th.



Game hero Shuichi Murata being interviewed for TV after the game.

On the Road in Nagano: Yokohama vs. Yomiuri @ Nagano Olympic Stadium 07/22/09

Greetings everyone. It's been a little while I know, but I haven't had much time for Pro Yakyu as of late with the Japanese school term ending for the summer holidays. And because of the summer holidays (and the boredom that comes along with it partially), I have this burning desire to write about and go to Pro Yakyu games and I will be doing just that this summer. So, as a sort of treat to everyone out there, I decided to kick things off by making a "culture trip" to Nagano to take in some sites and whatnot. Oh yeah, and there just happened to be a baseball game being hosted in Nagano that didn't affect my travel plans whatsoever when I planned this trip. A strange coincidence indeed.

So, I arrived at Nagano Station at around 12:30pm and after checking my bag into the hotel where I would be staying at, I went back to the station and proceeded to the Nagano Olympic Stadium shuttle bus area. And much to my surprise, none other than the Yomiuri Giants had a bus waiting for them right near where the shuttle buses were. So, as you can imagine, when they were heading towards the bus, they were immediately hounded by at least 20+ people wanting autographs. But, as the players went into the bus and sat down, none other than Marc Kroon came over to where I was standing and shook my hand. Now for those of you who don't know, during the 2007 season, I used to travel around and see the BayStars at wherever they went. And as such, I kind of made it a point to always say "hi" to Marc (it was his last season in Yokohama). So, I guess because I went to so many games, Marc remembered who I was. Now, I hadn't seen Marc in quite some time but when he came over and shook my hand, I got goosebumps. We had a short one minute chat before he headed onto the bus and headed to the stadium. I was in shock to say the least. I guess it was one of those "fan moments" people tend to have when talking with their favorite players and whatnot.

Now, as for the match itself, this looked really good on paper because of the pitching match up. The Giants sent out Wifrin Obispo and Yokohama countered with ace Daisuke Miura. Since being called up to the top team, Obispo has been on fire for the Giants and has turned heads to say the least. Suffice to say, I actually enjoyed watching the Giants play in this game and no that was not a typo (I’m also preparing myself for the numerous amounts of stones and other foreign that will be hurled in my general direction after I post this article too). Nowadays, whenever I see the Giants, I see a lot of players I don’t even recognize. It seems to me like Yomiuri is getting younger in some areas so to speak and it’s obviously working as they have had an iron grip on first place in the Central League for what seems like an eternity now. So while I still don’t really care for Yomiuri, I’ve got to give credit where credit is due.



Former Nippon Ham Fighter Takahito Kudoh.

But aside from all that, the story of the game for me was Yomiuri starter Wifrin Obispo. After a rocky start in the first inning which included a bunt hit and a hit batter, Obispo became untouchable and went on to throw his first complete game on 120 pitches while only giving up 2 runs on 6 hits while striking out 7. Obispo really deserves to be on the top roster at this point and I’m glad that the Giants didn’t demote him after Kroon was ready to come of the disabled list. So, congratulations to Obispo on this accomplishment in his career and I hope to see him at least one more time this season before it ends.

Wifrin Obispo reacting after throwing a pitch.

Obispo delivering a pitch.

Wifrin Obispo getting ready to deliver a pitch.

Daisuke Miura standing on second after hitting a double in the 3rd.

Miura immediately after hitting the ball.

Miura getting ready to hit the ball.

Yokohama on the other hand, was really a huge letdown by the way they played. It simply amazes me that about 2 weeks ago, they were riding a really impressive 5 game winning streak but now have reverted to their old ways. Bad pitching and the disease known as “iipatsu byou” (a disease in which pitchers have been known to give up an extraordinary amount of home runs throughout the course of a season) were Yokohama’s main problems. The lack of offense too also contributed to this loss as well but when your ace pitcher is serving up homeruns like nobody’s business, well that takes precedence in my opinion.

Michihiro Ogasawara or rather his “clean-shaven dopplelganger” as my friend Deanna from Marinerds would say, started things off for the Giants by hitting a solo home run to left in the top of the 1^st to give Yomiuri an early 1-0 lead. Then in the top of the 2^nd, the home runs continued as Yoshiyuki Kamei and Shinosuke Abe each hit solo home runs to right field (Abe’s barely cleared the wall) to give Yomiuri a 3-0 lead which basically spelled the end for Yokohama. While Yokohama ace Daisuke Miura didn’t really pitch all that well, he did help out with the bat by leading off the bottom of the 3^rd with a double to left. Miura then was then moved over to third on a single by Yokohama leadoff hitter Takehiro Ishikawa and was later brought home on a sacrifice fly to center by Seiichi Uchikawa which cut Yomiuri’s lead to 2. However, that’s about all the offense could do as the Giants kept on going. Shigeyuki Furuki tripled in a run in the top of the 7^th which was the only run of the game which didn’t come by the long ball and gave Yomiuri a 4-1 lead and Ogasawara’s clean-shaven doppleganger added 2 more in the top of the 8^th with a 2 run home run to left which was his second on the night. Yokohama 1^st baseman Dan Johnson added a solo shot of his own to center in the bottom of the 9^th hoping to start something for Yokohama’s offense but it wasn’t meant to be as Yomiuri scored often and early to put away Yokohama 6-2.

Alex Ramirez taking some batting practice before the game.

Michihiro Ogasawara's clean-shaven doppleganger watching his first home run of the night sail into the left field stands in the first.

Yomiuri catcher Shinosuke Abe hitting a home run in the 2nd inning.


Not a very good way for Yokohama to head into the All-Star break and here's hoping that they can have a respectable second half. But all in all, it was a great time as I did end up in the outfield around the 5th inning and got to cheer with some of my friends who had also made the trip to Nagano.

Yokohama closer Shun Yamaguchi and Yuta Sekiguchi greeting people at the entrance before the game. I think like the first 100 or so people in the gate also got a free BayStars fan book as well.



Shingo Takeyama and Takehiro Ishikawa also greeting people by the entrance gate I was at.