Pro Yakyu Game of the Week: 8/22

My vote is for the Seibu Lions' game because it has first place implications. But I don't want to take you away from the BayStars, Michael.

I was wondering if the Japan Olympic game is being shown tonight live. The game is supposed to start at 5:30 PM JST (if my calculations are right). If Japan beats Greece tonight they will be the top seed in the medal round. If it is being shown, would you consider running this as your game of the week?

As you know, all of the players are from Pro Yakyu and they seem to have the inside track to win the Gold. Hope to answer the alarm clock this morning to join you all.

Allen Bacon
Fullerton, CA

- [...] would you consider running [Japan Olympic game] as your game of the week?

I would if it weren't that I keep reading about the IOC shutting down web sites for violating the exclusive rights they've sold to certain media outlets. While I doubt if anyone would object in Japan for my covering the game, I would have to implement safeguards that would prevent anyone from the U.S.A. from viewing said content, live or even after the Games are complete. One of the networks paid a mountain load of money to the IOC for exclusive rights. And now the IOC is responsible to police the Internet to make sure that nobody within that network's area may get any coverage not approved by that network. (It's been discussed in other forums the irony that Americans have to go to Canada or Mexico for greater freedom to the access of information.)

I will update the scores as I see them, as I can't imagine printing simple facts like the score as not being "fair use." But since a certain network feels that it will be financially damaged by someone covering a game that they don't even bother covering, I'm afraid that my hands are tied. Sorry.

Michael,

Just so you know, when I read the profiles of baseball players on the athens2004.com web site, a lot of the information is cited as coming from this web site - "japanese baseball forum" and even baseballguru.com. So they do know about your web site. Just something I thought was interesting to know.

Lots of coverage tonight. I started with the Seibu-Orix game, then went to the Hanshin-Yakult game after TV Saitama cut off. Want to fee the frustration of having a game cut off, this one's for you! Still, I did get the final at the end, so you aren't left hanging long.

Updates on the Japan Olympic team are scattered throughout the Seibu-Orix game. (I'm glad Yokohama's Miura had a good contribution to today's game.) I don't think it would have been feasible to cover it anyway as NHK started the broadcast in the third or fourth inning, then cut off a couple of times for the news. Also, it took me a while to find it again after it flipped from NHK General to NHK Educational.

There's a little talk at the end of the current merger status you might want to check out, too.

So, here's the transcript, complete with typos and errors. Enjoy.

TRANSCRIPT generated on: 2004/08/22 22:06
CHATROOM: Game of the Week/Seibu Lions vs. Orix BlueWave
MODERATORS: westbaystars

17:32: westbaystars - Out to dinner.
17:46: westbaystars - Back now.
17:46: westbaystars - And just in time to see the Japan ladies defeat Taiwan in softball.
17:46: westbaystars - The final was 1-0 in extra innings.
17:47: westbaystars - A great throw to the plate from center to get the touch up from third decided it.
17:52: westbaystars - The win guarantees the Japan softball team a bronze at worst.
17:57: westbaystars - ---
17:57: westbaystars - Top of First
17:57: westbaystars - ---
18:00: westbaystars - Kaneda is listed as Orix starting pitcher for the evening.
18:00: westbaystars - The first batter he faces is Satoh, who fakes bunt and takes strike one.
18:00: westbaystars - The ball game is underway at 6:00 sharp.
18:01: westbaystars - Satoh grounds the ball into the hole between short and third.
18:02: westbaystars - But Gotoh back hands the ball, fires to first, in time.
18:02: westbaystars - One out.
18:02: westbaystars - That brings up Akada.
18:02: westbaystars - I hope I don't mess up too many names tonight.
18:03: westbaystars - Too many Pacific League names are still new to me.
18:03: westbaystars - Akada goes down swinging at a curve ball to the right hander (from the left handed Kaneda) in the dirt.
18:03: westbaystars - Two quick outs.
18:04: westbaystars - That brings up Nakajima.
18:04: westbaystars - I've read that Nakajima has filled in the hole left by Matsui at short very well.
18:04: westbaystars - This is the first time I really get to see him.
18:05: westbaystars - And he strikes out swinging at a good pitch, maybe a little low, but good.
18:05: westbaystars - The Lions are retired in order in the first.
18:05: westbaystars - ---
18:05: westbaystars - Bottom of First
18:05: westbaystars - ---
18:06: westbaystars - The field level camera is panning over the stadium, and it looks beautiful.
18:06: westbaystars - One of the few stadiums left in Japan with real grass.
18:07: westbaystars - Gotoh gets the start for Seibu this evening.
18:07: westbaystars - The first batter he faces is Shiyotani.
18:07: westbaystars - Gotoh's first pitch is taken in the upper part of the strike zone for strike one.
18:08: westbaystars - Shiyotani grounds the ball back up the middle.
18:08: westbaystars - Gotoh tries for and misses the ball.
18:09: westbaystars - Second baseman Ishii fields the ball right of the second base bag.
18:09: westbaystars - He throws to first, and we have one out.
18:09: westbaystars - Hayakawa comes up next.
18:10: westbaystars - Hayakawa grounds the ball to Ishii at second.
18:11: westbaystars - The ball bounces off his foot and into right field!
18:11: westbaystars - Hayakawa rounds first and heads into second, sliding just before the tag.
18:11: westbaystars - Safe!
18:12: westbaystars - next up is Shiyotani?
18:12: westbaystars - Then who was up first?
18:12: westbaystars - Oh, it's Shiyozaki.
18:12: westbaystars - Shiyozaki fouls out to the catcher, two outs.
18:12: westbaystars - That brings up Ortiz.
18:13: westbaystars - A pick off attempt at second, and Ishii misses it!
18:13: westbaystars - The ball goes into center, and Hayakawa heads over to third base.
18:14: westbaystars - This doesn't look like the rock-solid Lions' defense.
18:14: westbaystars - Gotoh then goes on to walk Ortiz on four pitches.
18:15: westbaystars - Miwa follows.
18:15: westbaystars - And he rips the first pitch from Gotoh past a diving Nakajima and into left field.
18:16: westbaystars - Hayakawa scores easilly from third.
18:16: westbaystars - Orix takes a quick 1-0 lead.
18:16: westbaystars - With runners at first and second, Ryutaro comes up to bat.
18:18: westbaystars - Ryutaro goes down swinging to retire the side.
18:18: westbaystars - But not before Orix scores an unearned run on a pair of errors by Yoshihito Ishii at second.
18:19: westbaystars - At the end of one complete, Orix leads 1-0.
18:19: westbaystars - ---
18:19: westbaystars - Top of Second
18:19: westbaystars - ---
18:20: westbaystars - Cabrera leads off the Seibu second.
18:21: westbaystars - Cabu-chan hits a high chopper to the left side.
18:21: westbaystars - Kaneda comes down from the mound, fields it, then throws to first a little wide.
18:22: westbaystars - But Ortiz does a good job staying on the bag as the reaches for it, and Cabrera is the first out.
18:22: westbaystars - That brings up Fernandez.
18:23: westbaystars - He grounds the ball to Gotoh at short, and we have two quick outs.
18:23: westbaystars - Next up is G.G. Sato.
18:23: westbaystars - And G.G. grounds the ball up the middle for a base hit.
18:23: westbaystars - That brings up Tamano with two down and a runner at first.
18:24: westbaystars - Tamano lines the ball into the right-center gap.
18:24: westbaystars - A couple of bounces and the ball reaches the fense.
18:25: westbaystars - The relay back into the infield holds G.G. at third while Tamano is into second with a stand-up double.
18:25: westbaystars - That'll bring up catcher Hosokawa.
18:26: westbaystars - *** Japan leads Greece 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth.
18:27: westbaystars - Hosokawa draws a walk and the Lions have the bases loaded.
18:27: westbaystars - Y. Ishii comes up to the plate.
18:27: westbaystars - He needs to do something to make up for that last half inning.
18:29: westbaystars - Ishii comes through!
18:29: westbaystars - He hits a high chopper off the plate to the right side.
18:30: westbaystars - Shiyozaki runs in and tries to short hop the ball at the infield grass/dirt border.
18:30: westbaystars - But the ball goes by him and into right field.
18:30: westbaystars - One run in. Two runs in.
18:30: westbaystars - Hosokawa goes to third, and Ishii holds to a single.
18:30: westbaystars - Seibu takes a 2-1 lead.
18:31: westbaystars - And we go back to the top of the order in Satoh.
18:31: westbaystars - Satoh lines the ball to stright away center.
18:32: westbaystars - Hayakawa runs in, shoe string catches the ball before it bounces, tumbles over a couple of times, and has the ball!
18:32: westbaystars - That retires the side.
18:33: westbaystars - But not before Ishii made up for his allowing Orix to score first.
18:33: westbaystars - Seibu now has a 2-1 lead.
18:33: westbaystars - ---
18:33: westbaystars - Bottom of Second
18:33: westbaystars - ---
18:34: westbaystars - Gotoh leads off the Orix half of the second.
18:34: westbaystars - And he give the ball a ride to right.
18:34: westbaystars - But he got a little too under the ball, and Satoh has it in front of the warning track.
18:35: westbaystars - One pitch, one out.
18:35: westbaystars - That'll bring up Hidaka.
18:35: westbaystars - *** Greece got a runner as far as second in the fourth.
18:36: westbaystars - Hidaka grounds the ball through the gap on the right side of the infield and into right.
18:36: westbaystars - Base hit.
18:36: westbaystars - That brings up Mukae.
18:37: westbaystars - Mukae lines the ball to right-center, played by Akada on one hop.
18:37: westbaystars - Hidaka heads into third while Mukae holds at first.
18:37: westbaystars - One out, runners at the corners.
18:38: westbaystars - And the top of Orix order in Shiyotani at the plate.
18:38: westbaystars - Shiyotani lifts the ball high, but not very far.
18:39: westbaystars - Y. Ishii comes in a couple of steps to make the catch even with the base line between first and second.
18:39: westbaystars - Two down.
18:39: westbaystars - That brings up Hayakawa.
18:41: westbaystars - But Hayakawa grounds the ball right at Shiyotani at second.
18:41: westbaystars - The throw to first is in plenty of time, three outs.
18:42: westbaystars - Sorry, that's right to Ishii at second.
18:42: westbaystars - ---
18:42: westbaystars - Top of Third
18:42: westbaystars - ---
18:43: westbaystars - Akada leads off the third for Seibu.
18:43: westbaystars - *** Japan got Ogasawara as far as second in the top of the fifth.
18:44: westbaystars - Akada grouns the ball through the left side of the infield, base hit.
18:44: westbaystars - The Lions have their lead-off runner on board.
18:44: westbaystars - Good morning, Stevie.
18:45: westbaystars - But Nakajima grounds into a 6-4-3 double play to erase him.
18:45: westbaystars - So Cabrera comes up with two down and nobody on.
18:46: MHStevie - *** Konbanwa, Westbay-san! Finally got an Internet connection in the studio again...
18:47: westbaystars - It's been a couple of weeks, hasn't it?
18:48: westbaystars - Cabrera hits the ball the other way to right, deeeeeeep.
18:48: westbaystars - Ryutaro goes back, but watches the ball sail over the fense.
18:48: westbaystars - Haitta!
18:49: westbaystars - That ball was muscled to the stands in right.
18:49: westbaystars - On a line drive.
18:49: westbaystars - Seibu takes a 3-1 lead with the solo shot.
18:49: westbaystars - And Fernandez steps in swinging hard and missing the first pitch.
18:50: MHStevie - Yeah... they installed a new Mac, but never hooked up the Net connections.
18:51: westbaystars - Fernadez hits the ball hard to left.
18:51: MHStevie - So for two weeks, there was essentially an unnecessary computer sitting here and no way to get on for the GotW...
18:51: westbaystars - But he got too far under the ball, and while it may traver more distance than Cabu-chan's, ...
18:51: westbaystars - ... it's only to the warning track.
18:52: westbaystars - Mukae has it, and the side is retired.
18:52: westbaystars - But not before Cabrera added an insurance solo home run to increase Seibu's lead to 3-1.
18:52: westbaystars - ---
18:52: westbaystars - Bottom of Fourth
18:52: westbaystars - ---
18:53: westbaystars - But a Mac is trivial to setup. Just plug in the network cable and set the IP address.
18:54: westbaystars - Unless you've got a DHCP server, which would make centralized administration easier.
18:54: westbaystars - Shiyozaki grounds out to third, one quick out.
18:54: westbaystars - Ortiz stands in.
18:54: MHStevie - I figured it wasn't too complicated, but still... no cable = no Internet.
18:55: westbaystars - Oritz lifts the ball to straight away center.
18:55: westbaystars - Akada runs in and makes the catch.
18:55: westbaystars - Two quick outs.
18:55: MHStevie - Thankfully they finally did get it working... I was afraid they weren't going to bother... =)
18:55: westbaystars - You couldn't plug in the cable from the "old" computer?
18:57: westbaystars - Miwa goes down swinging, and the BlueWave are down in order.
18:58: westbaystars - At the end of three complete (that should bet "Bottom of Third" above),
18:58: westbaystars - Seibu leads 3-1.
18:58: westbaystars - ---
18:58: westbaystars - Top of Fourth
18:58: westbaystars - ---
18:59: MHStevie - Nope... it had been removed. Seems ridiculous, doesn't it?
18:59: westbaystars - Tokumoto comes in to pitch for the BlueWave.
18:59: MHStevie - Oh well... it's working now, so I'm happy... =)
19:00: westbaystars - Not in terms of security. I understand why they would remove it. But I wouldn't expect it.
19:00: westbaystars - And you've got a far superior computer in the process.
19:00: westbaystars - G.G. Sato leads off for the Lions.
19:01: westbaystars - My Mac looks as much like my old FreeBSD (UNIX-like OS) as I can make it.
19:02: westbaystars - G.G. goes down swinging weakly at a side-arm pitch way outside.
19:02: westbaystars - That brings up Tamano, who doubles his first at bat.
19:03: westbaystars - This time, he grounds the second pitch to third.
19:03: westbaystars - The throw to first is in time, two quick outs.
19:04: westbaystars - That brings up Hosokawa.
19:05: westbaystars - Hosokawa goes fishing for a pitch low over the outside part of the plate.
19:05: westbaystars - That's strike three, and the side is retired.
19:05: westbaystars - Seibu goes down in order.
19:05: westbaystars - ---
19:05: westbaystars - Bottom of Fourth
19:05: westbaystars - ---
19:07: westbaystars - Ryutaro leads off the Orix half of the fourth.
19:08: westbaystars - *** In the top of 6th, runner at first, two outs, Nakamura coming to the plate.
19:08: westbaystars - *** Greece changing pitchers.
19:09: westbaystars - Ryutaro pops out to Fernandez just fair of the third base bag.
19:09: westbaystars - One quick out.
19:09: westbaystars - Gotoh at the plate.
19:09: westbaystars - Against Gotoh on the mound.
19:10: westbaystars - And the count goes full.
19:10: westbaystars - *** Nakamura takes first base. I don't know if it was a walk or hit by pitch.
19:11: westbaystars - The shoubu pitch is popped up to foul territory in left.
19:11: westbaystars - Three give chase, but nobody gets there in time.
19:11: westbaystars - Foul ball.
19:12: westbaystars - *** Tani (Orix) drives in a run with a hit to left.
19:12: westbaystars - *** Japan goes up 2-0.
19:15: westbaystars - While I was at the Olympic game, Gotoh reached first.
19:15: westbaystars - Not sure if it was a hit or walk.
19:15: westbaystars - Satoh then fouled out behind the plate to the catcher for the second out.
19:16: westbaystars - Sorry, that was Hidaka that fouled out.
19:16: westbaystars - Mukae is now up.
19:16: westbaystars - *** Greece is now batting in the bottom of the sixth.
19:16: westbaystars - *** Score: Japan 2 - 0 Greece
19:17: westbaystars - Mukae lifts the ball deep to left.
19:17: westbaystars - Tamano climbs the fense.
19:17: westbaystars - And the ball sails on over his head into the stands.
19:17: westbaystars - Orix ties the game, 3-3.
19:18: westbaystars - That brings us to the top of the order in Shiyotani.
19:18: westbaystars - Shiyotani reaches out and lines the ball to center.
19:19: westbaystars - But it's not a problem and becomes the final out.
19:19: westbaystars - But the final out comes just after Mukae ties the game up with a big two run home run.
19:20: westbaystars - At the end of four complete, the game is tied 3-3.
19:20: westbaystars - ---
19:20: westbaystars - Top of Fifth
19:20: westbaystars - ---
19:22: westbaystars - Shiyozaki moved from second to third.
19:22: westbaystars - I didn't catch who came in to play second.
19:22: westbaystars - Y. Ishii leads off with a base hit to center.
19:22: westbaystars - Seibu has their lead-off runner on board.
19:22: westbaystars - Satoh follows.
19:23: westbaystars - *** Greece got a base runner (hit batsman), but failed to score in the sixth.
19:23: westbaystars - Satoh hits a high chopper to the left side, bouncing off the plate.
19:23: westbaystars - By the time the ball comes down, Shiozaki doesn't have a play anywhere.
19:23: westbaystars - Infield base hit.
19:23: westbaystars - That brings up Akada.
19:25: westbaystars - *** Seibu's Wada leads off the seventh in Athens.
19:25: westbaystars - *** And he grounds the ball up the middle for a lead-off base hit.
19:26: westbaystars - Akada is looking bunt all the way.
19:26: westbaystars - Whoa. He pulls back ready to swing on the 1-1 pitch.
19:26: westbaystars - Taken high for ball two.
19:27: westbaystars - Akada squares again, and fouls the next pitch off. 2-2.
19:28: westbaystars - The next pitch is taken outside.
19:28: westbaystars - A hard one to hold up on, but he did.
19:28: westbaystars - Full count.
19:28: westbaystars - The shoubu pitch is grounded back to the pitcher.
19:29: westbaystars - Tokumoto fields the ball, but first is the only play available.
19:29: westbaystars - He throws to first for the sure out.
19:29: westbaystars - One out, runners at second and third.
19:29: westbaystars - Nakajima at the plate.
19:30: westbaystars - I'm afraid that Nakajima hasn't done much to substantiate his successful filling of Matsui's hole this evening.
19:31: westbaystars - He's handcuffed here, and hits a blooper right to Ortiz at first, playing a little in to protect against the run.
19:31: westbaystars - Two outs, runners still at second and third.
19:32: westbaystars - Cabrera at the plate.
19:33: westbaystars - Cabu-chan lifts a fly ball to the right side.
19:33: westbaystars - Ortiz comes over and makes the catch just in foul territory right of the first base bag.
19:33: westbaystars - That retires the side.
19:33: westbaystars - Seibu had a big chance, but didn't come through.
19:34: westbaystars - Going to the bottom of the fifth, the game remains tied 3-3.
19:34: westbaystars - ---
19:34: westbaystars - Bottom of Fifth
19:34: westbaystars - ---
19:35: westbaystars - *** Japan now leads 4-0 in the top of the seventh.
19:36: westbaystars - Hayakawa leads off hitting the ball into the left-center gap.
19:36: westbaystars - He kicks second, heads for third.
19:36: westbaystars - The throw.
19:36: westbaystars - The head first slide.
19:36: westbaystars - Safe!
19:36: westbaystars - Lead-off triple.
19:36: westbaystars - That brings up Shiozaki.
19:37: westbaystars - *** It appears that Takahashi-kun (Giants) drove in two more runs as the score is now 6-0.
19:39: westbaystars - Shiozaki slaps the ball into right field,
19:39: westbaystars - and Hayakawa trots in from third.
19:39: westbaystars - Orix takes a 4-3 lead.
19:40: westbaystars - *** Johjima (Daiei) and Nakamura (Kintetsu) are out, and the side is retired.
19:41: westbaystars - There's a brief talk at the mound with Gotoh before Ortiz steps in.
19:42: westbaystars - Gotoh bounces the ball a couple meters before home plate,
19:42: westbaystars - ... the ball gets past Hosokawa.
19:43: westbaystars - Shiozaki heads over to second.
19:44: westbaystars - With first base now open, Gotoh no longer challenges Ortiz, and walks him unintensionally.
19:44: westbaystars - Miwa lays down a bunt.
19:44: westbaystars - Gotoh looks at third, but throws to first.
19:45: westbaystars - That's the first out of the inning, with the runners moved up to second and third.
19:45: westbaystars - And it's the final batter Gotoh will face.
19:46: westbaystars - Yamazaki comes in to pitch.
19:47: westbaystars - +++ Do you have periodic connection problems?
19:48: westbaystars - +++ It might be due to having your IP address in conflict with another computer.
19:48: westbaystars - +++ This sort of thing will happen, often with intervals of connection, the disconnection.
19:48: westbaystars - Ryutaro comes up next.
19:49: westbaystars - He's struck out and popped out to third so far this evening.
19:49: westbaystars - Runners are at second and third, one out.
19:49: westbaystars - *** Iwase comes in to pitch for Japan.
19:49: westbaystars - *** Greece has scored a run.
19:50: westbaystars - *** They have one out and a runner at first in the bottom of the seventh.
19:51: MHStevie - +++ It seems like the room pauses when there's no activity on my side for a while...
19:51: westbaystars - *** The lack of trumpet at the Olympic game sounds strange.
19:51: westbaystars - Ryutaro rips the ball up the first base line, fair!
19:51: westbaystars - One run in. Two runs in.
19:52: westbaystars - And when the ball comes back, Ryutaro is standing on second with a gyaku-ten double!
19:52: westbaystars - Orix takes the lead 6-3.
19:52: westbaystars - Oh, they already had the lead, didn't they?
19:53: westbaystars - Gotoh lifts the ball to shallow right.
19:53: westbaystars - Y. Ishii goes back.
19:53: westbaystars - He's called off by Satoh.
19:53: westbaystars - And Satoh makes the catch.
19:53: westbaystars - That's the second out of the inning. Runner remains at second.
19:54: westbaystars - Hidaka comes up.
19:55: westbaystars - +++ A security setting to not allow HTTP-REFRESH in Safari?
19:56: westbaystars - +++ The chat page should reload every 30 seconds.
19:56: westbaystars - Hidaka works the count full.
19:57: westbaystars - Then he fouls a couple of pitches off.
19:57: MHStevie - +++ No, it refreshes for a while with no problems...
19:58: westbaystars - Finally, Hidaka goes down swinging, and the side is retired.
19:58: westbaystars - But not before Orix takes a three run lead sparked by Hayakawa's lead-off triple.
19:59: westbaystars - At the end of five complete, Orix leads 6-3.
19:59: westbaystars - ---
19:59: westbaystars - Top of Sixth
19:59: westbaystars - ---
19:59: westbaystars - +++ I was having toubles a couple of weeks ago.
20:00: westbaystars - +++ It wasn't the server, it wasn't my router computer, and it wasn't this one.
20:00: westbaystars - +++ It turned out to be my hub was overheating.
20:00: MHStevie - +++ But when I'm not paying attention, I'll notice it hasn't updated for quite a while...
20:01: MHStevie - +++ So I'll have to log in again... no big deal...
20:01: westbaystars - +++ The hub was causing collisions that resulted in what seemed like a disconnect.
20:02: westbaystars - +++ I'm a problem solver. I don't accept things so easilly.
20:03: westbaystars - *** Uh, oh. Muira (Yokohama) takes the mound in Greece.
20:03: westbaystars - *** He didn't so so well the last I heard.
20:03: westbaystars - *** It's still 6-1, now in the bottom of the eighth.
20:04: westbaystars - Tokumoto is still on the mound for Orix.
20:04: MHStevie - +++ Heh heh... I appreciate the concern... =)
20:04: westbaystars - Fernandez leads off for Seibu.
20:05: westbaystars - And he hits a slicing line drive up the middle for a base hit.
20:05: westbaystars - Fernandez took his time jogging up the line for a single.
20:06: westbaystars - That brings up Shibata, batting for DH G.G. Sato.
20:07: westbaystars - *** Miura gets an out, then walks the next batter.
20:07: westbaystars - Shibata slaps the ball to the left side, past a diving Gotoh at short.
20:07: westbaystars - Base hit.
20:08: westbaystars - That puts runners at first and second with nobody out.
20:08: westbaystars - Ozeki bats for Tamano.
20:08: westbaystars - *** Next batter was out, then the final batter of the eighth pops out to first.
20:09: westbaystars - *** Miura retires the side.
20:09: westbaystars - While throwing a pitch, Tokumoto falls over on the mound.
20:09: westbaystars - The side-arm pitch was wide of the plate, and the catcher.
20:09: westbaystars - The runners move up a base.
20:10: westbaystars - And Ihara-kantoku goes to the phone.
20:11: westbaystars - Katoh comes in to pitch.
20:11: westbaystars - But was that ball four?
20:13: westbaystars - No, Ozeki is still up. With no strikes, two balls on him.
20:13: westbaystars - There wasn't anything to see if he was hurt or not.
20:13: westbaystars - That was odd.
20:14: westbaystars - Katoh throws a ball, strike, and ball. The walk, I believe, is charged to Tokumoto.
20:14: westbaystars - The bases are loaded for Seibu's third pinch hitter in a row, Nakamura.
20:15: westbaystars - We still have no outs.
20:16: westbaystars - Katoh throws the ball, hitting the chalk in front of Nakamura.
20:16: westbaystars - The runner scores from third, the other two move up.
20:16: westbaystars - That reduces Orix' lead to 6-4.
20:17: westbaystars - *** Japan has runners at first and second, nobody out, in the top of the 9th.
20:17: westbaystars - *** Takahashi got hit on the upper arm and is in pain.
20:18: westbaystars - *** But takes first to load the bases.
20:19: westbaystars - Nakamura lifts a high fly almost on top of the second base bag.
20:19: westbaystars - It's called an infield fly, and Gotoh takes it in backpeddling at the last second.
20:19: westbaystars - One out, runners at second and third.
20:19: westbaystars - Y. Ishii comes up to the plate.
20:20: westbaystars - *** With one out and bases still loaded, "Full Swing" Nakamura comes up.
20:20: MHStevie - Pretty sloppy play, it seems...
20:20: westbaystars - The defense has been wanting tonight.
20:20: MHStevie - Talking about the wild pitch (lagged a bit)...
20:21: westbaystars - And both sides have had their share of wild pitches.
20:21: westbaystars - *** Nakamura hits into a double play. Side is retired.
20:22: westbaystars - Katoh and Hidaka have trouble communicating, so Hidaka heads out to the mound to talk with him.
20:22: westbaystars - The count is full.
20:23: westbaystars - And the shoubu pitch is in the dirt, but blocked by Hidaka.
20:23: westbaystars - That loads the bases back up.
20:23: westbaystars - And Katoh is through, it looks like.
20:25: westbaystars - Orix is bringing in Kuriyama.
20:25: westbaystars - The announcers say that he was registered as their batting practice pitcher until recently.
20:25: westbaystars - I have him listed as an outfielder in my player meikan.
20:26: westbaystars - And he's the one who gets the call with one out and the bases loaded?
20:26: westbaystars - Top of the order in Satoh at the plate.
20:27: westbaystars - *** Greece down to their final out.
20:30: westbaystars - *** Kobayashi (Lotte's closer) on the mound thowing in the 150s.
20:30: westbaystars - *** He strikes out the final two batters looking.
20:31: westbaystars - *** Japan wins 6-1.
20:31: westbaystars - Kuriyama strikes Satoh out swinging at a low-inside pitch after a number of foul balls.
20:31: westbaystars - Kuriyama looks pretty good, actually.
20:31: westbaystars - That brings up Akada.
20:32: westbaystars - *** It's raining at Yokohama Stadium, but not here in southern Yokohama.
20:33: westbaystars - *** Chunichi and Yokohama are tied 3-3 in the top of the sixth.
20:34: westbaystars - And Kuriyama gets Akada swinging at a ball in the dirt for the third out.
20:34: MHStevie - *** Congrats to Japan on another Olympic victory!
20:34: westbaystars - Nice pitching by Kuriyama.
20:34: westbaystars - He had both batters pretty crossed up.
20:34: westbaystars - That got Orix out of their pinch, with just a single run given up.
20:35: westbaystars - Going to the bottom of the sixth, Orix holds onto a 6-4 lead.
20:35: westbaystars - ---
20:35: westbaystars - Bottom of Sixth
20:35: westbaystars - ---
20:37: westbaystars - Mukae leads off grounding out to second.
20:37: westbaystars - One quick out.
20:37: westbaystars - The battery has changed.
20:37: westbaystars - Maeda is now in to pitch.
20:38: westbaystars - Tahara is in to catch.
20:38: westbaystars - And Hirano, who came in defensively at second earlier, grounds out for the second out of the inning.
20:39: westbaystars - *** Kintetsu defeated Nippon Ham 8-7.
20:39: MHStevie - *** Any update on the Lotte-Daiei game?
20:39: westbaystars - *** Hanshin leads Yakult 5-2 in the sixth.
20:40: westbaystars - That brings up Hayakawa, who's been the big spark this evening for Orix.
20:40: westbaystars - *** Chunichi and Yokohama appear to be in a rain delay.
20:41: westbaystars - Hayakawa grounds the ball on a high hop to third.
20:41: westbaystars - The throw to first is not in time, infield hit!
20:41: westbaystars - That brings up Shiozaki.
20:41: MHtrStevie - *** Looks like Lotte is leading the Hawks 5-0 in the 7th...
20:41: westbaystars - *** Giants lead Hiroshima 5-4 in the sixth.
20:42: westbaystars - *** Lotte leads Daiei 3-0 in the seventh.
20:42: westbaystars - *** That's the other relevant game as Daiei and Seibu battle for first.
20:43: westbaystars - *** Lotte decided having a winning record against Daiei for the season with their win lastnight.
20:43: westbaystars - Shiozaki grounds the ball to Nakano at short.
20:43: westbaystars - The throw to first is in time, and the side is retired.
20:44: westbaystars - At the end of sixe complete, Orix leads 6-4.
20:44: westbaystars - ---
20:44: westbaystars - Top of Seventh
20:44: westbaystars - ---
20:44: westbaystars - *** Lotte's recent four game winning streak has brought them to within 1.5 game of Nippon Ham for third.
20:45: westbaystars - *** The top three teams have a chance in the play-offs.
20:45: westbaystars - *** So, more than the fight for first, the fight between Lotte and the Ham may turn out to be more interesting.
20:46: westbaystars - Tokano comes on to pitch for Orix in the seventh.
20:47: westbaystars - Nakajima leads off the Lions' half of the lucky seven.
20:49: MHtrStevie - *** I've been watching that fight for third pretty intently... nice to see Lotte make this late charge...
20:50: westbaystars - *** I was starting to wonder about them a while back when they dipped below Orix.
20:50: westbaystars - Nakajima, after a good battle at the plate, grounds out to third for the first out.
20:51: MHtrStevie - *** No kidding... did this happen somewhat with Lotte when Bobby V. coached them the first time?
20:51: westbaystars - Cabrera lifts a high fly ball to right.
20:51: westbaystars - But this one doesn't have the distance.
20:52: westbaystars - Ryutaro has it for the second out of the inning.
20:52: westbaystars - That brings up Fernandez.
20:52: westbaystars - *** They got off to a miserable start the first time around.
20:53: westbaystars - *** It was amazing that they climbed back into A-Class.
20:53: westbaystars - Fernadez hits a high chopper to second.
20:54: westbaystars - Ishii fields it, throws to first, in time.
20:54: westbaystars - The Lions are retired in order in the seventh.
20:54: westbaystars - And continue to trail 4-6.
20:54: westbaystars - ---
20:54: westbaystars - Bottom of Seventh
20:54: westbaystars - ---
20:55: westbaystars - *** Furuta lines out to short with bases loaded in Yakult's half of the seventh.
20:55: westbaystars - *** Yakult fails to score and continues to trail 2-5.
20:56: westbaystars - Ortiz leads off the BlueWave Lucky Seven.
20:56: westbaystars - Maeda is still on the mound for Seibu.
20:56: westbaystars - Oriz lines the ball past a jumping Shiozaki at third and into left field.
20:56: westbaystars - The BlueWave have their lead-off runner on.
20:57: westbaystars - That brings up Miwa.
20:57: westbaystars - Miwa had an RBI base hit his first time at bat.
20:57: westbaystars - But he squares to bunt here.
20:57: westbaystars - And the sacrifice is successful after Maeda looks and pumps once to second.
20:58: westbaystars - That puts Ortiz at second with one out.
20:58: westbaystars - Ryutaro comes up to the plate.
20:58: MHtrStevie - Greetings, habs!
20:59: westbaystars - Good morning, Habs-san.
20:59: westbaystars - Ryutaro pulls the ball past Cabrera at first and into right field.
20:59: habs - morning everyone
20:59: westbaystars - Ortiz heads over to third.
21:00: westbaystars - Gotoh comes up, looking at the third base coach a long time with runners at the corners and one out.
21:01: westbaystars - Maeda almosts hits him on the legs with his first pitch.
21:03: westbaystars - With the count 2-2, Seibu called for a pitch out to see if the runner was going.
21:03: westbaystars - He wasn't, the count is now full.
21:04: westbaystars - Maeda becomes concerned with the runners and steps off a couple of times,
21:04: westbaystars - ... faking to third once.
21:04: westbaystars - The shoubu pitch is way up and away, taken for ball four.
21:05: westbaystars - That loads the bases with one out for Hidaka.
21:06: westbaystars - *** Hanshin now leads 7-2 in the top of the eighth.
21:06: westbaystars - *** With runners at first and second, two outs.
21:07: westbaystars - Maeda misses with his first three pitches to Hidaka.
21:07: westbaystars - He's got to come in.
21:07: westbaystars - The pitch is taken down the middle for strike one.
21:07: westbaystars - Maeda's next offering is fouled off to run the count full.
21:08: westbaystars - The next pitch is hit to the left side.
21:08: westbaystars - With the infield in, Nakano dives and misses!
21:08: westbaystars - The ball goes into left field.
21:08: westbaystars - One run in. Two runs in.
21:09: westbaystars - Orix doubles their lead to 8-4.
21:10: westbaystars - That brings up Mukae with runners now at the corners and one out.
21:10: westbaystars - *** Imaoka and Hiyama hit solo homers for Hanshin's two runs in the eighth.
21:10: westbaystars - *** Going to the bottom of the eighth, Hanshin leads 7-2.
21:11: westbaystars - *** Tarps are still on the field in Yokohama.
21:11: westbaystars - *** It looks like the game was called.
21:12: westbaystars - *** It was called a tie, 3-3.
21:12: westbaystars - *** And the rain has just stopped at Yokohama.
21:13: westbaystars - Mukae grounds the ball right at Fernandez at third.
21:13: westbaystars - Playing in, he throws the ball home, and the runner is touched out.
21:13: westbaystars - That makes the second out of the inning for Orix.
21:13: westbaystars - Runners now at first and second.
21:14: westbaystars - *** Strange weather. It never got around to raining here in southern Yokohama.
21:14: westbaystars - *** Nor does it appear to have effected the birds at Jingu (north in Tokyo).
21:15: westbaystars - Hirano now at bat.
21:16: westbaystars - Hirano grounds the ball just to the right of the second base bag.
21:16: westbaystars - The runner from second kicks third and heads home.
21:16: westbaystars - The ball back is cut off going toward third, and thrown back to second.
21:17: westbaystars - The run is in, but Hirano is touched out at second.
21:17: westbaystars - So Orix adds another run, increasing their lead to 9-4.
21:17: westbaystars - ---
21:17: westbaystars - Top of Eighth
21:17: westbaystars - ---
21:18: westbaystars - *** Yakult is retired in order in the eighth.
21:18: MHtrStevie - Looks like the Lions and Hawks will still be tied after today, with both down big...
21:19: westbaystars - Shibata leads off for Seibu.
21:20: westbaystars - He lifts the first pitch to center.
21:20: westbaystars - Hayakawa runs over full steam to make the catch running toward right.
21:20: westbaystars - One pitch, one out.
21:20: westbaystars - Ozaki up next.
21:20: westbaystars - And in to pitch is Taninaka (from the start of the inning).
21:21: MHtrStevie - *** Lotte leads Daiei 5-2 in the 9th...
21:21: westbaystars - Ozeki grounds the ball up the middle for a one out base hit.
21:21: westbaystars - That's the first Lion base runner in a while.
21:22: westbaystars - Tahara comes up next and is swinging at the first pitch.
21:22: westbaystars - He pulls the ball through the right side for consecutive base hits.
21:22: westbaystars - Seibut quickly has runners at first and second with one out.
21:22: westbaystars - Y. Ishii comes up next.
21:23: westbaystars - Ishii hit a two RBI double his first at bat, making up for his sloppy play in the field in the first.
21:23: westbaystars - That gave Seibu a temporary lead in the second inning.
21:24: westbaystars - Ishii grounds the ball to Fernandez at third.
21:25: westbaystars - Fernandez touches the third base bag for one, then throws to second to complete a double play.
21:25: westbaystars - That retires the side.
21:25: westbaystars - ---
21:25: westbaystars - Game Over
21:25: westbaystars - ---
21:26: westbaystars - Not only did that retire the side, but TV Saitama completed their broadcast.
21:26: westbaystars - I don't get the rest of the game.
21:27: westbaystars - That was something I was concerned about, relying on a VHS station.
21:27: westbaystars - UHF station, that is.
21:28: MHtrStevie - Why do the stations insist on doing that?
21:28: westbaystars - Better than Giants' games that start an hour into the game, but just as bad with ending times.
21:28: habs - So if it is not on cable the games are not shown complete?
21:28: westbaystars - I don't know. I've been trying to figure it out for years.
21:29: MHtrStevie - What's the program so important they had to interrupt the game?
21:29: westbaystars - The three J-Sports channels (of which I get two), Sky-A, and G+ (for Giants' home games) are the only ones.
21:30: westbaystars - It appears to be ball-room dancing next.
21:31: westbaystars - Well, I can continue with the Hanshin - Yakult game.
21:31: westbaystars - Yakult's batting with one out, down 2-7, in the bottom of the nineth.
21:32: westbaystars - Ibata is up to bat.
21:32: westbaystars - And he lines the ball up the middle, over the second base bag, and into center field.
21:33: westbaystars - That brings up Manaka.
21:33: westbaystars - Manaka seemed to be handcuffed, but hit the ball pretty far to right considering he hit the ball off the handle.
21:34: westbaystars - Still, Hiyama comes in and makes the catch for out number two.
21:34: westbaystars - That brings up Ono.
21:34: westbaystars - Pinch hitting.
21:35: westbaystars - Inaba steals second without a throw.
21:35: westbaystars - Hanshin't batter isn't concerned with that runner.
21:36: MHtrStevie - *** It's game set between the Hawks and Marines... Lotte wins, 5-2.
21:36: westbaystars - The Hanshin fans chant, "Ato ikkyu."
21:36: westbaystars - And there are a *lot* of Hanshin fans at Jingu tonight.
21:37: westbaystars - *** Yea. Gambare Lotte!
21:37: westbaystars - Ono drills the ball up the left side and it hits the third base canvas and heads off into left field.
21:37: westbaystars - Inaba scores from second easilly.
21:37: westbaystars - And Ono is into second with a stand-up double.
21:38: westbaystars - That brings up Iwamura.
21:38: westbaystars - *** And the Fighting Ham already lost, so Lotte is just .5 games out of third.
21:39: MHtrStevie - *** Don't they have a head-to-head series shortly?
21:40: westbaystars - *** Yes, Tuesday and Wednesday.
21:41: westbaystars - Iwamura strikes out and Hanshin wins.
21:41: westbaystars - ***
21:41: westbaystars - Game Final
21:41: westbaystars - Hanshin Tigers 7 - 3 Yakult Swallows
21:41: westbaystars - ***
21:41: westbaystars - There, now we have the end of a game.
21:43: westbaystars - *** Wait! I just looked at the paper again.
21:43: westbaystars - *** Lotte is .5 games *ahead* of Nippon Ham now.
21:43: westbaystars - *** Lotte is now in third place.
21:44: MHtrStevie - *** Go Marines!
21:46: westbaystars - *** I'm kind of torn.
21:46: westbaystars - *** I'd like to see the Fighters do well their first year in Hokkaido.
21:46: westbaystars - *** But I've been a closet Marine fan for a number of years.
21:47: MHtrStevie - True... I don't mean to sound so down on the Fighters...
21:47: westbaystars - It'll be hard for either to overtake the Lions or Hawks.
21:48: MHtrStevie - It's nice to see a battle for that last playoff spot...
21:48: MHtrStevie - So if this is the last year for the PL, at least it looks like some good fights down the stretch...
21:48: westbaystars - That's what the Pacific League was hoping for when they setup this play-off system.
21:49: westbaystars - Speaking of "last year for the PL," it's looking more and more like the Marines won't be around next year.
21:50: westbaystars - Current rumors say that a second merger will be announced at the owners' meeting on the 8th of next month.
21:50: westbaystars - And it's Lotte's representative that's saying this, as though he has insider information.
21:51: westbaystars - But they won't revail any further details until the merger is completed, supposedly to prevent anyone ...
21:51: westbaystars - ... from trying to stop it like the Kintetsu-Orix merger.
21:52: westbaystars - The Powers-That-Be don't like what a mess that's turned into in the press.
21:53: MHtrStevie - Do you think Livedoor would still pursue starting a team if the leagues end up merged?
21:55: habs - It's a mess because they will not let some one buy the team.
21:55: westbaystars - The Pacific League appears to be trying to get a second merger committed to force the merger of teh leagues.
21:55: westbaystars - If Livedoor can get a new team together, they'll be back at six teams, and no cance of merging with the Central League.
21:56: MHtrStevie - I had heard that the guy from Livedoor wanted to start a new team of he couldn't buy an existing team...
21:56: westbaystars - By dropping down to four teams, they're hoping that a 10 team single league will be approved.
21:56: westbaystars - Then Livedoor will be out of luck, as they don't want an 11 team single league.
21:57: westbaystars - Horie-shacho (president) appears to be investing in the Nomo Baseball Club (I think is the name).
21:57: westbaystars - It's a semi-pro team in the Osaka area owned by Nomo.
21:58: westbaystars - Supposedly, that will become the basis for a new professional team.
22:01: westbaystars - *** According to Yahoo! Sports, Orix went on to win 9-4.
22:01: westbaystars - *** No more scoring after TV Saitama signed off.
22:03: westbaystars - The clock has struck 10:00, and I've got some things to do before bed.
22:03: westbaystars - The first being posting this transcript.
22:03: westbaystars - So if that's all, I'd like to shut down for the night.
22:03: MHtrStevie - So pretty much it looks like the owners will force the one league with the two mergers...
22:03: westbaystars - Nice having you both here again this evening/morning.
22:04: habs - Another good job have a nice weeek.
22:04: MHtrStevie - Ah, OK... great job as always... hopefully this means I'll be here from now on...
22:04: westbaystars - That's what they're hoping for, but the CL owners are still against it.
22:04: westbaystars - As are the players, who are expected to decide on a strike date tomorrow.
22:04: MHtrStevie - So hopefully I'll see you next week...
22:04: westbaystars - Will have more information on Tuesday.
22:05: westbaystars - See you then.
22:05: westbaystars - Take care.

I feel bad about not joining you guys last night, but I couldn't wake up. The alarm went off and I thought I'll nap for another five minutes - next thing I know it's 7 in the morning. Anyway, first thing I did when I came to was hit the computer and read every word of the transcription. Excellent coverage. You had in-game updates of the Japan Olympic team, you had scoring updates from around the league, you had bonus coverage of another game - you even had a MacUsers troubleshooting session. Who could ask for more! Thanks a lot for the excellent coverage. Hope to join you guys live real soon.

Michael, you were talking about the beautiful ballpark with the natural grass last night which got me to wondering if there are any plans to build more new ballparks in Japan similar to the retro-style parks in the United States. Is the reason why there is so much synthetic turfs in Japan due to the weather? And the other thing I noticed was the high number of 6:00 games last night in Japan on a Sunday night. Isn't that unusual and is this because of the weather?

Allen Bacon
Fullerton, California