Koshien: Summer 2006 Round 6 - Finals
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Re: Koshien: Summer 2006 Round 6 - Finals
[ Author: Guest | Posted: Aug 19, 2006 4:16 PM
]
So who are we (as a group) to root for? For me, it's somewhat of a dream match up, with my heart torn between seeing a 3-peat (Komadai) against seeing Oh-kantoku's team (Waseda) win it. I guess I'll take the neutral position and hope for a good game and a great pitcher's duel.
Re: Koshien: Summer 2006 Round 6 - Finals
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Aug 20, 2006 9:02 AM
| YBS Fan
]
I think that I'd like to be pulling for Komadai. Even though they're going for three in a row, any team going against a Tokyo team strikes me as the underdog. It's going to be hard to hit Waseda's Saitoh who currently has a 1.00 ERA (6 runs, 5 earned in 45 innings).
I'm afraid that I'm going to be out with the family all day today, so I won't be able to watch the game live. However, I've set up a chat room entitled "Koshien Finals" for those of you who want to meet during the game to have a little interaction. If the conversation is newsworthy, I'll include it in the game summary. (It's fine, too, to just write your emotions like "Yea!" at a good play. That just won't get posted as there's no context beyond a timestamp. It's up to the participants as to how they want to use the chat room.)
Wish I could be there with you all.
I'm afraid that I'm going to be out with the family all day today, so I won't be able to watch the game live. However, I've set up a chat room entitled "Koshien Finals" for those of you who want to meet during the game to have a little interaction. If the conversation is newsworthy, I'll include it in the game summary. (It's fine, too, to just write your emotions like "Yea!" at a good play. That just won't get posted as there's no context beyond a timestamp. It's up to the participants as to how they want to use the chat room.)
Wish I could be there with you all.
Re: Koshien: Summer 2006 Round 6 - Finals
[ Author: Shinigami | Posted: Aug 20, 2006 5:02 PM
| FSH Fan
]
Something I've just read about what we were wondering just now:
Before 2001, Koshien games went as far as the 18th inning before a rematch takes place. Since then it's 15 innings.
Before 2001, Koshien games went as far as the 18th inning before a rematch takes place. Since then it's 15 innings.
Re: Koshien: Summer 2006 Round 6 - Finals
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Aug 20, 2006 5:06 PM
| YBS Fan
]
I got home in the 9th inning, but have the feeling that I saw a complete game. This was a game to go down in history alongside Matsuzaka's 17 inning battle against PL Gakuin in 1998. I predict such comparisons on the front page of all the sports dailies tomorrow.
Anyway, here's a full recap thanks to a good number of volunteers in the chat room.
TRANSCRIPT generated on - 2006/08/20 16:55
CHATROOM - Koshien Finals
13:03 - Ken D.: ohayo!
13:04 - Deanna: ganbare komadai!
13:05 - Ken D.: hello koshien fans!
13:06 - Deanna: It's either this or watching the Mariners lose.
13:06 - Deanna: Ooo, nice smack by Honma, shame it didn't go out.
13:06 - Ken D.: do the M's still have the lead? i can't watch both
13:07 - Deanna: Wow, Komadai's starting Kikuchi? This could be bad... guess they want to save Tanaka from having his arm fall off.
13:07 - Deanna: No, it's 6-5 Anaheim now.
13:07 - Shinigami: ohayo!
13:07 - Shinigami: just like last game, maybe we will see Tanaka in a few innings
13:08 - Shinigami: but to be honest, he aint been pitching too well this tournament
13:08 - Deanna: Undoubtedly. He keeps coming in around the 2nd or 3rd...
13:08 - Ken D.: oh well, i wanted to see the Tanaka-Saito matchup
13:08 - Deanna: Me too.
13:08 - Deanna: Saitoh's been amazing as well...
13:09 - Shinigami: ya, amazing so far
13:09 - Ken D.: ERA 1.20
13:09 - Shinigami: Tanaka did good last game against Chiben Wakayama i think
13:10 - Shinigami: but overall he aint on form
13:10 - Ken D.: i have a soft spot in my heart for Waseda...with Oh-kantoku being sick and all
13:10 - Ken D.: our first Tanaka sighting
13:12 - Shinigami: I have a feeling waseda will tee off against kikuchi early in the game, and take a few runs lead
13:12 - Deanna: hmm, I need to go. hope I get back in time for the end of the game.
13:12 - Deanna: I agree
13:12 - Deanna: bye!
13:13 - Shinigami: as for who wins, depends on how well Saitoh pitches against Komadai
13:13 - Shinigami: bye!
13:13 - Shinigami: come back soon XD
13:13 - Ken D.: what could be more important than Koshien final?
13:14 - Shinigami: maybe like our admin, family is more important? XD
13:14 - Ken D.: i was kidding...
13:14 - Shinigami: haha, i know XD
13:15 - Shinigami: Goto up
13:16 - Ken D.: i'm sure you know, but asahi.com has an interactive boxscore running (like all games)
13:16 - Shinigami: Either him or Funabashi will get someone home...i have a feeling
13:16 - Shinigami: hmm...jinx'ed it...
13:16 - Ken D.: sharp DP
13:17 - Ken D.: 0-0 end 1
13:17 - Shinigami: I am following the boxscore on yahoo jp
13:18 - Shinigami: too bad it aint as detailed as the one for NPB
13:18 - Shinigami: but still pretty good
13:18 - Shinigami: Wonder if Saitoh can last all game...he's been pitching the whole tournament
13:21 - Ken D.: watanabe pops up first pitch...that would drive me crazy
13:22 - Shinigami: ya...
13:23 - Shinigami: hmm, so no one else beside us?
13:24 - Ken D.: oh well, we'll make our own fun...
13:24 - Ken D.: hope Deanna comes back...
13:25 - Shinigami: haha
13:25 - Shinigami: kikuchi's holding up well so far
13:26 - Shinigami: hmm, any comments on saitoh's last 2 swings? seems to me he wanna save energy for pitching
13:28 - Ken D.: looked like he was just going through the motions, as you say
13:28 - Ken D.: naitoh singled to CF
13:29 - Shinigami: naitoh gunned out trying to steal second
13:29 - Shinigami: 0-0 still, end of 2nd inning
13:33 - Ken D.: saitoh getting the ground balls
13:33 - Shinigami: utilizing his slider pretty effectively with his fastballs
13:34 - Shinigami: high fastballs and low breaking balls
13:35 - Shinigami: he's also mixed in a forkball along with his slider and fastballs to keep the batters guessing
13:37 - Shinigami: Komadai showing good defense...that was a nice play to pick up the slow grounder and throw out the batter at first
13:37 - Ken D.: agreed. what did they say about Yankee Stadium?
13:38 - Shinigami: haha, i caught the yankee stadium part too, but didn't hear what they were talking about
13:38 - Shinigami: here comes Tanaka
13:39 - Ken D.: wonderboy
13:39 - Ken D.: well, i am a non-native speaker. i can just pick up names, numbers, positions, etc.
13:39 - Shinigami: hmm, they just said he did the same in the Hokkaido tournament
13:39 - Shinigami: coming out during a pinch
13:40 - Shinigami: haha, i aint one as well
13:40 - Shinigami: been studying japanese for few yrs before, but haven't really been using it these last few yrs
13:41 - Ken D.: are you living in a place where you can use it?
13:41 - Shinigami: nope
13:42 - Shinigami: therefore my japanese's been getting worst everyday now, lol
13:43 - Shinigami: sharp pitching by Tanaka
13:43 - Ken D.: well, i didn't think we'd be 0-0 after 3
13:43 - Shinigami: first the slider moving out of the strikezone for the k, then a backdoor slider to strikeout Gotoh
13:44 - Shinigami: my prediction is out of the way now
13:44 - Shinigami: thought sojitsu would run kikuchi away with a few hits in the first few innings to take a few runs lead
13:45 - Shinigami: nice play
13:45 - Shinigami: as I've been saying all week long, I'm actually more worried about Waseda now
13:45 - Ken D.: nice up the middle
13:45 - Ken D.: who are you rooting for?
13:45 - Shinigami: with Tanaka looking sharp these last two days, and getting enuff rest
13:45 - Ken D.: i'm torn...like noth
13:45 - Ken D.: both
13:46 - Shinigami: me kinda too
13:46 - Shinigami: but leaning a bit toward Sojitsu
13:46 - Shinigami: obviously I appreciate how gutsy Komadai's been thruout the tournament
13:46 - Ken D.: i was hoping for Komadai vs. Yaeyama (okinawa), but this is pretty good
13:47 - Shinigami: but the way Saitoh's been pitching...u just cant dislike the dude
13:47 - Ken D.: i agree.
13:49 - Ken D.: if i saw it right, tanaka is 6-for-13 this tournament
13:51 - Shinigami: hmm, that was a risky steal
13:52 - Shinigami: man, how many pinch had Saitoh gotten himself out of in this tournament?
13:52 - Ken D.: karaburi sanshin!
13:52 - Shinigami: that ball just dropped into the dirt as it approached the plate
13:52 - Shinigami: ohayo~
13:52 - Shinigami: glad to see more people joining in the fun XD
13:53 - Ken D.: hello Brooks-san
13:53 - Ken D.: it's 0-0 mid 4th
13:53 - John Brooks: cool, good fought game so far
13:53 - John Brooks: this is the final game right?
13:53 - Shinigami: yes
13:53 - Ken D.: yes, and now we have a tanaka-saitoh duel
13:54 - Shinigami: both teams had some pinch moments
13:54 - Shinigami: but their ace pitcher got them out of it unscathed
13:56 - Shinigami: Tanaka's finally pitching as everyone expected him to
13:56 - John Brooks: that's was a great pitch there
13:57 - Ken D.: 3rd K for Tanaka
13:58 - Ken D.: in case you missed it, kikuchi started for Komadai
13:58 - Shinigami: haha, finally a hit off Tanaka
13:59 - John Brooks: thanks
13:59 - Ken D.: 0-0 end 4
13:59 - Ken D.: plenty of grounders from both squads
14:00 - John Brooks: also a duel, only 5 or so hits
14:01 - Shinigami: The two pitching are one of the top pitchers in this tournament
14:01 - Shinigami: undoubtedly Saitoh's the no.1 pitcher in this tournament for sure
14:01 - Shinigami: with those stats, there's no argument about it
14:02 - Shinigami: another karaburi sanshin!
14:02 - Ken D.: his ERA for the tourney is ~1.10 so far
14:03 - Shinigami: actually now it's below 1 i think
14:03 - Shinigami: he's given up 6 runs, but only 5 unearned
14:03 - Shinigami: err
14:03 - Shinigami: 5 earned
14:03 - Ken D.: westbay-san said 1 run was unearned, but i di not see that anywhere
14:04 - Shinigami: hmm, really?
14:04 - Ken D.: can you confirm? i see 6 earned
14:04 - Shinigami: lemme see if i can find it or not
14:04 - Ken D.: if it's unearned, then yes, his ERA would be an amazing 0.90
14:05 - John Brooks: how many innings has he pitched
14:05 - Ken D.: he came in with 45IP, and now has gone 5
14:06 - Shinigami: hmm, looking at pregame comments
14:06 - Shinigami: Saitoh said he's totally not tired, and is very confident that they will win today
14:06 - John Brooks: it be .90
14:06 - Ken D.: thank you
14:06 - Shinigami: let's see if he can really hold up for the game...this could go into extras
14:07 - Ken D.: so 1 was unearned
14:07 - John Brooks: b/c ERA is ((ER/IP)*9)
14:07 - Ken D.: yes...
14:08 - Ken D.: i was just trying to find out if he has allowed 5 or 6 ER
14:08 - Ken D.: again, i don't mean to interrupt your watching of the game
14:08 - Shinigami: hmm, cant find it
14:08 - Shinigami: I haven't found a site with this tournament's stats
14:09 - Shinigami: but actually...I think I've seen before in one of the news that it's 6 ER
14:09 - John Brooks: i doubt there would be much website with the stats either
14:09 - John Brooks: its hard 2 come by
14:09 - Ken D.: it's okay, when in doubt, i believe westbay-san's
14:09 - John Brooks: in Japanese or english as coverage is lackluster
14:09 - Shinigami: I tried searching on the web few days ago
14:10 - Shinigami: but couldn't find anything
14:10 - Ken D.: well, the live feed is great
14:10 - Shinigami: agreed
14:10 - Ken D.: oendan interviews are fun...
14:10 - John Brooks: yes it is, esp for Koshien
14:10 - Shinigami: hmm...Waseda BS
14:10 - John Brooks: i was able 2 watch a game a week ago
14:10 - Shinigami: >__>
14:11 - John Brooks: and they are at a early enough time
14:11 - Shinigami: as in case westbay-san sees it, I aint saying anything bad about sojitsu XD
14:12 - Shinigami: it's just the word on the tuba on one of the oueidan member's hand XD
14:12 - Ken D.: are you east coast?
14:12 - Shinigami: yes
14:12 - John Brooks: i am, maryland
14:12 - Ken D.: new york for me
14:12 - Shinigami: toronto here
14:13 - Ken D.: and shinigami is from "Earth"
14:13 - John Brooks: nowhere land
14:13 - Shinigami: luckily I am still in school, so right now it's summer break
14:13 - Shinigami: so I can afford staying up all nite watching the matches these few weeks
14:13 - John Brooks: i live in a small town 45 mins from Baltimore
14:13 - Shinigami: lol XD
14:13 - John Brooks: i go back 2 college on the 30st
14:13 - John Brooks: 30th
14:14 - John Brooks: and can afford also 2 watch these games, which is great
14:14 - John Brooks: since i couldn't in high school so much
14:14 - Shinigami: sept 11th for me, so i got lot more time for more NPB livestreams XD
14:15 - John Brooks: yeah, thats always nice, i don't always get 2 watch so much
14:15 - Ken D.: well, i don't understand that bunt from Nakazawa
14:15 - John Brooks: i usually catch a occasional softbank game
14:15 - John Brooks: hoping that they don't lose again in the playoffs
14:15 - Ken D.: i love watching FSH
14:16 - Ken D.: this is going to be a good postseason and offseason in Japan and North Amer
14:17 - John Brooks: yes it is, softbank and seibu are having a great year
14:17 - John Brooks: both are also close, fighting neck-2-neck
14:18 - Ken D.: saitoh escapes again
14:18 - Shinigami: ya, they're going back and forth right now in the standing
14:18 - Shinigami: he's been doing this all touranment
14:18 - Ken D.: 1 hit over 6
14:18 - Shinigami: everytime he gets into a pinch, he almost gets out unscathed
14:18 - Ken D.: i root for FSH in the PL, but I almost want to see Seibu win so they post Matsuzaka
14:19 - Shinigami: I suppose they still might post him even if they lose this yr
14:19 - Ken D.: true
14:19 - Shinigami: otherwise they dun get a single penny from him if he walks out from FA
14:19 - John Brooks: yeah i do 2
14:19 - Shinigami: I just dun wanna see Matsuzaka in pinstripe
14:20 - John Brooks: though i just hope the yankees dont get him
14:20 - Ken D.: well, back to this game, where the question is becoming who will run out of gas first, Tanaka or Saitoh
14:20 - Shinigami: if the question is running out of gas...then I might have to say it's Saitoh
14:21 - Shinigami: Tanaka's at least got some rest every match
14:21 - Shinigami: hmm...that touchout...
14:21 - Ken D.: Tanaka in a jam now
14:21 - Shinigami: seemed to me he got Higaki
14:21 - Shinigami: but could be the angle
14:21 - John Brooks: yeah, but every time, they pitch a lot here
14:21 - Ken D.: i thought so too
14:21 - Shinigami: true
14:22 - John Brooks: daisuke matsuzaka pitched 250 pitches over 17 innings
14:22 - Shinigami: and Saitoh's shown he can pitch crazy numbers
14:22 - John Brooks: here
14:22 - John Brooks: and all the time they do here
14:22 - Ken D.: matsuzaka isn't human
14:22 - Shinigami: think he threw 220 pitches in the miyagi tournament final
14:22 - Shinigami: 0-0 after 15 or so innings
14:22 - Shinigami: then he came back next day and threw a complete game
14:23 - John Brooks: yeah
14:23 - Shinigami: seems like Saitoh aint human either...if I didn't get my facts wrong
14:23 - Ken D.: Waseda with a golden chance now
14:23 - John Brooks: so far this game it looks
14:24 - Shinigami: Funabashi's been getting the runners in this tournament for waseda
14:24 - Shinigami: here's another chance
14:24 - John Brooks: that was close
14:25 - Shinigami: waseda's attack has been concentrating their hits in 1 or 2 innings
14:25 - Shinigami: this could very possibly be that inning
14:26 - Shinigami: 粘りますね、船橋選手...
14:27 - John Brooks: this has turned in2 quite a fight
14:27 - Shinigami: 8th pitch coming up...
14:27 - Shinigami: slider in?
14:28 - Shinigami: bingo
14:28 - John Brooks: strikeout
14:28 - Ken D.: SANSHIN!
14:28 - Shinigami: had a feeling he'd go for this pitch in this situation
14:28 - Ken D.: Tanaka trying to wiggle off the hook in the 6th
14:28 - John Brooks: and he leaves unscathed
14:29 - Shinigami: hmm...I dun like the way Saitoh's batting this match
14:29 - Ken D.: and he does! what a game
14:29 - John Brooks: what a game, just 7 hits
14:30 - Shinigami: both pitchers are getting the outs when they needed it
14:30 - Shinigami: from great pitching as well
14:30 - Ken D.: only 1 allowed by Saitoh. we go to 7
14:31 - Shinigami: another grounder for Saitoh
14:31 - Ken D.: grounders galore
14:32 - John Brooks: e6, unlucky break
14:32 - Ken D.: E6
14:32 - Shinigami: first error of the game by Gotoh
14:32 - Ken D.: watanabe swung at first pitch earlier, popped up
14:33 - Shinigami: should Komadai bunt him to second?
14:33 - Ken D.: i would not
14:33 - Shinigami: hmm, so they did
14:33 - John Brooks: i wouldn't either
14:33 - Shinigami: i think I would risk it too
14:34 - Shinigami: it doesn't seem Saitoh would give up too many hits
14:34 - Ken D.: they did...and i don't like it now with 2 outs 8 hitter up
14:34 - Shinigami: unless it's a long double, Tanaka wouldn't have scored
14:34 - John Brooks: we'll see, what happens, could be a breakthrough
14:34 - Shinigami: they're taking their chance
14:34 - Shinigami: now a single could score Tanaka
14:34 - Ken D.: yamaguchi to PH
14:35 - Ken D.: they play way too conservative for my tastes
14:35 - Shinigami: man, that slider is really fooling the batter every time
14:35 - Ken D.: i understand your point though
14:36 - Shinigami: this match aint gonna be high scoring
14:36 - Shinigami: 1 run could be the difference
14:36 - Shinigami: hmm, HBP by Saitoh
14:36 - John Brooks: he may be tiring though a bit though
14:37 - Ken D.: he's working his 52nd inning this tourney
14:37 - John Brooks: or could have just lost control of the pitch
14:37 - Shinigami: I also had the tought that Komadai could try to get Saitoh's pitch count as high as possible
14:37 - Shinigami: bcoz he's been pitching all tournament, he really could get tired and lead to pitching errors
14:38 - Shinigami: KARABURI SANSHIN!
14:38 - John Brooks: well he just had another k
14:38 - John Brooks: so it doesn't look like he's that tired
14:39 - Ken D.: this guy is like Teflon
14:39 - Shinigami: 140 km high fastball
14:39 - John Brooks: still 7 hits, 1 error, 0 runs
14:40 - Ken D.: 0.87 ERA for Saitoh
14:40 - Shinigami: some newspaper are already calling Saitoh 'Araki 2-sei'
14:40 - Shinigami: Tanaka's doing just as good as Saitoh here
14:41 - Ken D.: deanna's missing a great game...
14:41 - Shinigami: this game really be decided by 1 run
14:42 - Shinigami: if I am correct I think there's only been one fly ball out of the infield
14:42 - Shinigami: no wait, two i think
14:42 - Shinigami: one for Saitoh and one for Tanaka
14:42 - Shinigami: Everything's been K's or groundouts
14:42 - Ken D.: i see 3 in the boxscore
14:43 - Shinigami: hmm, maybe an early fly ball for kikuchi
14:43 - Shinigami: here's one more
14:43 - Ken D.: funabashi, hionma, watanambe (in no order)
14:43 - Ken D.: honma, rather
14:44 - Shinigami: thanks for the stat XD
14:45 - Shinigami: man, we should've had more of these live chat earlier in the tournament
14:45 - John Brooks: another k
14:45 - Shinigami: especially that 13-12 thriller the other day
14:45 - Shinigami: another batter down on the kousoku slider
14:45 - John Brooks: westbay-san has busy, those the chat room has been nice
14:45 - Shinigami: Tanaka's killer pitch
14:45 - Ken D.: yes, this has been fun.
14:46 - Shinigami: ya...too bad, but I'm already glad we can chat right now for the finals
14:46 - Ken D.: we did it last year during Japan series, had about 10 people or so
14:46 - John Brooks: esp 2 interact during the games
14:46 - John Brooks: yeah, i was here during last yr's game 3
14:47 - Ken D.: anyone notice Tanaka's pitch speed? i havent been watching it
14:47 - John Brooks: it was pretty fun, during the morning
14:47 - John Brooks: that was around 121 km
14:47 - Ken D.: nice pick at 3rd
14:47 - Shinigami: he's in the high 130s with his fastball
14:48 - Shinigami: and between 120-128 on his sliders
14:48 - Ken D.: i can't believe 0-0 after 7. especially since they have been homer happy this month
14:48 - Shinigami: well, with these two pitching, u aint gonna get much hits
14:48 - Ken D.: thanks
14:49 - Ken D.: yeah, but even with the other "ace picthers" i have seen this touney, they have been giving up runs
14:50 - Shinigami: ok
14:50 - John Brooks: theres ur run
14:50 - Shinigami: now it's getting interest
14:50 - Shinigami: ing
14:50 - John Brooks: might be our only run
14:50 - Ken D.: THERE IT IS
14:50 - Shinigami: yes, could very possibly be
14:51 - Ken D.: fastball down the pike
14:51 - Shinigami: he's putting more stuffs on his pitches now
14:52 - Shinigami: that's the only run they can give up....more would be hard to catch back
14:53 - John Brooks: yeah, with the way its been 2-day, any more would be 2 much
14:53 - John Brooks: though they got out unscatherd
14:53 - John Brooks: w/o anymore
14:53 - Shinigami: 6 more outs for sojitsu now...
14:53 - John Brooks: 1 run, 2 hits
14:53 - John Brooks: baseball is a weird game
14:54 - Shinigami: Saitoh putting extra stuffs into his sliders
14:54 - Shinigami: yes it sure is
14:54 - Shinigami: that's what makes it interesting sometimes tho XD
14:54 - Shinigami: 1 or 2 runs is all it takes in a pitching duel
14:54 - Ken D.: will waseda have an answer? let's watch...
14:55 - Shinigami: Saitoh vs Tanaka
14:55 - Shinigami: OHhh myyy....
14:55 - Shinigami: that was close
14:55 - John Brooks: that was close
14:56 - Ken D.: OH!
14:56 - Shinigami: he's had one HR already in this tournament
14:56 - Shinigami: the guy can hit
14:56 - Shinigami: that's why I was wondering what he was thinking with his earlier swings
14:57 - Shinigami: err wait
14:57 - Shinigami: nevermind
14:57 - Shinigami: that was not Saitoh
14:57 - Shinigami: ok, here's their chance
14:57 - John Brooks: there could be a chance
14:58 - Shinigami: sorry it was kawanishi who almost hitted it out, i could messed up by yahoo's scoreboard
14:58 - Ken D.: this game is a dandy
14:58 - Shinigami: slider hit into left-midfield
14:59 - Shinigami: then a throwing error gets higaki to 3rd
14:59 - Shinigami: 1 out runner on 3rd...
14:59 - John Brooks: yahoo is slow 2 reload sometimes
14:59 - John Brooks: 1-1 now
14:59 - Shinigami: ok
14:59 - John Brooks: sac fly
14:59 - Shinigami: we're back on terms now
14:59 - Ken D.: Gotoh ties it with sac fly
15:00 - Shinigami: here we go again...
15:00 - Shinigami: man, if the wind blows a bit harder
15:00 - Shinigami: it'd be 2-1 now
15:00 - Ken D.: as we hit the 2 hour mark
15:00 - John Brooks: any 1 knows how hot it is there
15:00 - Ken D.: i can check
15:00 - John Brooks: looks like theres nearly no wind
15:02 - Ken D.: about 90F, with humidity feels like 100+
15:02 - Shinigami: according to yahoo it's 28 degrees celcius
15:02 - Shinigami: no, 32 now
15:02 - John Brooks: yeah, it seemed very hot, by looking at the feed
15:02 - John Brooks: throughout the series
15:03 - Shinigami: there u go with the wind XD
15:03 - Ken D.: that's about right
15:03 - John Brooks: and like there's been no wind
15:03 - Ken D.: yes, it's been about 100
15:04 - Shinigami: blooper by tanaka
15:04 - Shinigami: 1 out runner on 1st
15:04 - Shinigami: let's see if komadai can pick up anything here
15:04 - John Brooks: looks like there trying 2 move the runner over again
15:05 - Shinigami: looking for the sac bunt again
15:05 - Shinigami: double play here?
15:06 - John Brooks: k
15:06 - Shinigami: another k on the slider
15:07 - Shinigami: both Saitoh and Tanaka possess a sharp slider
15:07 - John Brooks: there's a fc, 2 end the inning
15:07 - Ken D.: even in japan they have remote shots of anxious fans
15:07 - John Brooks: 1-1, wonder if were going 2 go 2 extras
15:08 - Shinigami: with the bottom of the lineup coming up for waseda...
15:08 - Shinigami: i think we will go to extras
15:08 - Shinigami: how bout a Saitoh sayonara homerun? lol
15:09 - John Brooks: that be a nice script
15:09 - Ken D.: not with that swing
15:09 - John Brooks: and the papers have a field day 2-morrow
15:09 - Shinigami: haha, true
15:09 - John Brooks: or 2-day
15:10 - Shinigami: he's gonna be busy the rest of his summer
15:11 - Ken D.: welcome westbay-san!!
15:11 - Shinigami: good day westbay-san
15:11 - Ken D.: we have seen a classic
15:11 - Shinigami: just in time for a great game
15:11 - westbaystars: Thanks. I just got home.
15:11 - John Brooks: hello westbay-san
15:11 - westbaystars: 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth. Two down now.
15:12 - Shinigami: 1 down
15:12 - Ken D.: the picthing has been superb
15:12 - Shinigami: 2 down now
15:12 - John Brooks: going 2 extras
15:12 - Shinigami: hmm, so we're a bit slow with the livestreaming?
15:12 - John Brooks: my mistake
15:12 - Ken D.: i figured we were
15:12 - westbaystars: Looks that way. And if I'm reading the aabove log correctly, it was just tied in the top of the 9th?
15:13 - John Brooks: correct
15:13 - westbaystars: Strike out. Three down.
15:13 - westbaystars: Going to extra innings.
15:13 - Ken D.: 8th...
15:13 - Ken D.: komadai HR and waseda answered in the bottom
15:13 - Shinigami: another one down on that killer kousoku slider
15:13 - John Brooks: now were going 2 extras
15:14 - Shinigami: 8th
15:14 - westbaystars: Ah, I see the scoreboard now. Both teams scored in the 8th.
15:14 - Shinigami: komadai scored with a homer in the top of the 8th
15:14 - Ken D.: and thanks to your hosting, we have had a great time chatting about the game
15:14 - Shinigami: and higaki hitted a double and moved to 3rd on a throwing error in the bottom with 1 out
15:15 - Shinigami: gotoh's sac fly scored the run
15:15 - Ken D.: gotoh sac fly
15:15 - Shinigami: yes, thx for the hosting
15:15 - John Brooks: once again thanks for the chat room and hosting
15:16 - westbaystars: Saitoh strikes out the first batter on three pitches. This is a pitchers' duel.
15:16 - Shinigami: another k
15:16 - westbaystars: My pleasure. You're my core audience.
15:16 - westbaystars: The fans.
15:16 - Ken D.: who are you pulling for, westbay-san?
15:16 - Shinigami: he's only gave up two hits so far
15:16 - John Brooks: indeed, 1 of the better games ive seen
15:17 - Ken D.: sorry if you've mentioned already
15:17 - Shinigami: i think it's komadai?
15:17 - John Brooks: yes, 1 run 2 hits i think
15:17 - westbaystars: Swings and misses a slider low and away. Two down.
15:17 - westbaystars: I'm pulling for Komadai.
15:17 - westbaystars: But Saitoh looks very impressive.
15:17 - John Brooks: another k
15:18 - Ken D.: we all gree
15:18 - Ken D.: agree
15:18 - westbaystars: Next batter grounds out to the right side with Saitoh covering. Komadai retired in order.
15:18 - Shinigami: hmm, i think i will have to wait till the end of the inning before i look here XD
15:18 - Ken D.: we didn't see that yet...
15:18 - Shinigami: I am scared I'll get spoiled with a sayonara homer XD
15:18 - westbaystars: Shall I stop?
15:19 - Ken D.: you can write your recap with one word: grounders
15:19 - John Brooks: yeah, lots of ground balls
15:20 - Ken D.: i'm okay with it...you are watching on TV, right?
15:21 - John Brooks: did any1 catch the speed of that last pitch
15:22 - westbaystars: Yes, I'm watching terristrial TV, which could be a minute over Internet streaming. 20-30 seconds over satilite TV.
15:22 - Ken D.: missed it, sorry
15:22 - John Brooks: its ok
15:23 - westbaystars: Since asking, I've only seen 128s.
15:23 - Ken D.: by our calcualtions Saitoh's tourney ERA is 0.98 or so
15:23 - John Brooks: full count
15:24 - John Brooks: going 2 the top of the 11th
15:24 - Ken D.: we've played 10 full
15:24 - Shinigami: ha, well, i'd add in another word
15:24 - Shinigami: grounders and k's
15:25 - westbaystars: The Komadai run was earned, so that's 6 earned in 55 innings: 0.98 looks right.
15:26 - John Brooks: there's a leadoff hit
15:26 - John Brooks: could be a start
15:26 - westbaystars: Saitoh only needed 5 Ks for a new record, I think I'd read.
15:26 - Ken D.: single to start the inning
15:26 - Shinigami: sharp liner down the middle...no out runner on 1st
15:26 - Shinigami: yes, that's what the commentator said
15:26 - Ken D.: captain honma up
15:27 - Shinigami: kuwata of PL gakuin i think
15:27 - Shinigami: or now of giants'
15:27 - westbaystars: How about walks? He thew with none yesterday. (Hit a batter now.)
15:27 - John Brooks: a HBP
15:27 - Shinigami: had 2 i think
15:28 - Shinigami: 2 HBP and 2 balls
15:28 - Ken D.: danger time for Saitoh
15:28 - Shinigami: yes...finally another pinch
15:28 - Shinigami: first since like the 3rd inning
15:28 - John Brooks: yes, its a situation right now
15:28 - Ken D.: i see 3 walks in the boxscore
15:28 - John Brooks: also w/the bunt 2
15:29 - John Brooks: 2 runners in scoring position
15:29 - Shinigami: good bunt
15:29 - Shinigami: hmm, Tanaka could be the hero here if he can score the runner
15:29 - Shinigami: and then close it out in the bottom of the inning
15:29 - John Brooks: 1 down now, and 2 in scoring position
15:30 - westbaystars: Announcer regarding the meeting on the mound: "Everyone closed their eyes and become one."
15:30 - Ken D.: Tanaka can become a legend here
15:30 - Shinigami: or maybe a walk to tanaka and then hope for a DP?
15:30 - Shinigami: bingo
15:31 - John Brooks: yes looks like what there planning
15:31 - Shinigami: might be the best way to do it right now...
15:31 - Ken D.: good call gents
15:31 - westbaystars: Bases loaded. One out.
15:32 - Shinigami: Saitoh's going all out now...
15:32 - Ken D.: if Saitoh gets out of this...
15:33 - Shinigami: what a surprise play...
15:33 - John Brooks: a suicide squeze
15:33 - Ken D.: OH!!!!
15:33 - Shinigami: missed squeeze...nakazawa gunned down
15:33 - John Brooks: im not so sure i would have done that in this game
15:33 - westbaystars: Oh, that blown squeeze hurt! As you'll see next.
15:33 - Shinigami: yes...
15:34 - Shinigami: it hurts bad now
15:34 - John Brooks: as that would of been the go ahead run
15:34 - Ken D.: yamaguchi to bat
15:34 - John Brooks: really bad now
15:34 - Shinigami: flyout
15:34 - Shinigami: really bad now
15:35 - Ken D.: SAITOH isn't human
15:35 - Shinigami: that play could cost them dearly
15:35 - westbaystars: Blown sqeeze with one out, catching the runner diving back into third.
15:35 - Shinigami: what's saitoh's pitch count at now?
15:35 - westbaystars: Follow that with a base hit through the left side, then a fly out to right to end the inning.
15:36 - Ken D.: westbay-san, saitoh has gotten out of jams all day
15:36 - westbaystars: Argh! I have yet to see a sqeeze work in this tournament.
15:36 - Shinigami: he's been doing it all tournament
15:36 - Shinigami: not just today
15:36 - Shinigami: deanna, welcome back
15:36 - Deanna: Oh my god, that inning was insane.
15:36 - Deanna: I got home just in time for the ninth inning and just remembered about the chatroom
15:36 - Ken D.: hi deanna!
15:37 - John Brooks: welcome back
15:37 - westbaystars: Hi Deanna. 1-1 in the bottom of the 11th. Nobody out.
15:37 - Deanna: I know this may have already been asked, but why does Waseda have homefield instead of Komadai?
15:37 - westbaystars: So has Tanaka been throwing better?
15:38 - Shinigami: he's been great today
15:38 - westbaystars: I'm still not sure how home and away are chosen.
15:38 - Shinigami: i thought he pitched well yesterday as well
15:38 - Ken D.: Kikuchi started...tanake came in after 2 2/3
15:38 - Shinigami: seems like he's finally returned to how everyone expected him to perform
15:39 - Deanna: Komadai had homefield for every other game they played... I figured it had something to do with seeding.
15:39 - Shinigami: could it be the draw on who gets homefield?
15:39 - Shinigami: i have no idea
15:40 - Ken D.: i couldn't figure it out either
15:40 - westbaystars: First base and third base side is decided by the tree. But I haven't noticed if the side has decided home or away.
15:40 - Deanna: It makes a pretty big difference in a situation like this,, heh
15:40 - Deanna: Ooooh, nice pitch there.
15:41 - Ken D.: well, i think 3rd base side has been home team...again, just from observing
15:41 - westbaystars: I'd much rather be the home team in a close one like this.
15:42 - Shinigami: Funabashi's been struggling all day
15:42 - Ken D.: so, i'll ask it. is this the best final since Matsuzaka's gem?
15:43 - John Brooks: ive never seen it, just heard of it
15:43 - westbaystars: Back to Saitoh's strike outs, it was Matsuzaka who threw 54 strike outs in the 1998 tournament.
15:43 - Deanna: WOW.
15:43 - John Brooks: though how many pitches have we had both sides
15:43 - John Brooks: nice catch
15:43 - westbaystars: Matsuzaka's was the quarter finals, and that's what got me watching Koshien.
15:44 - Shinigami: never seen it also
15:44 - John Brooks: amazing
15:44 - Shinigami: altho i was in japan for vacationback in1998
15:44 - westbaystars: Matsuzaka's gem, that is. Nothing after that battle with PL seemed to come close.
15:44 - Shinigami: and it was matsuzaka on newspaper everyday
15:44 - Ken D.: and the final was a no-hitter?
15:44 - Deanna: Oh, I meant wow to Okagawa's catch, but 54 strikeouts is a wow too
15:44 - Shinigami: yes
15:45 - Ken D.: i'm tired, let's call it a tie
15:45 - Ken D.:
15:45 - Shinigami: that was basically the first time i knew about koshien...1998 summer
15:45 - Deanna: I've never gotten to watch Koshien before. I'm so glad they're streaming it over the net
15:45 - Shinigami: and the first time i've heard about a japanese player
15:45 - Ken D.: me too. this is my first
15:46 - John Brooks: i haven't either, it been nice, also 2 be able 2 experience it
15:46 - Shinigami: same here, haha
15:46 - John Brooks: since i missed the PBS special
15:46 - Deanna: yeah. I'll finally get to go to the actual stadium in a few weeks, hopefully
15:46 - Deanna: (going to Japan for the first half of september, yay)
15:47 - John Brooks: ive been following it for a while, but w/o
15:47 - Deanna: oh, the PBS special didn't actually have the actual tournament in it. It just followed Tennoji and Chiben through
15:47 - Deanna: their training and stuff.
15:47 - Ken D.: the PBS special didn't show much of the tourney (if any)
15:47 - John Brooks: anyway 2 follow it, it's been hard
15:47 - John Brooks: yeah, thats what i heard
15:47 - westbaystars: Saitoh just threw his 11th K of the day.
15:47 - Shinigami: someone did post yokohama-PL gakuin's match on youtube a week ago
15:47 - Shinigami: but it's gone now
15:47 - Ken D.: asahi.com made it easy
15:47 - westbaystars: That surpasses Matsuzaka by a good distance.
15:48 - John Brooks: from what i heard it just followed a few tms, and interviews
15:48 - Ken D.: maps, matchups, stats, and of course, live stream
15:48 - Deanna: was it PL or Toin?
15:48 - Shinigami: i mean the 17th inning marathon
15:48 - Shinigami: in 1998
15:48 - Deanna: ohhhh
15:48 - Deanna: neat, I'll have to hunt it down
15:48 - Shinigami: Saitoh's slider has been deadly thruout the tournament
15:49 - Deanna: Holy carp
15:49 - Shinigami: just went back and look, seems like it's gone tho
15:49 - Ken D.: westbay-san, what happens if we're tied after 15 innings?
15:49 - Shinigami: anther k
15:49 - John Brooks: another k
15:49 - westbaystars: The quarter-final in 1998 was between Yokohama (Matsuzaka) and PL Gakuin. Matsuzaka threw 250 pitches for the win.
15:49 - Shinigami: koshien goes to however long it takes
15:49 - Shinigami: i think
15:49 - westbaystars: Was it 15 innings?
15:49 - Shinigami: 17th
15:50 - John Brooks: yeah it was 17
15:50 - John Brooks: 250 pitches
15:50 - Shinigami: unless they changed rules recently
15:50 - westbaystars: I'm not sure what happens after 15 innings. I hope they continue. But with only 18 players on each bench, ...
15:51 - Shinigami: otherwise i suppose it will continue until we have a winner
15:51 - westbaystars: ... I would understand them calling it a rematch.
15:51 - Ken D.: i see they only have 15 on the scoreboard...
15:51 - John Brooks: yeah with only 18 players
15:52 - westbaystars: They only add 3 at a time. Scoreboard programming.
15:52 - Deanna: wow, two popups to catcher in a row. nice
15:52 - Shinigami: so it's going to continue pass 15 right?
15:53 - John Brooks: yeah, scoreboards only add so much at a time
15:53 - Shinigami: ozawa's starting to warm up
15:53 - westbaystars: Won't know 'til it happens.
15:53 - Shinigami: for waseda
15:53 - Ken D.: okay, sorry to stir up panic
15:53 - Ken D.: catcher busy...
15:54 - Shinigami: that was almost the 3rd catcher flyout there
15:54 - westbaystars: Tanaka has been perfect since I joined the game.
15:54 - Shinigami: he's been great this whole match
15:55 - Deanna: heh, yeah
15:55 - Ken D.: he was getting hit earlier. has been getting stronger, if you can belive
15:55 - John Brooks: going 2 the 13th
15:55 - John Brooks: yeah, its been unreal all day
15:55 - Ken D.: we are nearing 3 hours
15:55 - Ken D.: most games i saw took 1:30 to 2 hours
15:56 - Shinigami: he escaped from two pinches earlier in the game
15:56 - Shinigami: then after that he's been close to perfect
15:56 - westbaystars: The other games I'd seen seemed that way. Tanaka would give up runs early, then be strong in the end.
15:57 - John Brooks: yeah the other gm i saw was about 2 hrs
15:57 - Deanna: Nakagawa singles to left... Honma bunts...
15:57 - Shinigami: Tanaka hasn't been pitching that well until yesterday
15:57 - Shinigami: 1 out runner on 2nd now...
15:57 - John Brooks: moves 2 second, 1 down
15:58 - Deanna: err Nakazawa
15:58 - Deanna: sorry, we're trying to keep track of stuff when it happens for the game log too, right?
15:58 - Shinigami: washiya at bat...
15:58 - westbaystars: Yes. I'm trying not to spoil it for those of you getting the stream.
15:59 - Deanna: oh, are we delayed?
15:59 - John Brooks: k
15:59 - Ken D.: westbay-san has the benefit of tv
15:59 - Shinigami: karaburi sanshin
15:59 - Deanna: Washiya strikes out, Tanaka up to bat...
15:59 - westbaystars: You're buffered, which acts as a type of delay.
15:59 - John Brooks: the stream seems 2 be delayed a few seconds
15:59 - John Brooks: like westbay-san said
16:00 - Ken D.: is all of Japan glued to the TV?
16:00 - Deanna: ahh, okay.
16:00 - John Brooks: b/c of tv
16:00 - John Brooks: it is koshien, and many are there or watching it
16:01 - Shinigami: i was a little scared we'd be lagging today
16:01 - Shinigami: coz it was kinda bad yesterday in the begininng
16:01 - Shinigami: but so far it's been good
16:01 - Deanna: okay, am I the only person who gets really scared watching an ace pitcher sliding headfirst into first?
16:02 - John Brooks: no, it is scary when ur ace pitcher slides
16:02 - John Brooks: but this is koshien and the intesity is high
16:02 - Ken D.: no...and it's not a good play either.
16:02 - John Brooks: for all of the players
16:02 - Shinigami: haha, it is
16:02 - westbaystars: No, you're not. The first thing they teach the kids on my son's team is to (1) never slide into first, and ...
16:02 - Shinigami: but japanese players does it
16:02 - westbaystars: ... (2) never head slide.
16:02 - John Brooks: so i understand, but don't like it
16:03 - Shinigami: no?
16:03 - Shinigami: but i've seen many do it so far
16:03 - Ken D.: I saw reyes (mets) get spiked get 7 stitches
16:03 - John Brooks: yeah, they talk about the need 2 ban head first slides
16:03 - John Brooks: which i think they need 2
16:04 - Ken D.: you're probably faster running through the bag
16:04 - John Brooks: definetly, as u slow down sliding head first
16:04 - Deanna: Sasaki fouls a ball off his head... that's gotta hurt.
16:04 - westbaystars: Banning it is going to be hard. Part of Koshien is "guts play" - and the head first slide is it's poster child.
16:04 - Shinigami: lucky it flew behind him
16:05 - Shinigami: if it hit his eyes or something...
16:05 - John Brooks: yeah
16:05 - Shinigami: another one striking out on a slider by the ace pitcher
16:05 - westbaystars: Waseda gets their first base runner since the 8th.
16:05 - John Brooks: though the scary part is when some1 gets seriously hurt
16:05 - John Brooks: nice bunt
16:06 - Shinigami: let's hope we dun see anyone hurt here in such a great game
16:06 - Shinigami: nice bunt
16:06 - John Brooks: me 2
16:06 - westbaystars: Bunt base hit followed by a sacrifice bunt puts the sayonara runner at second with two down.
16:06 - Shinigami: ok...here we go again...
16:06 - Shinigami: runner on 2nd, 2 out
16:06 - Ken D.: i forget which team, but one of the CFs was hurt earlier in the tourney
16:06 - Shinigami: we've seen this situation many times already
16:07 - Shinigami: both pitchers' got out of this jam a few times now
16:08 - westbaystars: Wild pitch. Sayonara runner at third base.
16:08 - Deanna: ugh, runner on third, 2 out
16:08 - John Brooks: wild pitch
16:08 - westbaystars: I'll say no more until everyone's seen what ever transpires.
16:08 - Deanna: uhoh
16:09 - John Brooks: i dont get that last pitch
16:09 - Shinigami: thx westbay-san
16:09 - Deanna: the intentional walk just happened here
16:09 - Deanna: uhh... and they're intentionally walking gotoh too?
16:09 - westbaystars: May I just say, they're walking the bases loaded intentionally.
16:09 - Deanna: yeah
16:09 - Shinigami: gonna walk gotoh and higaki to pitch to the struggling funabashi?
16:09 - Shinigami: yes
16:09 - Shinigami: that's what they're doing
16:09 - John Brooks: it looks that way
16:10 - Shinigami: funabashi's 0-6 today...striking out twice
16:10 - Deanna: yup. here's funabashi.
16:10 - Shinigami: might as well do it, bcoz higaki and gotoh are two of only a few to get hits off tanaki
16:10 - Deanna: i have a bad feeling about this.
16:10 - westbaystars: It doesn't get much more dramatic than this. Either way.
16:10 - Deanna: it probably comes from watching richie sexson hit grand slams in this situation all the time.
16:10 - Ken D.: i have him as 0-5 so far
16:11 - John Brooks: still .000
16:11 - Shinigami: yes...mistake
16:11 - Shinigami: 0-6 now
16:11 - John Brooks: and 1-1 2 the 14th
16:11 - Shinigami: now that was a thriller
16:11 - Ken D.: Well, that was anti-climactic...
16:12 - Shinigami: seen too many times a 0 for batter hit game winning hits
16:12 - westbaystars: Ground out to the second baseman who, after spinning in circles, takes the ball to the second base bag to retire the sid
16:12 - Ken D.: the groundout, i mean
16:12 - John Brooks: def, scary 2
16:12 - Ken D.: i need a towel
16:12 - Shinigami: we might need to wait till one of the ace pitcher's arm falls off before we get another run
16:13 - John Brooks: leadoff single
16:13 - Deanna: yes. that was incredibly dramatic. westbay totally psyched me out!
16:13 - Ken D.: up the gap!
16:13 - Shinigami: runner on 1st...okakawa singled to middle
16:14 - John Brooks: here comes a bunt situation
16:14 - westbaystars: Watch this. Is this a strike?
16:14 - Ken D.: i thought that ball was hit harder....my bad
16:14 - westbaystars: 3rd pitch, that is.
16:14 - John Brooks: yeah, i did 2
16:14 - John Brooks: doesn't matter, 4th was
16:15 - Shinigami: i thought it was
16:15 - Ken D.: wow, that was a rough AB
16:15 - westbaystars: I haven't had any problem with any calls this tournament, but that one looked awful good.
16:15 - Shinigami: altho if that was a strike on the 3rd play
16:16 - John Brooks: out, 2 down, runner at 3rd
16:16 - Shinigami: we'd at most have a runner at 2nd
16:16 - westbaystars: And I have to admit, the umpiring here has been superior to even the pros.
16:16 - Shinigami: or maybe it'd be a DP
16:16 - John Brooks: yeah it did
16:16 - Shinigami: now it's 2 out runner on 3rd
16:16 - Ken D.: almost a costly fumble
16:16 - Shinigami: and he gets out unscathed again
16:16 - John Brooks: out of it again
16:17 - John Brooks: bottom 14
16:17 - Shinigami: ya, if that fumble led to a infield basehit...
16:17 - Shinigami: then it'd be a sac fly...
16:17 - westbaystars: Third batter grounded out to second, who fumbled the ball a bit before throwing to first for the force.
16:18 - Ken D.: the flags are flying...there is some wind
16:18 - westbaystars: Runner went from second to third. He stole second on the strikeout pitch by the second batter.
16:18 - Ken D.: we had that debate about 6 innings ago...the weather
16:18 - John Brooks: which is why i like baseball, what if?
16:18 - westbaystars: Fourth batter popped out deep to just left of center.
16:18 - Shinigami: they showed the flags in the 5th or so inning
16:18 - Shinigami: wind was bigger back then
16:19 - westbaystars: Waseda leads off with Saitoh, who's 1 for 6 so far today.
16:19 - Shinigami: he's not gonna do anything in his AB
16:19 - Shinigami: his swings today is awful
16:19 - Ken D.: his only hit a single in the 4th
16:20 - Shinigami: lol
16:20 - John Brooks: a long foul ball
16:20 - Shinigami: i might need to take back my words, lol
16:20 - Ken D.: i don't know about awful, but he did mail one AB in
16:20 - westbaystars: What about a bad hop grounder?
16:20 - Deanna: uhoh.
16:20 - Shinigami: uhoh...
16:20 - John Brooks: nice hit there
16:20 - Deanna: wow, did that ball really just sort of hop over that guy's head?
16:21 - John Brooks: leadoff single
16:21 - Shinigami: sayonara runner on first
16:21 - John Brooks: or good luck
16:21 - John Brooks: pick whatever u like
16:21 - John Brooks: another nice bunt
16:21 - Shinigami: lol...i've said it many times today already...
16:21 - Shinigami: 1 out runner on 2nd
16:21 - Deanna: woooo
16:21 - Ken D.: bunt advances runner
16:21 - Deanna: saitoh tagged out running to third
16:22 - John Brooks: bad baserunning
16:22 - westbaystars: Yes, Saitoh hit a grounder to the right side that hit something and bounced way over the second baseman's head.
16:22 - John Brooks: 2 down
16:22 - Shinigami: runner is gone
16:22 - Shinigami: back to first
16:22 - Ken D.: head-up play!
16:22 - westbaystars: After being sacrificed to second, the next batter grounded the ball to the left side.
16:22 - westbaystars: The shortstop threw to thrid as Saitoh ran in front of him, and cut Saitoh down.
16:22 - Deanna: and a 5-3 play ends the inning.
16:23 - westbaystars: Bad baserunning, as Brooks-san said.
16:23 - John Brooks: and im on lag
16:23 - Shinigami: 15th...
16:23 - John Brooks: but 5-3 2 end the inning
16:23 - westbaystars: Then a ground out to third ends the inning.
16:23 - John Brooks: 15th here we come
16:23 - Shinigami: we might see the longest game since the 17th thing by yokohama-pl gakuin
16:23 - John Brooks: oh boy what a duel
16:23 - westbaystars: Hey, I missed the first 8 1/2 innings, but I feel like I've gotten to watch a whole game now.
16:24 - John Brooks: best pitched game ive seen i must say
16:24 - Shinigami: lol, u sure have XD
16:24 - Ken D.: do we get a second oendan interview?
16:25 - westbaystars: May I ask, what is XD?
16:26 - Shinigami: it's just a smilie...
16:26 - Shinigami: like : )
16:26 - Ken D.: (i think it's his smiley)
16:26 - Ken D.: meanwhile, saitoh works his *15th inning*
16:27 - John Brooks: k
16:27 - Ken D.: sanshin
16:27 - Shinigami: 144 km/h
16:27 - westbaystars: 145 kph 出た!
16:27 - Shinigami: what's his k total now?
16:28 - John Brooks: 147 kph
16:28 - Deanna: 147!
16:28 - Ken D.: 147
16:28 - westbaystars: I remember #12 an inning or two ago.
16:28 - Shinigami: これが尻上がりって言うかな？
16:28 - westbaystars: He struck out the first batter here, so that's at least 13.
16:28 - Ken D.: 92 mph
16:28 - John Brooks: 147
16:28 - westbaystars: 146
16:29 - John Brooks: full count
16:29 - Shinigami: he's been throwing heater the whole AB
16:29 - John Brooks: k
16:29 - Deanna: gah
16:29 - Deanna: that's INSANE
16:29 - John Brooks: bottom 15, amazing
16:29 - Shinigami: did the game just started?
16:29 - westbaystars: 178th pitch is another K.
16:29 - Shinigami: now that was insane
16:30 - Ken D.: karaburi sanshin!!!
16:30 - Shinigami: they were fortunate he only had 117 pitches yesterday
16:30 - John Brooks: it seems so
16:30 - westbaystars: Commentators yesterday mentioned his pitch count was low yesterday.
16:30 - John Brooks: or he has a bionic arm
16:30 - Shinigami: it was 117
16:31 - Shinigami: i saw it on the news before the game started
16:31 - John Brooks: that helps
16:32 - John Brooks: k
16:32 - John Brooks: amazing
16:32 - Shinigami: pitcher duel
16:32 - westbaystars: 141kph for Tanaka.
16:33 - westbaystars: Not as impressive after Saitoh, huh.
16:33 - Ken D.: 16 k's for saitoh and how many for Tanaka?
16:33 - westbaystars: The walk is his first that was not intensional.
16:33 - John Brooks: but still impressive
16:33 - John Brooks: he's been so great so long
16:33 - John Brooks: 1 out walk
16:35 - westbaystars: Watch out for Tanaka's pick off move. It's been great all tournament.
16:35 - Shinigami: greating timing for waseda
16:35 - Shinigami: higaki and gotoh
16:36 - John Brooks: there's the flags again
16:37 - westbaystars: I believe that was Tanaka's 10th strike out.
16:37 - John Brooks: k
16:37 - Shinigami: k!
16:37 - John Brooks: this is unreal
16:37 - Shinigami: yes
16:37 - Shinigami: 10th k
16:37 - Shinigami: 3rd straight match with double digit k's
16:37 - Ken D.: how many is that for Tanaka?
16:37 - Shinigami: should be his 10th
16:37 - Ken D.: oh, sorry, 10
16:37 - westbaystars: Game over. They're going to have a rematch.
16:37 - Shinigami: commentator mentioned he's reach double digits in k's for the 3rd straight match
16:38 - Deanna: Errrr
16:38 - westbaystars: Looks like they're only going 15.
16:38 - Shinigami: err...
16:38 - Shinigami: so are we gonna continue tomolo? lol
16:38 - Deanna: When do they do the rematch?
16:38 - John Brooks: good fought game, rather have a rematch, then a injury
16:38 - Shinigami: true
16:39 - westbaystars: I'll have that information soon.
16:39 - Shinigami: i dun mind coming back another day to watch it again
16:39 - John Brooks: yeah when is the re-match
16:39 - John Brooks: me 2
16:39 - Ken D.: unfortunately, my suspicion came true
16:39 - John Brooks: yeah, but a young pitcher's health is always important 2
16:39 - John Brooks: esp at this high pitch count
16:40 - Shinigami: this is just great, glad abc's doing online streaming this yr
16:40 - John Brooks: esp after 2-days gem
16:40 - Shinigami: did they implement this in recent yrs?
16:40 - John Brooks: me 2, hopefully it continues
16:40 - Ken D.: well, now we can tell everyone on the forums to join us tomorrow!!
16:40 - John Brooks: in the future
16:40 - Shinigami: the stop-at-15th inning
16:40 - Shinigami: yes, i suppose more people will be interested in watching it now
16:41 - Shinigami: it's just too good to miss
16:41 - Deanna: Wouldn't it be dangerous to the pitcher's arms to keep going tomorrow?
16:41 - John Brooks: esp after 2-days game
16:41 - Deanna: (well... I guess Waseda played what, three days straight...)
16:41 - Shinigami: i'd say so...
16:41 - Shinigami: but that's what they've been doing all these yrs
16:41 - John Brooks: yeah, but 2 keep going 2-day would be more dangerous
16:41 - westbaystars: Saitoh: 178 pitches, Tanaka: 165 pitches
16:41 - Deanna: and do they play another full game or do they just keep going at sudden death?
16:41 - Shinigami: deanna: yes, waseda played 3 straight days
16:42 - John Brooks: and going these long pitch counts is dangerous 2 pitchers
16:42 - Shinigami: and saitoh pitched in every inning
16:42 - westbaystars: The TV announcers are saying that the game will be tomorrow.
16:42 - Shinigami: 60 innings now for saitoh
16:42 - John Brooks: cool
16:42 - John Brooks: so do they start a new game or continue from here
16:43 - Shinigami: tomorrow at 1 again
16:43 - Shinigami: 12 EST
16:43 - Ken D.: ERA of 0.90 - Saitoh
16:43 - John Brooks: so a whole new game
16:43 - Shinigami: whole new game
16:43 - John Brooks: thanks
16:43 - Ken D.: over 60 IP
16:43 - Deanna: are there box scores somewhere? I just see the text recaps on yahoo
16:44 - westbaystars: It'll be a full game starting from the first inning and not ending until the 9th (or 15th).
16:44 - Ken D.: i was watching the boxscore on asahi.com
16:45 - Shinigami: so anyone's got saitoh's total k's in this tournament now?
16:45 - westbaystars: http://koshien.asahi.co.jp/highlight/index.html never posted box scores, just line scores.
16:45 - Deanna: just kidding
16:45 - Deanna: 147!
16:46 - Deanna: heh, that went in the wrong order
16:46 - John Brooks: yeah the box score would be hard 2 find, or near impossible
16:46 - Shinigami: his fastest pitch so far in this tournament is 149km/h
16:46 - Deanna: well, so they have a recount at http://sports.yahoo.co.jp/baseball/hs/scores/2006/summer/live/0820a.html
16:46 - Deanna: so one could construct the box score if they weren't lazy like me.
16:47 - Ken D.: i will link to the box...
16:47 - Shinigami: but dxmn...he was throwing 146-7 heaters in the 14th
16:47 - Shinigami: and 15th
16:47 - Ken D.: http://www2.asahi.com/koshien/88/zenkoku/sokuhou.html
16:47 - Deanna: when I was counting strikeouts I would just do a search on 三振
16:47 - westbaystars: Saitoh had 49 going into the game, so add 16 and you get 65.
16:47 - Shinigami: haha...i thought about that too, but i am alzy as well
16:47 - Deanna: ooo
16:48 - Shinigami: woo, great
16:48 - Shinigami: thx ken
16:48 - Ken D.: they will put the picther info in later...i have checked them frequently this tourney
16:48 - Shinigami: 16 k's
16:48 - Shinigami: for saitoh
16:48 - John Brooks: yeah that is pretty indepth
16:48 - Ken D.: you are all welcome...and again, I know I speak for all of us in thankin westbay-san!!
16:49 - Shinigami: 10 for tanaka as we already know
16:49 - John Brooks: thanks once again westbay-san, i going 2 bed, good night every1
16:49 - Shinigami: thx westbay-san! that was fantastic
16:49 - Shinigami: goodnite brooks-san
16:49 - Shinigami: see u again tomorrow nite
16:50 - Ken D.: maybe tomorrow we'll have a winner
16:50 - Deanna: Yeah. Not sure I'll be here tomorrow but today's was fun
16:51 - Shinigami: definitely try ur best to come, u wont want to miss such a great game
16:51 - westbaystars: It's been great having you all here. And I'll go about posting this.
16:51 - westbaystars: Wish I could join in tomorrow, but I have to work.
16:51 - westbaystars: I will set up the chat room, though.
16:52 - Shinigami: hmm...gotta watch footie/soccer in like 4 hrs...
16:52 - Shinigami: i guess i needa catch some quick naps
16:52 - Shinigami: i will see u all tomorrow nite!
16:52 - Shinigami: once again thx westbay-san, i appreciate all the effort u spent to give us a place to talk
16:53 - Shinigami: hope u will still be able to watch it during work? : )
16:53 - Deanna: It's a national event, isn't it?
16:53 - Shinigami: wish i was in nishinomiya now watching the match live
16:54 - Shinigami: anyways, mata ne minnasan~
16:54 - westbaystars: I can watch it during work, but I really need to do some work.
16:54 - westbaystars: See you all tomorrow.
16:55 - Ken D.: i will be getting home from work just in time. see you all. thanks again
16:55 - Deanna: yup, thanks again!
Anyway, here's a full recap thanks to a good number of volunteers in the chat room.
TRANSCRIPT generated on - 2006/08/20 16:55
CHATROOM - Koshien Finals
13:03 - Ken D.: ohayo!
13:04 - Deanna: ganbare komadai!
13:05 - Ken D.: hello koshien fans!
13:06 - Deanna: It's either this or watching the Mariners lose.
13:06 - Deanna: Ooo, nice smack by Honma, shame it didn't go out.
13:06 - Ken D.: do the M's still have the lead? i can't watch both
13:07 - Deanna: Wow, Komadai's starting Kikuchi? This could be bad... guess they want to save Tanaka from having his arm fall off.
13:07 - Deanna: No, it's 6-5 Anaheim now.
13:07 - Shinigami: ohayo!
13:07 - Shinigami: just like last game, maybe we will see Tanaka in a few innings
13:08 - Shinigami: but to be honest, he aint been pitching too well this tournament
13:08 - Deanna: Undoubtedly. He keeps coming in around the 2nd or 3rd...
13:08 - Ken D.: oh well, i wanted to see the Tanaka-Saito matchup
13:08 - Deanna: Me too.
13:08 - Deanna: Saitoh's been amazing as well...
13:09 - Shinigami: ya, amazing so far
13:09 - Ken D.: ERA 1.20
13:09 - Shinigami: Tanaka did good last game against Chiben Wakayama i think
13:10 - Shinigami: but overall he aint on form
13:10 - Ken D.: i have a soft spot in my heart for Waseda...with Oh-kantoku being sick and all
13:10 - Ken D.: our first Tanaka sighting
13:12 - Shinigami: I have a feeling waseda will tee off against kikuchi early in the game, and take a few runs lead
13:12 - Deanna: hmm, I need to go. hope I get back in time for the end of the game.
13:12 - Deanna: I agree
13:12 - Deanna: bye!
13:13 - Shinigami: as for who wins, depends on how well Saitoh pitches against Komadai
13:13 - Shinigami: bye!
13:13 - Shinigami: come back soon XD
13:13 - Ken D.: what could be more important than Koshien final?
13:14 - Shinigami: maybe like our admin, family is more important? XD
13:14 - Ken D.: i was kidding...
13:14 - Shinigami: haha, i know XD
13:15 - Shinigami: Goto up
13:16 - Ken D.: i'm sure you know, but asahi.com has an interactive boxscore running (like all games)
13:16 - Shinigami: Either him or Funabashi will get someone home...i have a feeling
13:16 - Shinigami: hmm...jinx'ed it...
13:16 - Ken D.: sharp DP
13:17 - Ken D.: 0-0 end 1
13:17 - Shinigami: I am following the boxscore on yahoo jp
13:18 - Shinigami: too bad it aint as detailed as the one for NPB
13:18 - Shinigami: but still pretty good
13:18 - Shinigami: Wonder if Saitoh can last all game...he's been pitching the whole tournament
13:21 - Ken D.: watanabe pops up first pitch...that would drive me crazy
13:22 - Shinigami: ya...
13:23 - Shinigami: hmm, so no one else beside us?
13:24 - Ken D.: oh well, we'll make our own fun...
13:24 - Ken D.: hope Deanna comes back...
13:25 - Shinigami: haha
13:25 - Shinigami: kikuchi's holding up well so far
13:26 - Shinigami: hmm, any comments on saitoh's last 2 swings? seems to me he wanna save energy for pitching
13:28 - Ken D.: looked like he was just going through the motions, as you say
13:28 - Ken D.: naitoh singled to CF
13:29 - Shinigami: naitoh gunned out trying to steal second
13:29 - Shinigami: 0-0 still, end of 2nd inning
13:33 - Ken D.: saitoh getting the ground balls
13:33 - Shinigami: utilizing his slider pretty effectively with his fastballs
13:34 - Shinigami: high fastballs and low breaking balls
13:35 - Shinigami: he's also mixed in a forkball along with his slider and fastballs to keep the batters guessing
13:37 - Shinigami: Komadai showing good defense...that was a nice play to pick up the slow grounder and throw out the batter at first
13:37 - Ken D.: agreed. what did they say about Yankee Stadium?
13:38 - Shinigami: haha, i caught the yankee stadium part too, but didn't hear what they were talking about
13:38 - Shinigami: here comes Tanaka
13:39 - Ken D.: wonderboy
13:39 - Ken D.: well, i am a non-native speaker. i can just pick up names, numbers, positions, etc.
13:39 - Shinigami: hmm, they just said he did the same in the Hokkaido tournament
13:39 - Shinigami: coming out during a pinch
13:40 - Shinigami: haha, i aint one as well
13:40 - Shinigami: been studying japanese for few yrs before, but haven't really been using it these last few yrs
13:41 - Ken D.: are you living in a place where you can use it?
13:41 - Shinigami: nope
13:42 - Shinigami: therefore my japanese's been getting worst everyday now, lol
13:43 - Shinigami: sharp pitching by Tanaka
13:43 - Ken D.: well, i didn't think we'd be 0-0 after 3
13:43 - Shinigami: first the slider moving out of the strikezone for the k, then a backdoor slider to strikeout Gotoh
13:44 - Shinigami: my prediction is out of the way now
13:44 - Shinigami: thought sojitsu would run kikuchi away with a few hits in the first few innings to take a few runs lead
13:45 - Shinigami: nice play
13:45 - Shinigami: as I've been saying all week long, I'm actually more worried about Waseda now
13:45 - Ken D.: nice up the middle
13:45 - Ken D.: who are you rooting for?
13:45 - Shinigami: with Tanaka looking sharp these last two days, and getting enuff rest
13:45 - Ken D.: i'm torn...like noth
13:45 - Ken D.: both
13:46 - Shinigami: me kinda too
13:46 - Shinigami: but leaning a bit toward Sojitsu
13:46 - Shinigami: obviously I appreciate how gutsy Komadai's been thruout the tournament
13:46 - Ken D.: i was hoping for Komadai vs. Yaeyama (okinawa), but this is pretty good
13:47 - Shinigami: but the way Saitoh's been pitching...u just cant dislike the dude
13:47 - Ken D.: i agree.
13:49 - Ken D.: if i saw it right, tanaka is 6-for-13 this tournament
13:51 - Shinigami: hmm, that was a risky steal
13:52 - Shinigami: man, how many pinch had Saitoh gotten himself out of in this tournament?
13:52 - Ken D.: karaburi sanshin!
13:52 - Shinigami: that ball just dropped into the dirt as it approached the plate
13:52 - Shinigami: ohayo~
13:52 - Shinigami: glad to see more people joining in the fun XD
13:53 - Ken D.: hello Brooks-san
13:53 - Ken D.: it's 0-0 mid 4th
13:53 - John Brooks: cool, good fought game so far
13:53 - John Brooks: this is the final game right?
13:53 - Shinigami: yes
13:53 - Ken D.: yes, and now we have a tanaka-saitoh duel
13:54 - Shinigami: both teams had some pinch moments
13:54 - Shinigami: but their ace pitcher got them out of it unscathed
13:56 - Shinigami: Tanaka's finally pitching as everyone expected him to
13:56 - John Brooks: that's was a great pitch there
13:57 - Ken D.: 3rd K for Tanaka
13:58 - Ken D.: in case you missed it, kikuchi started for Komadai
13:58 - Shinigami: haha, finally a hit off Tanaka
13:59 - John Brooks: thanks
13:59 - Ken D.: 0-0 end 4
13:59 - Ken D.: plenty of grounders from both squads
14:00 - John Brooks: also a duel, only 5 or so hits
14:01 - Shinigami: The two pitching are one of the top pitchers in this tournament
14:01 - Shinigami: undoubtedly Saitoh's the no.1 pitcher in this tournament for sure
14:01 - Shinigami: with those stats, there's no argument about it
14:02 - Shinigami: another karaburi sanshin!
14:02 - Ken D.: his ERA for the tourney is ~1.10 so far
14:03 - Shinigami: actually now it's below 1 i think
14:03 - Shinigami: he's given up 6 runs, but only 5 unearned
14:03 - Shinigami: err
14:03 - Shinigami: 5 earned
14:03 - Ken D.: westbay-san said 1 run was unearned, but i di not see that anywhere
14:04 - Shinigami: hmm, really?
14:04 - Ken D.: can you confirm? i see 6 earned
14:04 - Shinigami: lemme see if i can find it or not
14:04 - Ken D.: if it's unearned, then yes, his ERA would be an amazing 0.90
14:05 - John Brooks: how many innings has he pitched
14:05 - Ken D.: he came in with 45IP, and now has gone 5
14:06 - Shinigami: hmm, looking at pregame comments
14:06 - Shinigami: Saitoh said he's totally not tired, and is very confident that they will win today
14:06 - John Brooks: it be .90
14:06 - Ken D.: thank you
14:06 - Shinigami: let's see if he can really hold up for the game...this could go into extras
14:07 - Ken D.: so 1 was unearned
14:07 - John Brooks: b/c ERA is ((ER/IP)*9)
14:07 - Ken D.: yes...
14:08 - Ken D.: i was just trying to find out if he has allowed 5 or 6 ER
14:08 - Ken D.: again, i don't mean to interrupt your watching of the game
14:08 - Shinigami: hmm, cant find it
14:08 - Shinigami: I haven't found a site with this tournament's stats
14:09 - Shinigami: but actually...I think I've seen before in one of the news that it's 6 ER
14:09 - John Brooks: i doubt there would be much website with the stats either
14:09 - John Brooks: its hard 2 come by
14:09 - Ken D.: it's okay, when in doubt, i believe westbay-san's
14:09 - John Brooks: in Japanese or english as coverage is lackluster
14:09 - Shinigami: I tried searching on the web few days ago
14:10 - Shinigami: but couldn't find anything
14:10 - Ken D.: well, the live feed is great
14:10 - Shinigami: agreed
14:10 - Ken D.: oendan interviews are fun...
14:10 - John Brooks: yes it is, esp for Koshien
14:10 - Shinigami: hmm...Waseda BS
14:10 - John Brooks: i was able 2 watch a game a week ago
14:10 - Shinigami: >__>
14:11 - John Brooks: and they are at a early enough time
14:11 - Shinigami: as in case westbay-san sees it, I aint saying anything bad about sojitsu XD
14:12 - Shinigami: it's just the word on the tuba on one of the oueidan member's hand XD
14:12 - Ken D.: are you east coast?
14:12 - Shinigami: yes
14:12 - John Brooks: i am, maryland
14:12 - Ken D.: new york for me
14:12 - Shinigami: toronto here
14:13 - Ken D.: and shinigami is from "Earth"
14:13 - John Brooks: nowhere land
14:13 - Shinigami: luckily I am still in school, so right now it's summer break
14:13 - Shinigami: so I can afford staying up all nite watching the matches these few weeks
14:13 - John Brooks: i live in a small town 45 mins from Baltimore
14:13 - Shinigami: lol XD
14:13 - John Brooks: i go back 2 college on the 30st
14:13 - John Brooks: 30th
14:14 - John Brooks: and can afford also 2 watch these games, which is great
14:14 - John Brooks: since i couldn't in high school so much
14:14 - Shinigami: sept 11th for me, so i got lot more time for more NPB livestreams XD
14:15 - John Brooks: yeah, thats always nice, i don't always get 2 watch so much
14:15 - Ken D.: well, i don't understand that bunt from Nakazawa
14:15 - John Brooks: i usually catch a occasional softbank game
14:15 - John Brooks: hoping that they don't lose again in the playoffs
14:15 - Ken D.: i love watching FSH
14:16 - Ken D.: this is going to be a good postseason and offseason in Japan and North Amer
14:17 - John Brooks: yes it is, softbank and seibu are having a great year
14:17 - John Brooks: both are also close, fighting neck-2-neck
14:18 - Ken D.: saitoh escapes again
14:18 - Shinigami: ya, they're going back and forth right now in the standing
14:18 - Shinigami: he's been doing this all touranment
14:18 - Ken D.: 1 hit over 6
14:18 - Shinigami: everytime he gets into a pinch, he almost gets out unscathed
14:18 - Ken D.: i root for FSH in the PL, but I almost want to see Seibu win so they post Matsuzaka
14:19 - Shinigami: I suppose they still might post him even if they lose this yr
14:19 - Ken D.: true
14:19 - Shinigami: otherwise they dun get a single penny from him if he walks out from FA
14:19 - John Brooks: yeah i do 2
14:19 - Shinigami: I just dun wanna see Matsuzaka in pinstripe
14:20 - John Brooks: though i just hope the yankees dont get him
14:20 - Ken D.: well, back to this game, where the question is becoming who will run out of gas first, Tanaka or Saitoh
14:20 - Shinigami: if the question is running out of gas...then I might have to say it's Saitoh
14:21 - Shinigami: Tanaka's at least got some rest every match
14:21 - Shinigami: hmm...that touchout...
14:21 - Ken D.: Tanaka in a jam now
14:21 - Shinigami: seemed to me he got Higaki
14:21 - Shinigami: but could be the angle
14:21 - John Brooks: yeah, but every time, they pitch a lot here
14:21 - Ken D.: i thought so too
14:21 - Shinigami: true
14:22 - John Brooks: daisuke matsuzaka pitched 250 pitches over 17 innings
14:22 - Shinigami: and Saitoh's shown he can pitch crazy numbers
14:22 - John Brooks: here
14:22 - John Brooks: and all the time they do here
14:22 - Ken D.: matsuzaka isn't human
14:22 - Shinigami: think he threw 220 pitches in the miyagi tournament final
14:22 - Shinigami: 0-0 after 15 or so innings
14:22 - Shinigami: then he came back next day and threw a complete game
14:23 - John Brooks: yeah
14:23 - Shinigami: seems like Saitoh aint human either...if I didn't get my facts wrong
14:23 - Ken D.: Waseda with a golden chance now
14:23 - John Brooks: so far this game it looks
14:24 - Shinigami: Funabashi's been getting the runners in this tournament for waseda
14:24 - Shinigami: here's another chance
14:24 - John Brooks: that was close
14:25 - Shinigami: waseda's attack has been concentrating their hits in 1 or 2 innings
14:25 - Shinigami: this could very possibly be that inning
14:26 - Shinigami: 粘りますね、船橋選手...
14:27 - John Brooks: this has turned in2 quite a fight
14:27 - Shinigami: 8th pitch coming up...
14:27 - Shinigami: slider in?
14:28 - Shinigami: bingo
14:28 - John Brooks: strikeout
14:28 - Ken D.: SANSHIN!
14:28 - Shinigami: had a feeling he'd go for this pitch in this situation
14:28 - Ken D.: Tanaka trying to wiggle off the hook in the 6th
14:28 - John Brooks: and he leaves unscathed
14:29 - Shinigami: hmm...I dun like the way Saitoh's batting this match
14:29 - Ken D.: and he does! what a game
14:29 - John Brooks: what a game, just 7 hits
14:30 - Shinigami: both pitchers are getting the outs when they needed it
14:30 - Shinigami: from great pitching as well
14:30 - Ken D.: only 1 allowed by Saitoh. we go to 7
14:31 - Shinigami: another grounder for Saitoh
14:31 - Ken D.: grounders galore
14:32 - John Brooks: e6, unlucky break
14:32 - Ken D.: E6
14:32 - Shinigami: first error of the game by Gotoh
14:32 - Ken D.: watanabe swung at first pitch earlier, popped up
14:33 - Shinigami: should Komadai bunt him to second?
14:33 - Ken D.: i would not
14:33 - Shinigami: hmm, so they did
14:33 - John Brooks: i wouldn't either
14:33 - Shinigami: i think I would risk it too
14:34 - Shinigami: it doesn't seem Saitoh would give up too many hits
14:34 - Ken D.: they did...and i don't like it now with 2 outs 8 hitter up
14:34 - Shinigami: unless it's a long double, Tanaka wouldn't have scored
14:34 - John Brooks: we'll see, what happens, could be a breakthrough
14:34 - Shinigami: they're taking their chance
14:34 - Shinigami: now a single could score Tanaka
14:34 - Ken D.: yamaguchi to PH
14:35 - Ken D.: they play way too conservative for my tastes
14:35 - Shinigami: man, that slider is really fooling the batter every time
14:35 - Ken D.: i understand your point though
14:36 - Shinigami: this match aint gonna be high scoring
14:36 - Shinigami: 1 run could be the difference
14:36 - Shinigami: hmm, HBP by Saitoh
14:36 - John Brooks: he may be tiring though a bit though
14:37 - Ken D.: he's working his 52nd inning this tourney
14:37 - John Brooks: or could have just lost control of the pitch
14:37 - Shinigami: I also had the tought that Komadai could try to get Saitoh's pitch count as high as possible
14:37 - Shinigami: bcoz he's been pitching all tournament, he really could get tired and lead to pitching errors
14:38 - Shinigami: KARABURI SANSHIN!
14:38 - John Brooks: well he just had another k
14:38 - John Brooks: so it doesn't look like he's that tired
14:39 - Ken D.: this guy is like Teflon
14:39 - Shinigami: 140 km high fastball
14:39 - John Brooks: still 7 hits, 1 error, 0 runs
14:40 - Ken D.: 0.87 ERA for Saitoh
14:40 - Shinigami: some newspaper are already calling Saitoh 'Araki 2-sei'
14:40 - Shinigami: Tanaka's doing just as good as Saitoh here
14:41 - Ken D.: deanna's missing a great game...
14:41 - Shinigami: this game really be decided by 1 run
14:42 - Shinigami: if I am correct I think there's only been one fly ball out of the infield
14:42 - Shinigami: no wait, two i think
14:42 - Shinigami: one for Saitoh and one for Tanaka
14:42 - Shinigami: Everything's been K's or groundouts
14:42 - Ken D.: i see 3 in the boxscore
14:43 - Shinigami: hmm, maybe an early fly ball for kikuchi
14:43 - Shinigami: here's one more
14:43 - Ken D.: funabashi, hionma, watanambe (in no order)
14:43 - Ken D.: honma, rather
14:44 - Shinigami: thanks for the stat XD
14:45 - Shinigami: man, we should've had more of these live chat earlier in the tournament
14:45 - John Brooks: another k
14:45 - Shinigami: especially that 13-12 thriller the other day
14:45 - Shinigami: another batter down on the kousoku slider
14:45 - John Brooks: westbay-san has busy, those the chat room has been nice
14:45 - Shinigami: Tanaka's killer pitch
14:45 - Ken D.: yes, this has been fun.
14:46 - Shinigami: ya...too bad, but I'm already glad we can chat right now for the finals
14:46 - Ken D.: we did it last year during Japan series, had about 10 people or so
14:46 - John Brooks: esp 2 interact during the games
14:46 - John Brooks: yeah, i was here during last yr's game 3
14:47 - Ken D.: anyone notice Tanaka's pitch speed? i havent been watching it
14:47 - John Brooks: it was pretty fun, during the morning
14:47 - John Brooks: that was around 121 km
14:47 - Ken D.: nice pick at 3rd
14:47 - Shinigami: he's in the high 130s with his fastball
14:48 - Shinigami: and between 120-128 on his sliders
14:48 - Ken D.: i can't believe 0-0 after 7. especially since they have been homer happy this month
14:48 - Shinigami: well, with these two pitching, u aint gonna get much hits
14:48 - Ken D.: thanks
14:49 - Ken D.: yeah, but even with the other "ace picthers" i have seen this touney, they have been giving up runs
14:50 - Shinigami: ok
14:50 - John Brooks: theres ur run
14:50 - Shinigami: now it's getting interest
14:50 - Shinigami: ing
14:50 - John Brooks: might be our only run
14:50 - Ken D.: THERE IT IS
14:50 - Shinigami: yes, could very possibly be
14:51 - Ken D.: fastball down the pike
14:51 - Shinigami: he's putting more stuffs on his pitches now
14:52 - Shinigami: that's the only run they can give up....more would be hard to catch back
14:53 - John Brooks: yeah, with the way its been 2-day, any more would be 2 much
14:53 - John Brooks: though they got out unscatherd
14:53 - John Brooks: w/o anymore
14:53 - Shinigami: 6 more outs for sojitsu now...
14:53 - John Brooks: 1 run, 2 hits
14:53 - John Brooks: baseball is a weird game
14:54 - Shinigami: Saitoh putting extra stuffs into his sliders
14:54 - Shinigami: yes it sure is
14:54 - Shinigami: that's what makes it interesting sometimes tho XD
14:54 - Shinigami: 1 or 2 runs is all it takes in a pitching duel
14:54 - Ken D.: will waseda have an answer? let's watch...
14:55 - Shinigami: Saitoh vs Tanaka
14:55 - Shinigami: OHhh myyy....
14:55 - Shinigami: that was close
14:55 - John Brooks: that was close
14:56 - Ken D.: OH!
14:56 - Shinigami: he's had one HR already in this tournament
14:56 - Shinigami: the guy can hit
14:56 - Shinigami: that's why I was wondering what he was thinking with his earlier swings
14:57 - Shinigami: err wait
14:57 - Shinigami: nevermind
14:57 - Shinigami: that was not Saitoh
14:57 - Shinigami: ok, here's their chance
14:57 - John Brooks: there could be a chance
14:58 - Shinigami: sorry it was kawanishi who almost hitted it out, i could messed up by yahoo's scoreboard
14:58 - Ken D.: this game is a dandy
14:58 - Shinigami: slider hit into left-midfield
14:59 - Shinigami: then a throwing error gets higaki to 3rd
14:59 - Shinigami: 1 out runner on 3rd...
14:59 - John Brooks: yahoo is slow 2 reload sometimes
14:59 - John Brooks: 1-1 now
14:59 - Shinigami: ok
14:59 - John Brooks: sac fly
14:59 - Shinigami: we're back on terms now
14:59 - Ken D.: Gotoh ties it with sac fly
15:00 - Shinigami: here we go again...
15:00 - Shinigami: man, if the wind blows a bit harder
15:00 - Shinigami: it'd be 2-1 now
15:00 - Ken D.: as we hit the 2 hour mark
15:00 - John Brooks: any 1 knows how hot it is there
15:00 - Ken D.: i can check
15:00 - John Brooks: looks like theres nearly no wind
15:02 - Ken D.: about 90F, with humidity feels like 100+
15:02 - Shinigami: according to yahoo it's 28 degrees celcius
15:02 - Shinigami: no, 32 now
15:02 - John Brooks: yeah, it seemed very hot, by looking at the feed
15:02 - John Brooks: throughout the series
15:03 - Shinigami: there u go with the wind XD
15:03 - Ken D.: that's about right
15:03 - John Brooks: and like there's been no wind
15:03 - Ken D.: yes, it's been about 100
15:04 - Shinigami: blooper by tanaka
15:04 - Shinigami: 1 out runner on 1st
15:04 - Shinigami: let's see if komadai can pick up anything here
15:04 - John Brooks: looks like there trying 2 move the runner over again
15:05 - Shinigami: looking for the sac bunt again
15:05 - Shinigami: double play here?
15:06 - John Brooks: k
15:06 - Shinigami: another k on the slider
15:07 - Shinigami: both Saitoh and Tanaka possess a sharp slider
15:07 - John Brooks: there's a fc, 2 end the inning
15:07 - Ken D.: even in japan they have remote shots of anxious fans
15:07 - John Brooks: 1-1, wonder if were going 2 go 2 extras
15:08 - Shinigami: with the bottom of the lineup coming up for waseda...
15:08 - Shinigami: i think we will go to extras
15:08 - Shinigami: how bout a Saitoh sayonara homerun? lol
15:09 - John Brooks: that be a nice script
15:09 - Ken D.: not with that swing
15:09 - John Brooks: and the papers have a field day 2-morrow
15:09 - Shinigami: haha, true
15:09 - John Brooks: or 2-day
15:10 - Shinigami: he's gonna be busy the rest of his summer
15:11 - Ken D.: welcome westbay-san!!
15:11 - Shinigami: good day westbay-san
15:11 - Ken D.: we have seen a classic
15:11 - Shinigami: just in time for a great game
15:11 - westbaystars: Thanks. I just got home.
15:11 - John Brooks: hello westbay-san
15:11 - westbaystars: 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth. Two down now.
15:12 - Shinigami: 1 down
15:12 - Ken D.: the picthing has been superb
15:12 - Shinigami: 2 down now
15:12 - John Brooks: going 2 extras
15:12 - Shinigami: hmm, so we're a bit slow with the livestreaming?
15:12 - John Brooks: my mistake
15:12 - Ken D.: i figured we were
15:12 - westbaystars: Looks that way. And if I'm reading the aabove log correctly, it was just tied in the top of the 9th?
15:13 - John Brooks: correct
15:13 - westbaystars: Strike out. Three down.
15:13 - westbaystars: Going to extra innings.
15:13 - Ken D.: 8th...
15:13 - Ken D.: komadai HR and waseda answered in the bottom
15:13 - Shinigami: another one down on that killer kousoku slider
15:13 - John Brooks: now were going 2 extras
15:14 - Shinigami: 8th
15:14 - westbaystars: Ah, I see the scoreboard now. Both teams scored in the 8th.
15:14 - Shinigami: komadai scored with a homer in the top of the 8th
15:14 - Ken D.: and thanks to your hosting, we have had a great time chatting about the game
15:14 - Shinigami: and higaki hitted a double and moved to 3rd on a throwing error in the bottom with 1 out
15:15 - Shinigami: gotoh's sac fly scored the run
15:15 - Ken D.: gotoh sac fly
15:15 - Shinigami: yes, thx for the hosting
15:15 - John Brooks: once again thanks for the chat room and hosting
15:16 - westbaystars: Saitoh strikes out the first batter on three pitches. This is a pitchers' duel.
15:16 - Shinigami: another k
15:16 - westbaystars: My pleasure. You're my core audience.
15:16 - westbaystars: The fans.
15:16 - Ken D.: who are you pulling for, westbay-san?
15:16 - Shinigami: he's only gave up two hits so far
15:16 - John Brooks: indeed, 1 of the better games ive seen
15:17 - Ken D.: sorry if you've mentioned already
15:17 - Shinigami: i think it's komadai?
15:17 - John Brooks: yes, 1 run 2 hits i think
15:17 - westbaystars: Swings and misses a slider low and away. Two down.
15:17 - westbaystars: I'm pulling for Komadai.
15:17 - westbaystars: But Saitoh looks very impressive.
15:17 - John Brooks: another k
15:18 - Ken D.: we all gree
15:18 - Ken D.: agree
15:18 - westbaystars: Next batter grounds out to the right side with Saitoh covering. Komadai retired in order.
15:18 - Shinigami: hmm, i think i will have to wait till the end of the inning before i look here XD
15:18 - Ken D.: we didn't see that yet...
15:18 - Shinigami: I am scared I'll get spoiled with a sayonara homer XD
15:18 - westbaystars: Shall I stop?
15:19 - Ken D.: you can write your recap with one word: grounders
15:19 - John Brooks: yeah, lots of ground balls
15:20 - Ken D.: i'm okay with it...you are watching on TV, right?
15:21 - John Brooks: did any1 catch the speed of that last pitch
15:22 - westbaystars: Yes, I'm watching terristrial TV, which could be a minute over Internet streaming. 20-30 seconds over satilite TV.
15:22 - Ken D.: missed it, sorry
15:22 - John Brooks: its ok
15:23 - westbaystars: Since asking, I've only seen 128s.
15:23 - Ken D.: by our calcualtions Saitoh's tourney ERA is 0.98 or so
15:23 - John Brooks: full count
15:24 - John Brooks: going 2 the top of the 11th
15:24 - Ken D.: we've played 10 full
15:24 - Shinigami: ha, well, i'd add in another word
15:24 - Shinigami: grounders and k's
15:25 - westbaystars: The Komadai run was earned, so that's 6 earned in 55 innings: 0.98 looks right.
15:26 - John Brooks: there's a leadoff hit
15:26 - John Brooks: could be a start
15:26 - westbaystars: Saitoh only needed 5 Ks for a new record, I think I'd read.
15:26 - Ken D.: single to start the inning
15:26 - Shinigami: sharp liner down the middle...no out runner on 1st
15:26 - Shinigami: yes, that's what the commentator said
15:26 - Ken D.: captain honma up
15:27 - Shinigami: kuwata of PL gakuin i think
15:27 - Shinigami: or now of giants'
15:27 - westbaystars: How about walks? He thew with none yesterday. (Hit a batter now.)
15:27 - John Brooks: a HBP
15:27 - Shinigami: had 2 i think
15:28 - Shinigami: 2 HBP and 2 balls
15:28 - Ken D.: danger time for Saitoh
15:28 - Shinigami: yes...finally another pinch
15:28 - Shinigami: first since like the 3rd inning
15:28 - John Brooks: yes, its a situation right now
15:28 - Ken D.: i see 3 walks in the boxscore
15:28 - John Brooks: also w/the bunt 2
15:29 - John Brooks: 2 runners in scoring position
15:29 - Shinigami: good bunt
15:29 - Shinigami: hmm, Tanaka could be the hero here if he can score the runner
15:29 - Shinigami: and then close it out in the bottom of the inning
15:29 - John Brooks: 1 down now, and 2 in scoring position
15:30 - westbaystars: Announcer regarding the meeting on the mound: "Everyone closed their eyes and become one."
15:30 - Ken D.: Tanaka can become a legend here
15:30 - Shinigami: or maybe a walk to tanaka and then hope for a DP?
15:30 - Shinigami: bingo
15:31 - John Brooks: yes looks like what there planning
15:31 - Shinigami: might be the best way to do it right now...
15:31 - Ken D.: good call gents
15:31 - westbaystars: Bases loaded. One out.
15:32 - Shinigami: Saitoh's going all out now...
15:32 - Ken D.: if Saitoh gets out of this...
15:33 - Shinigami: what a surprise play...
15:33 - John Brooks: a suicide squeze
15:33 - Ken D.: OH!!!!
15:33 - Shinigami: missed squeeze...nakazawa gunned down
15:33 - John Brooks: im not so sure i would have done that in this game
15:33 - westbaystars: Oh, that blown squeeze hurt! As you'll see next.
15:33 - Shinigami: yes...
15:34 - Shinigami: it hurts bad now
15:34 - John Brooks: as that would of been the go ahead run
15:34 - Ken D.: yamaguchi to bat
15:34 - John Brooks: really bad now
15:34 - Shinigami: flyout
15:34 - Shinigami: really bad now
15:35 - Ken D.: SAITOH isn't human
15:35 - Shinigami: that play could cost them dearly
15:35 - westbaystars: Blown sqeeze with one out, catching the runner diving back into third.
15:35 - Shinigami: what's saitoh's pitch count at now?
15:35 - westbaystars: Follow that with a base hit through the left side, then a fly out to right to end the inning.
15:36 - Ken D.: westbay-san, saitoh has gotten out of jams all day
15:36 - westbaystars: Argh! I have yet to see a sqeeze work in this tournament.
15:36 - Shinigami: he's been doing it all tournament
15:36 - Shinigami: not just today
15:36 - Shinigami: deanna, welcome back
15:36 - Deanna: Oh my god, that inning was insane.
15:36 - Deanna: I got home just in time for the ninth inning and just remembered about the chatroom
15:36 - Ken D.: hi deanna!
15:37 - John Brooks: welcome back
15:37 - westbaystars: Hi Deanna. 1-1 in the bottom of the 11th. Nobody out.
15:37 - Deanna: I know this may have already been asked, but why does Waseda have homefield instead of Komadai?
15:37 - westbaystars: So has Tanaka been throwing better?
15:38 - Shinigami: he's been great today
15:38 - westbaystars: I'm still not sure how home and away are chosen.
15:38 - Shinigami: i thought he pitched well yesterday as well
15:38 - Ken D.: Kikuchi started...tanake came in after 2 2/3
15:38 - Shinigami: seems like he's finally returned to how everyone expected him to perform
15:39 - Deanna: Komadai had homefield for every other game they played... I figured it had something to do with seeding.
15:39 - Shinigami: could it be the draw on who gets homefield?
15:39 - Shinigami: i have no idea
15:40 - Ken D.: i couldn't figure it out either
15:40 - westbaystars: First base and third base side is decided by the tree. But I haven't noticed if the side has decided home or away.
15:40 - Deanna: It makes a pretty big difference in a situation like this,, heh
15:40 - Deanna: Ooooh, nice pitch there.
15:41 - Ken D.: well, i think 3rd base side has been home team...again, just from observing
15:41 - westbaystars: I'd much rather be the home team in a close one like this.
15:42 - Shinigami: Funabashi's been struggling all day
15:42 - Ken D.: so, i'll ask it. is this the best final since Matsuzaka's gem?
15:43 - John Brooks: ive never seen it, just heard of it
15:43 - westbaystars: Back to Saitoh's strike outs, it was Matsuzaka who threw 54 strike outs in the 1998 tournament.
15:43 - Deanna: WOW.
15:43 - John Brooks: though how many pitches have we had both sides
15:43 - John Brooks: nice catch
15:43 - westbaystars: Matsuzaka's was the quarter finals, and that's what got me watching Koshien.
15:44 - Shinigami: never seen it also
15:44 - John Brooks: amazing
15:44 - Shinigami: altho i was in japan for vacationback in1998
15:44 - westbaystars: Matsuzaka's gem, that is. Nothing after that battle with PL seemed to come close.
15:44 - Shinigami: and it was matsuzaka on newspaper everyday
15:44 - Ken D.: and the final was a no-hitter?
15:44 - Deanna: Oh, I meant wow to Okagawa's catch, but 54 strikeouts is a wow too
15:44 - Shinigami: yes
15:45 - Ken D.: i'm tired, let's call it a tie
15:45 - Ken D.:
15:45 - Shinigami: that was basically the first time i knew about koshien...1998 summer
15:45 - Deanna: I've never gotten to watch Koshien before. I'm so glad they're streaming it over the net
15:45 - Shinigami: and the first time i've heard about a japanese player
15:45 - Ken D.: me too. this is my first
15:46 - John Brooks: i haven't either, it been nice, also 2 be able 2 experience it
15:46 - Shinigami: same here, haha
15:46 - John Brooks: since i missed the PBS special
15:46 - Deanna: yeah. I'll finally get to go to the actual stadium in a few weeks, hopefully
15:46 - Deanna: (going to Japan for the first half of september, yay)
15:47 - John Brooks: ive been following it for a while, but w/o
15:47 - Deanna: oh, the PBS special didn't actually have the actual tournament in it. It just followed Tennoji and Chiben through
15:47 - Deanna: their training and stuff.
15:47 - Ken D.: the PBS special didn't show much of the tourney (if any)
15:47 - John Brooks: anyway 2 follow it, it's been hard
15:47 - John Brooks: yeah, thats what i heard
15:47 - westbaystars: Saitoh just threw his 11th K of the day.
15:47 - Shinigami: someone did post yokohama-PL gakuin's match on youtube a week ago
15:47 - Shinigami: but it's gone now
15:47 - Ken D.: asahi.com made it easy
15:47 - westbaystars: That surpasses Matsuzaka by a good distance.
15:48 - John Brooks: from what i heard it just followed a few tms, and interviews
15:48 - Ken D.: maps, matchups, stats, and of course, live stream
15:48 - Deanna: was it PL or Toin?
15:48 - Shinigami: i mean the 17th inning marathon
15:48 - Shinigami: in 1998
15:48 - Deanna: ohhhh
15:48 - Deanna: neat, I'll have to hunt it down
15:48 - Shinigami: Saitoh's slider has been deadly thruout the tournament
15:49 - Deanna: Holy carp
15:49 - Shinigami: just went back and look, seems like it's gone tho
15:49 - Ken D.: westbay-san, what happens if we're tied after 15 innings?
15:49 - Shinigami: anther k
15:49 - John Brooks: another k
15:49 - westbaystars: The quarter-final in 1998 was between Yokohama (Matsuzaka) and PL Gakuin. Matsuzaka threw 250 pitches for the win.
15:49 - Shinigami: koshien goes to however long it takes
15:49 - Shinigami: i think
15:49 - westbaystars: Was it 15 innings?
15:49 - Shinigami: 17th
15:50 - John Brooks: yeah it was 17
15:50 - John Brooks: 250 pitches
15:50 - Shinigami: unless they changed rules recently
15:50 - westbaystars: I'm not sure what happens after 15 innings. I hope they continue. But with only 18 players on each bench, ...
15:51 - Shinigami: otherwise i suppose it will continue until we have a winner
15:51 - westbaystars: ... I would understand them calling it a rematch.
15:51 - Ken D.: i see they only have 15 on the scoreboard...
15:51 - John Brooks: yeah with only 18 players
15:52 - westbaystars: They only add 3 at a time. Scoreboard programming.
15:52 - Deanna: wow, two popups to catcher in a row. nice
15:52 - Shinigami: so it's going to continue pass 15 right?
15:53 - John Brooks: yeah, scoreboards only add so much at a time
15:53 - Shinigami: ozawa's starting to warm up
15:53 - westbaystars: Won't know 'til it happens.
15:53 - Shinigami: for waseda
15:53 - Ken D.: okay, sorry to stir up panic
15:53 - Ken D.: catcher busy...
15:54 - Shinigami: that was almost the 3rd catcher flyout there
15:54 - westbaystars: Tanaka has been perfect since I joined the game.
15:54 - Shinigami: he's been great this whole match
15:55 - Deanna: heh, yeah
15:55 - Ken D.: he was getting hit earlier. has been getting stronger, if you can belive
15:55 - John Brooks: going 2 the 13th
15:55 - John Brooks: yeah, its been unreal all day
15:55 - Ken D.: we are nearing 3 hours
15:55 - Ken D.: most games i saw took 1:30 to 2 hours
15:56 - Shinigami: he escaped from two pinches earlier in the game
15:56 - Shinigami: then after that he's been close to perfect
15:56 - westbaystars: The other games I'd seen seemed that way. Tanaka would give up runs early, then be strong in the end.
15:57 - John Brooks: yeah the other gm i saw was about 2 hrs
15:57 - Deanna: Nakagawa singles to left... Honma bunts...
15:57 - Shinigami: Tanaka hasn't been pitching that well until yesterday
15:57 - Shinigami: 1 out runner on 2nd now...
15:57 - John Brooks: moves 2 second, 1 down
15:58 - Deanna: err Nakazawa
15:58 - Deanna: sorry, we're trying to keep track of stuff when it happens for the game log too, right?
15:58 - Shinigami: washiya at bat...
15:58 - westbaystars: Yes. I'm trying not to spoil it for those of you getting the stream.
15:59 - Deanna: oh, are we delayed?
15:59 - John Brooks: k
15:59 - Ken D.: westbay-san has the benefit of tv
15:59 - Shinigami: karaburi sanshin
15:59 - Deanna: Washiya strikes out, Tanaka up to bat...
15:59 - westbaystars: You're buffered, which acts as a type of delay.
15:59 - John Brooks: the stream seems 2 be delayed a few seconds
15:59 - John Brooks: like westbay-san said
16:00 - Ken D.: is all of Japan glued to the TV?
16:00 - Deanna: ahh, okay.
16:00 - John Brooks: b/c of tv
16:00 - John Brooks: it is koshien, and many are there or watching it
16:01 - Shinigami: i was a little scared we'd be lagging today
16:01 - Shinigami: coz it was kinda bad yesterday in the begininng
16:01 - Shinigami: but so far it's been good
16:01 - Deanna: okay, am I the only person who gets really scared watching an ace pitcher sliding headfirst into first?
16:02 - John Brooks: no, it is scary when ur ace pitcher slides
16:02 - John Brooks: but this is koshien and the intesity is high
16:02 - Ken D.: no...and it's not a good play either.
16:02 - John Brooks: for all of the players
16:02 - Shinigami: haha, it is
16:02 - westbaystars: No, you're not. The first thing they teach the kids on my son's team is to (1) never slide into first, and ...
16:02 - Shinigami: but japanese players does it
16:02 - westbaystars: ... (2) never head slide.
16:02 - John Brooks: so i understand, but don't like it
16:03 - Shinigami: no?
16:03 - Shinigami: but i've seen many do it so far
16:03 - Ken D.: I saw reyes (mets) get spiked get 7 stitches
16:03 - John Brooks: yeah, they talk about the need 2 ban head first slides
16:03 - John Brooks: which i think they need 2
16:04 - Ken D.: you're probably faster running through the bag
16:04 - John Brooks: definetly, as u slow down sliding head first
16:04 - Deanna: Sasaki fouls a ball off his head... that's gotta hurt.
16:04 - westbaystars: Banning it is going to be hard. Part of Koshien is "guts play" - and the head first slide is it's poster child.
16:04 - Shinigami: lucky it flew behind him
16:05 - Shinigami: if it hit his eyes or something...
16:05 - John Brooks: yeah
16:05 - Shinigami: another one striking out on a slider by the ace pitcher
16:05 - westbaystars: Waseda gets their first base runner since the 8th.
16:05 - John Brooks: though the scary part is when some1 gets seriously hurt
16:05 - John Brooks: nice bunt
16:06 - Shinigami: let's hope we dun see anyone hurt here in such a great game
16:06 - Shinigami: nice bunt
16:06 - John Brooks: me 2
16:06 - westbaystars: Bunt base hit followed by a sacrifice bunt puts the sayonara runner at second with two down.
16:06 - Shinigami: ok...here we go again...
16:06 - Shinigami: runner on 2nd, 2 out
16:06 - Ken D.: i forget which team, but one of the CFs was hurt earlier in the tourney
16:06 - Shinigami: we've seen this situation many times already
16:07 - Shinigami: both pitchers' got out of this jam a few times now
16:08 - westbaystars: Wild pitch. Sayonara runner at third base.
16:08 - Deanna: ugh, runner on third, 2 out
16:08 - John Brooks: wild pitch
16:08 - westbaystars: I'll say no more until everyone's seen what ever transpires.
16:08 - Deanna: uhoh
16:09 - John Brooks: i dont get that last pitch
16:09 - Shinigami: thx westbay-san
16:09 - Deanna: the intentional walk just happened here
16:09 - Deanna: uhh... and they're intentionally walking gotoh too?
16:09 - westbaystars: May I just say, they're walking the bases loaded intentionally.
16:09 - Deanna: yeah
16:09 - Shinigami: gonna walk gotoh and higaki to pitch to the struggling funabashi?
16:09 - Shinigami: yes
16:09 - Shinigami: that's what they're doing
16:09 - John Brooks: it looks that way
16:10 - Shinigami: funabashi's 0-6 today...striking out twice
16:10 - Deanna: yup. here's funabashi.
16:10 - Shinigami: might as well do it, bcoz higaki and gotoh are two of only a few to get hits off tanaki
16:10 - Deanna: i have a bad feeling about this.
16:10 - westbaystars: It doesn't get much more dramatic than this. Either way.
16:10 - Deanna: it probably comes from watching richie sexson hit grand slams in this situation all the time.
16:10 - Ken D.: i have him as 0-5 so far
16:11 - John Brooks: still .000
16:11 - Shinigami: yes...mistake
16:11 - Shinigami: 0-6 now
16:11 - John Brooks: and 1-1 2 the 14th
16:11 - Shinigami: now that was a thriller
16:11 - Ken D.: Well, that was anti-climactic...
16:12 - Shinigami: seen too many times a 0 for batter hit game winning hits
16:12 - westbaystars: Ground out to the second baseman who, after spinning in circles, takes the ball to the second base bag to retire the sid
16:12 - Ken D.: the groundout, i mean
16:12 - John Brooks: def, scary 2
16:12 - Ken D.: i need a towel
16:12 - Shinigami: we might need to wait till one of the ace pitcher's arm falls off before we get another run
16:13 - John Brooks: leadoff single
16:13 - Deanna: yes. that was incredibly dramatic. westbay totally psyched me out!
16:13 - Ken D.: up the gap!
16:13 - Shinigami: runner on 1st...okakawa singled to middle
16:14 - John Brooks: here comes a bunt situation
16:14 - westbaystars: Watch this. Is this a strike?
16:14 - Ken D.: i thought that ball was hit harder....my bad
16:14 - westbaystars: 3rd pitch, that is.
16:14 - John Brooks: yeah, i did 2
16:14 - John Brooks: doesn't matter, 4th was
16:15 - Shinigami: i thought it was
16:15 - Ken D.: wow, that was a rough AB
16:15 - westbaystars: I haven't had any problem with any calls this tournament, but that one looked awful good.
16:15 - Shinigami: altho if that was a strike on the 3rd play
16:16 - John Brooks: out, 2 down, runner at 3rd
16:16 - Shinigami: we'd at most have a runner at 2nd
16:16 - westbaystars: And I have to admit, the umpiring here has been superior to even the pros.
16:16 - Shinigami: or maybe it'd be a DP
16:16 - John Brooks: yeah it did
16:16 - Shinigami: now it's 2 out runner on 3rd
16:16 - Ken D.: almost a costly fumble
16:16 - Shinigami: and he gets out unscathed again
16:16 - John Brooks: out of it again
16:17 - John Brooks: bottom 14
16:17 - Shinigami: ya, if that fumble led to a infield basehit...
16:17 - Shinigami: then it'd be a sac fly...
16:17 - westbaystars: Third batter grounded out to second, who fumbled the ball a bit before throwing to first for the force.
16:18 - Ken D.: the flags are flying...there is some wind
16:18 - westbaystars: Runner went from second to third. He stole second on the strikeout pitch by the second batter.
16:18 - Ken D.: we had that debate about 6 innings ago...the weather
16:18 - John Brooks: which is why i like baseball, what if?
16:18 - westbaystars: Fourth batter popped out deep to just left of center.
16:18 - Shinigami: they showed the flags in the 5th or so inning
16:18 - Shinigami: wind was bigger back then
16:19 - westbaystars: Waseda leads off with Saitoh, who's 1 for 6 so far today.
16:19 - Shinigami: he's not gonna do anything in his AB
16:19 - Shinigami: his swings today is awful
16:19 - Ken D.: his only hit a single in the 4th
16:20 - Shinigami: lol
16:20 - John Brooks: a long foul ball
16:20 - Shinigami: i might need to take back my words, lol
16:20 - Ken D.: i don't know about awful, but he did mail one AB in
16:20 - westbaystars: What about a bad hop grounder?
16:20 - Deanna: uhoh.
16:20 - Shinigami: uhoh...
16:20 - John Brooks: nice hit there
16:20 - Deanna: wow, did that ball really just sort of hop over that guy's head?
16:21 - John Brooks: leadoff single
16:21 - Shinigami: sayonara runner on first
16:21 - John Brooks: or good luck
16:21 - John Brooks: pick whatever u like
16:21 - John Brooks: another nice bunt
16:21 - Shinigami: lol...i've said it many times today already...
16:21 - Shinigami: 1 out runner on 2nd
16:21 - Deanna: woooo
16:21 - Ken D.: bunt advances runner
16:21 - Deanna: saitoh tagged out running to third
16:22 - John Brooks: bad baserunning
16:22 - westbaystars: Yes, Saitoh hit a grounder to the right side that hit something and bounced way over the second baseman's head.
16:22 - John Brooks: 2 down
16:22 - Shinigami: runner is gone
16:22 - Shinigami: back to first
16:22 - Ken D.: head-up play!
16:22 - westbaystars: After being sacrificed to second, the next batter grounded the ball to the left side.
16:22 - westbaystars: The shortstop threw to thrid as Saitoh ran in front of him, and cut Saitoh down.
16:22 - Deanna: and a 5-3 play ends the inning.
16:23 - westbaystars: Bad baserunning, as Brooks-san said.
16:23 - John Brooks: and im on lag
16:23 - Shinigami: 15th...
16:23 - John Brooks: but 5-3 2 end the inning
16:23 - westbaystars: Then a ground out to third ends the inning.
16:23 - John Brooks: 15th here we come
16:23 - Shinigami: we might see the longest game since the 17th thing by yokohama-pl gakuin
16:23 - John Brooks: oh boy what a duel
16:23 - westbaystars: Hey, I missed the first 8 1/2 innings, but I feel like I've gotten to watch a whole game now.
16:24 - John Brooks: best pitched game ive seen i must say
16:24 - Shinigami: lol, u sure have XD
16:24 - Ken D.: do we get a second oendan interview?
16:25 - westbaystars: May I ask, what is XD?
16:26 - Shinigami: it's just a smilie...
16:26 - Shinigami: like : )
16:26 - Ken D.: (i think it's his smiley)
16:26 - Ken D.: meanwhile, saitoh works his *15th inning*
16:27 - John Brooks: k
16:27 - Ken D.: sanshin
16:27 - Shinigami: 144 km/h
16:27 - westbaystars: 145 kph 出た!
16:27 - Shinigami: what's his k total now?
16:28 - John Brooks: 147 kph
16:28 - Deanna: 147!
16:28 - Ken D.: 147
16:28 - westbaystars: I remember #12 an inning or two ago.
16:28 - Shinigami: これが尻上がりって言うかな？
16:28 - westbaystars: He struck out the first batter here, so that's at least 13.
16:28 - Ken D.: 92 mph
16:28 - John Brooks: 147
16:28 - westbaystars: 146
16:29 - John Brooks: full count
16:29 - Shinigami: he's been throwing heater the whole AB
16:29 - John Brooks: k
16:29 - Deanna: gah
16:29 - Deanna: that's INSANE
16:29 - John Brooks: bottom 15, amazing
16:29 - Shinigami: did the game just started?
16:29 - westbaystars: 178th pitch is another K.
16:29 - Shinigami: now that was insane
16:30 - Ken D.: karaburi sanshin!!!
16:30 - Shinigami: they were fortunate he only had 117 pitches yesterday
16:30 - John Brooks: it seems so
16:30 - westbaystars: Commentators yesterday mentioned his pitch count was low yesterday.
16:30 - John Brooks: or he has a bionic arm
16:30 - Shinigami: it was 117
16:31 - Shinigami: i saw it on the news before the game started
16:31 - John Brooks: that helps
16:32 - John Brooks: k
16:32 - John Brooks: amazing
16:32 - Shinigami: pitcher duel
16:32 - westbaystars: 141kph for Tanaka.
16:33 - westbaystars: Not as impressive after Saitoh, huh.
16:33 - Ken D.: 16 k's for saitoh and how many for Tanaka?
16:33 - westbaystars: The walk is his first that was not intensional.
16:33 - John Brooks: but still impressive
16:33 - John Brooks: he's been so great so long
16:33 - John Brooks: 1 out walk
16:35 - westbaystars: Watch out for Tanaka's pick off move. It's been great all tournament.
16:35 - Shinigami: greating timing for waseda
16:35 - Shinigami: higaki and gotoh
16:36 - John Brooks: there's the flags again
16:37 - westbaystars: I believe that was Tanaka's 10th strike out.
16:37 - John Brooks: k
16:37 - Shinigami: k!
16:37 - John Brooks: this is unreal
16:37 - Shinigami: yes
16:37 - Shinigami: 10th k
16:37 - Shinigami: 3rd straight match with double digit k's
16:37 - Ken D.: how many is that for Tanaka?
16:37 - Shinigami: should be his 10th
16:37 - Ken D.: oh, sorry, 10
16:37 - westbaystars: Game over. They're going to have a rematch.
16:37 - Shinigami: commentator mentioned he's reach double digits in k's for the 3rd straight match
16:38 - Deanna: Errrr
16:38 - westbaystars: Looks like they're only going 15.
16:38 - Shinigami: err...
16:38 - Shinigami: so are we gonna continue tomolo? lol
16:38 - Deanna: When do they do the rematch?
16:38 - John Brooks: good fought game, rather have a rematch, then a injury
16:38 - Shinigami: true
16:39 - westbaystars: I'll have that information soon.
16:39 - Shinigami: i dun mind coming back another day to watch it again
16:39 - John Brooks: yeah when is the re-match
16:39 - John Brooks: me 2
16:39 - Ken D.: unfortunately, my suspicion came true
16:39 - John Brooks: yeah, but a young pitcher's health is always important 2
16:39 - John Brooks: esp at this high pitch count
16:40 - Shinigami: this is just great, glad abc's doing online streaming this yr
16:40 - John Brooks: esp after 2-days gem
16:40 - Shinigami: did they implement this in recent yrs?
16:40 - John Brooks: me 2, hopefully it continues
16:40 - Ken D.: well, now we can tell everyone on the forums to join us tomorrow!!
16:40 - John Brooks: in the future
16:40 - Shinigami: the stop-at-15th inning
16:40 - Shinigami: yes, i suppose more people will be interested in watching it now
16:41 - Shinigami: it's just too good to miss
16:41 - Deanna: Wouldn't it be dangerous to the pitcher's arms to keep going tomorrow?
16:41 - John Brooks: esp after 2-days game
16:41 - Deanna: (well... I guess Waseda played what, three days straight...)
16:41 - Shinigami: i'd say so...
16:41 - Shinigami: but that's what they've been doing all these yrs
16:41 - John Brooks: yeah, but 2 keep going 2-day would be more dangerous
16:41 - westbaystars: Saitoh: 178 pitches, Tanaka: 165 pitches
16:41 - Deanna: and do they play another full game or do they just keep going at sudden death?
16:41 - Shinigami: deanna: yes, waseda played 3 straight days
16:42 - John Brooks: and going these long pitch counts is dangerous 2 pitchers
16:42 - Shinigami: and saitoh pitched in every inning
16:42 - westbaystars: The TV announcers are saying that the game will be tomorrow.
16:42 - Shinigami: 60 innings now for saitoh
16:42 - John Brooks: cool
16:42 - John Brooks: so do they start a new game or continue from here
16:43 - Shinigami: tomorrow at 1 again
16:43 - Shinigami: 12 EST
16:43 - Ken D.: ERA of 0.90 - Saitoh
16:43 - John Brooks: so a whole new game
16:43 - Shinigami: whole new game
16:43 - John Brooks: thanks
16:43 - Ken D.: over 60 IP
16:43 - Deanna: are there box scores somewhere? I just see the text recaps on yahoo
16:44 - westbaystars: It'll be a full game starting from the first inning and not ending until the 9th (or 15th).
16:44 - Ken D.: i was watching the boxscore on asahi.com
16:45 - Shinigami: so anyone's got saitoh's total k's in this tournament now?
16:45 - westbaystars: http://koshien.asahi.co.jp/highlight/index.html never posted box scores, just line scores.
16:45 - Deanna: just kidding
16:45 - Deanna: 147!
16:46 - Deanna: heh, that went in the wrong order
16:46 - John Brooks: yeah the box score would be hard 2 find, or near impossible
16:46 - Shinigami: his fastest pitch so far in this tournament is 149km/h
16:46 - Deanna: well, so they have a recount at http://sports.yahoo.co.jp/baseball/hs/scores/2006/summer/live/0820a.html
16:46 - Deanna: so one could construct the box score if they weren't lazy like me.
16:47 - Ken D.: i will link to the box...
16:47 - Shinigami: but dxmn...he was throwing 146-7 heaters in the 14th
16:47 - Shinigami: and 15th
16:47 - Ken D.: http://www2.asahi.com/koshien/88/zenkoku/sokuhou.html
16:47 - Deanna: when I was counting strikeouts I would just do a search on 三振
16:47 - westbaystars: Saitoh had 49 going into the game, so add 16 and you get 65.
16:47 - Shinigami: haha...i thought about that too, but i am alzy as well
16:47 - Deanna: ooo
16:48 - Shinigami: woo, great
16:48 - Shinigami: thx ken
16:48 - Ken D.: they will put the picther info in later...i have checked them frequently this tourney
16:48 - Shinigami: 16 k's
16:48 - Shinigami: for saitoh
16:48 - John Brooks: yeah that is pretty indepth
16:48 - Ken D.: you are all welcome...and again, I know I speak for all of us in thankin westbay-san!!
16:49 - Shinigami: 10 for tanaka as we already know
16:49 - John Brooks: thanks once again westbay-san, i going 2 bed, good night every1
16:49 - Shinigami: thx westbay-san! that was fantastic
16:49 - Shinigami: goodnite brooks-san
16:49 - Shinigami: see u again tomorrow nite
16:50 - Ken D.: maybe tomorrow we'll have a winner
16:50 - Deanna: Yeah. Not sure I'll be here tomorrow but today's was fun
16:51 - Shinigami: definitely try ur best to come, u wont want to miss such a great game
16:51 - westbaystars: It's been great having you all here. And I'll go about posting this.
16:51 - westbaystars: Wish I could join in tomorrow, but I have to work.
16:51 - westbaystars: I will set up the chat room, though.
16:52 - Shinigami: hmm...gotta watch footie/soccer in like 4 hrs...
16:52 - Shinigami: i guess i needa catch some quick naps
16:52 - Shinigami: i will see u all tomorrow nite!
16:52 - Shinigami: once again thx westbay-san, i appreciate all the effort u spent to give us a place to talk
16:53 - Shinigami: hope u will still be able to watch it during work? : )
16:53 - Deanna: It's a national event, isn't it?
16:53 - Shinigami: wish i was in nishinomiya now watching the match live
16:54 - Shinigami: anyways, mata ne minnasan~
16:54 - westbaystars: I can watch it during work, but I really need to do some work.
16:54 - westbaystars: See you all tomorrow.
16:55 - Ken D.: i will be getting home from work just in time. see you all. thanks again
16:55 - Deanna: yup, thanks again!
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Some rights reserved.
Round 6 (Finals)
August 20 (Day 15)
Game 48: (Southern Hokkaido) Komadai Tomakomai 1 (15 innings) 1 Waseda Sojitsu (Western Tokyo)