September 14th Standridge v Shimizu - Tigers waste their chances

Firstly, the trivia - Egusa managed to knock a man off his bicycle. This happened around 8am on Tuesday and no one was hurt. Egusa has apologised to all concerned and will probably be fined.
The game against the BayStars was disappointing. One can't expect Standridge to pitch brilliantly every day but it was a pity that one of his bad games came in such a vital game. Dragons won and now lead the Tigers by 2.5 games. This makes things even more difficult - moving Kanemoto is now becoming a matter of urgency. He three times this game with runners on and on each occasion was the the final out. Whilst there is no guarantee that Johjima would have hit, there would have been more chance. One keeps hoping for a Kanemoto explosion and return to form but it just isn't happening. If Tigers are to win the pennant they do need to think about restoring the concentration of on form batters and not rely on the fading Kanemoto. Arai duly reached his 100 RBIs - the first time he has done so for Tigers. He has settled into the No. 4 slot very nicely and has the chance to exceed his maximum RBI count for a season. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers    0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 13 0
BayStars  0 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 X 6  8 1

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Murton (Right)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Kanemoto (Left)
7. Johjima (Catcher)
8. Shunsuke Fujikawa (Centre)
9. Standridge (Pitcher)

BayStars
1. Uchikawa (Right)
2. Ishikawa (Short)
3. Harper (First)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Sledge (Left)
6. Castillo (Second)
7. Shimozono (Centre)
8. Hashimoto (Catcher)
9. Shimizu (Pitcher)

The game was played in rainy conditions and it was noticeable that whilst the Tigers side was full there were big gaps in the BayStars side. It's raining and BayStars are rubbish so fans don't really want to turn out. They missed a rare victory but it was a game Tigers should have won. Murton started the game with a hit and was bunted to second by Hirano. The deep programmed responses still hold sway - first batter hits, second batter bunts even though one must question whether its actually effective as a starting tactic. It was even more ineffective as Murton managed to get caught off base and was tagged out as Toritani grounded out. Uchikawa led off BayStars first with a hit but was forced out by Ishikawa who then tried to steal second and was thrown out. Harper struck out to end the innings. Arai grounded out to start off Tigers second but then Brazell hit his forty-third home run of the season, a solo 1-0 Tigers. Kanemoto did nothing but then Johjima hit to left for another solo home run 2-0 Tigers. Shunsuke Fujikawa hit but Standridge grounded out to end the innings. Here things started to go wrong. Murata started BayStars second by striking out then Standridge walked Sledge. Castillo grounded out and things looked fairly safe. However, Standridge went to pieces and gave up a line hit to left to Shimozono. Runners on second and third. Next was Hashimoto who hit his second pitch to right bringing home both runners 2-2 scores tied. Poor work by Standridge who could have walked Hashimoto to get at Shimizu. The BayStars pitcher struck out looking and one feels a touch of over-confidence here. Tigers bounced right back in the third - Murton led off with another hit and was again bunted to second by Hirano. Yet again a waste. Toritani flew out but Arai hit nicely to left for his 100th RBI of the season 3-2 Tigers, runner on first. Brazell walked to set up runners on first and second and a nice chance for Kanemoto to move the score along. It was not that Shimizu was pitching well - he wasn't but that Kanemoto is batting poorly and he struck out to end the innings. With Standridge pitching poorly this was to be costly. Murton started by walking Uchikawa who was bunted to second by Ishikawa. Harper lined out but a pass ball took Uchikawa to third. Murata was next and he hammered a soft pitch into the left stand for a two run home run 4-3 BayStars. Sledge flew out to centre but Murton had not only blown a lead he had handed it to the BayStars.

Shimizu started Tigers fourth poorly by walking Johjima. Shunsuke Fujikawa bunted him to second and Johjima promptly stole third. Things looked good for a sacrifice fly but the next batter was Standridge. Guess what? He struck out - neither Standridge or Messenger are in any way good batters. It would have been better if Shunsuke had tried to hit which would have made Murton the second out with much more chance of a sacrifice or even score from his bat. Murton grounded out to short this time but the chance had been mishandled. Castillo started BayStars fourth by grounding out and then Standridge dead balled Shimozono. He walked Hashimoto to add another runner to the bases and Shimizu bunted the runners to second and third. Uchikawa hit to short but Toritani was not able to get the throw away and a runners scored 5-3 BayStars, runners on first and third. Ishikawa also hit to short but Toritani did get the throw away and the innings was over. Hirano led off Tigers fifth with a hit. This was immediately wasted by Mayumi who signaled a steal and Hirano was thrown out. Toritani grounded out but Shimizu continued to give Tigers chances by giving up a hit to Arai. Brazell hit to first where Harper messed up and there were runners on first and third. This was another chance for Kanemoto, hero of Hanshin to show his quality. He flew out to centre to end the innings. BayStars fifth was quiet as Standridge retired the batters in order - for a rare success. Tigers sixth was another waste - Johjima led off with a hit. Lin (pinch hitter) flew out to right Mayumi having decided to replace Shunsuke Fujikawa (though the ineffective Kanemoto was left in). Saka then also flew out - he is Mayumi's latest favourite though he is at best an ineffective pinch hitter who has been lucky a couple of times. Murton walked but this time Hirano couldn't hit and grounded out. Whilst I am hard on Kanemoto it should be noted that other batters didn't hit when needed. With Hirano though it should be noted that he doesn't hit well with runners on. Nishimura replaced Standridge on the mound and was - well....poor. He gave up a hit to Castillo. Shimozono bunted him to second and then Hashimoto hit over Kanemoto who was standing in 6-3 BayStars, runner on second. A very poor pitch by Nishimura. The but popular Kinjoh (pinch hitter) grounded out taking Hashimoto to third and then Uchikawa struck out.

BayStars almost blew things in the Tigers seventh. Shimizu who hadn't pitched well at all was replaced by Ejiri who didn't bring any improvement. He started with a hit to Toritani and then dead balled Arai hitting him on his left hand. Arai stayed in the game but later went to hospital as a precaution after the game. Everything was OK though. Ejiri was replaced by Katoh who got Brazell to fly out to centre. BayStars have decided that Katoh is a good pitcher to handle Brazell. Kanemoto managed a short hit to load the bases. Katoh was then replaced by Sanada as BayStars played musical pitchers and Johjima hit a fly to right. Toritani tagged up and went for home only to be well blocked by Hashimoto and get tagged out. The innings was scoreless. Watanabe replaced Nishimura for the bottom of the seventh and promptly pitched himself into trouble. He walked Ishikawa and then got Harper to fly out. Ishikawa tried to steal second and was tagged out but Watanabe walked Murata just to even things up. Sledge managed to hit to right to set up runners on first and second but Castillo grounded out to end the innings. Sanada continued in Tigers eighth and retired the batters in order. For BayStars eighth, Mayumi used Kubota who also retired the batters in order. Yamaguchi pitched Tigers ninth and with two out gave up a hit to Arai obviously unaffected by his bang. Brazell followed and hit to centre setting up runners on first and third. The final batter was Kanemoto who to cap a dreadful night for him grounded out lamely to second to end the game. BayStars victory.

Even in victory the BayStars hadn't been very good and this game was more a result of Tigers playing poorly and failing to take their chances. They outhit the BayStars 13-8 and only in the eighth failed to get a runner on base. The thing is Tigers cannot really afford to play this badly against a poor pitcher if they want to win the pennant. Dragons scored 10 against the Carp and this is what Tigers should have done. Dragons are now 2.5 games ahead which is a big mountain to climb for the Tigers at this late stage and Giants are level with Tigers. Mayumi needs to do something to motivate his team and get them hitting and winning again. Tigers do need to win most of their remaining games to retake the lead and secure the pennant. The Arai counter is now switched off - he made it. The Toritani counter is still at 7 and the Murton counter is now at 14 hits to go. Tigers need to win tonight even if the Dragons lose - the less the margin is the more useful the seven games become.

I am trying to stay positive but it seems as though there are more questions than answers at the moment, such as:

1. Why is Hirano asked to bunt so often?
2. Why are so many of our batters poor when we have runners on base?
3. Why do our pitchers struggle against other teams number 7 and 8 batters, not to mention their pitchers?
4. Why does Watanabe always seem to issue a walk to the first pitcher he faces?
5. Why do our batters get out so often on the first pitch?
6. Why is it that nearly everything Mayumi does seems to transfer the pressure from the opposing teams back to the Tigers players?

And lastly, no sour grapes intended:

7. Why are the Dragons such a boring team?

> 1. Why is Hirano asked to bunt so often?

This is a feature of Japanese basebal where managers ask certain players to bunt the runner on first to second. It gives the appearance of moving the runner round without actually doing anything. There are occasions when a bunt can be effective but when a batter is asked to bunt with a seven run lead (which does happen) you wonder.

> 2. Why are so many of our batters poor when we have
> runners on base?

Actually, our batters have done rather well with runners on base. Currently, we are not batting well but we have five batters over 80 RBIs and the top ten list is full of Tigers batters.

> 3. Why do our pitchers struggle against other teams
> number 7 and 8 batters, not to mention their
> pitchers?

Our pitchng coach is old and his team conservative. They do not prepare our pitchers well. Number 7 and 8 batters can be quite effective. Johjima was our Number 7 for a while but some of the non-entities who hit against Tigers really point to a problem in management.

> 4. Why does Watanabe always seem to issue a walk to
> the first pitcher he faces?

He gets nervous.

> 5. Why do our batters get out so often on the first
> pitch?

They are taught to be aggressive and go for the first hittable pitch. It's great when it works but often it rebounds giving the pitcher the motivation they need to get the next outs. The batters would prosper if they waited and would be able to judge better when to hit a first pitch. Arai when he waits is very, very dangerous.

> 6. Why is it that nearly everything Mayumi does seems
> to transfer the pressure from the opposing teams back
> to the Tigers players?

Mayumi is not a good manager. He has been chosen because he is a Tigers old boy and was a superlative lead off batter. The problem is he has no management ability and his tactical understanding rests on luck. The front office assembled a very strong batting lineup for him and he does understand batting. However, his knowledge of pitching is limited and this also applies to Kubo his pitching coach. There is a lot of wasted talent in the second team which isn't being developed.
>
> And lastly, no sour grapes intended:
>
> 7. Why are the Dragons such a boring team?

Dragons rely on pitching the rule being that better pitching will beat better batting. Pitchng unless its a strike out is not as exciting to watch as a grand slam. At the moment this is looking like the case.

Hi Christopher,

Thanks for the detailed reply. However, I have to admit that a lot of my questions were borne of frustration!! Maybe I can clarify.

1. Let's try and use the bunt when it may be useful and not just because we've managed to get the first runner on base.

2. Agree that this season Tigers batters are more than holding their own with runners on base. However, the last few weeks have been poor (again my frustrations are getting the better of me).

3. Agree, the coaching of the pitchers has left something to be desired.

4. He gets nervous a lot!!

5. Agree again. Just wish that we would show a little more patience especially at this stage of the season when everyone gets a little more nervous.

6. Again can't disagree with the diagnosis. I think that most of my frustrations are directed at Mayumi and his handling of the team. Especially when the problems seem so obvious to everyone else.

7. The Dragons are still boring!!

Another bad result tonight as both the Giants and Dragons won. We really need to pick ourselves up for the run in.

I can feel the pennant slipping away but will not give up hope until it's mathematically impossible.

As a certain Bob Paisley said (about football): It's not a matter of life an death, it's more important than that!!

I've been thinking the same thing about Murata (and earlier Yoshimura) as you are about Kanemoto - why wait so long? Granted, Murata hit the deciding shot on Tuesday, but has been a big break for most of the season. An injury finally got Yoshimura out of the starting lineup, and the replacements have generally done better.

I think that Kanemoto and the Mura-brothers are living on past karma. Their past exceeding performances is what sticks in peoples' minds, and everyone is sure that they'll break out of this slump and return to the norm. Hey, it isn't happening. (Did you notice that the BayStars were taking an extra base on anything hit to left on Tuesday?)

I agree - I've been surprised at how much of a non-entity Yoshimura has become. Murata does have 81 RBIs though I think most of those came earlier in the season. He rarely seems to hit against Tigers and maybe he is beginning to fade.

Brazell is only hitting 267 with runners on scoring position. Where as Toritani is hitting 369 and Murton 366. All the other Tigers batters are hitting more or less the same as their average with runners on scoring position. I don't think the problem is with the hitting. Tigers got 6 batters hitting 300. I can't recall when a team had that many hitting 300 this late in the seasson. They got a terrific line up. It's as others have mentioned, the team management and pitching.

On a different note. Wada for Dragons who has been having a fantastic season is only hitting 261 with runners on scoring position.

- I can't recall when a team had that many hitting 300 this late in the seasson.

That would have been the 1999 Yokohama BayStars. The team (pitchers included) hit .294. It was about this time in the season that the team batting average was approaching .300. At season's end, this is how the Machine Gun Offense ranked:

1. .369 Rose
3. .328 Suzuki
14. .2975 Haru
17. .2951 Tanishige
20. .292 Ishii
21. .2909 Komada

Those who had over 100 at bats but did not qualify for a title were:

.301 Saeki (363AB)
.297 Pozo (229AB)
.286 Shindoh (332AB)
.272 Nakane (191AB)

The Tigers have that same chemistry - i.e. that no matter how far down they are, they can always put together a few hits and get right back into the game.