August 29th Abe v Greisinger - Tigers nemesis

The fan who fell from the BayStars gaia in the the game on 27th August died without regaining conciousness. My sympathy and condolences to his family and friends over this tragedy.

Greisinger really does own the Tigers - more so than Miura or Kawakami. Of the 11 times they have faced him they have won only once and tied only once. Every other occasion has ended in defeat. Recently, though there are signs that his ability to keep the Tigers bats under control are fading but this still doesn't matter as Mayumi insists on pitching converted relief pitchers against him. Greisinger can give up buckets of runs and still walk away with the victory. One supposes that Mayumi thought that as Abe had gotten through the last game he pitched he could be trusted with another one. Alas it was not to be so and the paucity of Mayumi's approach was easily and cruely exposed. The thing was with a proper starter Tigers could have possibly engineered a victory - the Giants had to fight to hold onto their lead. When will we see the younger starters being used? The experiment of using relief pitchers as starters has clearly failed and the sooner it is acknowledged and buried the better. Can we have the younger starters brought up and used properly? It seems boring to be constantly harping on about it but we have a number of talented young pitchers who are not being used properly because of coaching prejudice. Valentine probably wouldn't fit in to the Tigers organisation but he would ensure that these guys were used. Mayumi is managing the Tigers with all the inspiration of a Borough Treasurer in one of the more minor local authorities. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Giants  1 1 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 7 13 0
Tigers  0 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 5 11 1

Starting lineups

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Matsumoto (Centre)
3. Ogasawara (Third)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Kamei (Right)
6. Abe (First)
7. Wakiya (Second)
8. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
9. Greisinger (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Hirano (Second)
2. Akahoshi (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Brazell (First)
7. Sakurai (Right)
8. Kanoh (Catcher)
9. Abe (Pitcher)

Abe would start poorly and continue in that vein. But you can't blame him - he is an excellent relief pitcher but not a starter. Sakamoto led off the Giants first with a hit. He was bunted to second by Matsumoto but an error turned this into a bunt to third. Ogasawara walked and then Ramirez hit a nice sacrifice fly to left 1-0 Giants runner on first. Kamei flew out to end the innings. Tigers first was quiet with the batters falling in order - Greisinger had made a good start. Abe then continued to run into trouble - he faced Abe (the pachimon version) who hit a solo home run 2-0 Giants. One out later Tsuruoka hit but Greisinger failed in his attempt to bunt and was out. Finally Sakamoto flew out to end the innings. Tigers responded nicely in their second and here was evidence that Greisinger's control of things was fading. Kanemoto led off the innings with a two base hit. Arai flew out but Brazell hit to right. More could have been made of this but Kanemoto stopped at third with Brazell on first. Sakurai hit to left driving Kanemoto in 2-1 Giants, runners on first and second. Kanoh flew out which brought up Abe and no one expected him to hit. This is exactly what he did driving in Brazell 2-2 scores tied, runners on first and second and Greisinger had failed to hold the lead. Hirano flew out in foul ground to end the innings. For Giants third Abe was just as unsuitable as his other innings. He started with a hit to Matsumoto. Ogasawara flew out but Ramirez latched onto his first pitch hammering it into the right centre stand for a 2 run home run 4-2 Giants. With two out pachimon Abe hit and then Wakiya took a big swing and ended up with a three base hit 5-2 Giants, runner on third. Tsuruoka was deliberately walked to get at Greisinger who grounded out to short to end the innings. Greisinger now needed to hold the renewed lead which he did superbly, retiring all three Tigers batters who stepped up to the plate in order.

Abe did not return for the Giants fourth. He had thrown 56 pitches and given up five runs, four of them earned. One can't really blame him as he was put in a situation which he was not suited for. Egusa was the chosen replacement and he started by walking Sakamoto. With one out though Sakamoto tried to steal second and was tagged out. Egusa then struck out Ogasawara to end the innings. Tigers fourth was quiet - Greisinger finishing the innings off by striking out Sakurai looking. Egusa continued pitching in the Giants fifth and retired the batters in order. Greisinger then ran into trouble in the bottom of the innings. Kanoh led off with his favourite centre hit. Two outs later Akahoshi hit to short and Sakamoto was unable to make the throw in time, runners on first and second. Toritani hit to right driving in a run 5-3 Giants and Kanemoto walked to load the bases. The next batter was Arai who flew out and Tigers had failed to take advantage of a good situation. Egusa was replaced by Kanemura for the Giants sixth and the latter wasn't inspiring. Wakiya hit to centre and then Tsuruoka hit to third. Greisinger tried to bunt and failed again, being out after three attempts. Sakamoto hit though driving in a run 6-3 Giants, runners on first and third. Kanemura managed to get the next two batters to ground out without giving up a run in the process and end the innings but the Giants had re-established a three run margin. Tigers sixth saw the end of Greisinger, he had been struggling in the fifth and the sixth was the same. Kanoh walked with two out and then Katsuragi (pinch hitter) hit nicely to left for a two base. Tigers had runners on second and third. Greisinger was replaced by Yamaguchi who promptly got Takahashi (pinch hitter) to ground out to first and end the threat.

Giants seventh was quiet - Tsutsui was the pitcher and he retired the batters in order. Tigers seventh was exciting. Toritani hit a two base. Kanemoto failed again but his ground out at least took Toritani to third. Then Arai hit to right and Tigers had another run 6-4 Giants, runner on first. Unfortunately, Brazell struck out to end the innings. Tsutsui then ran into trouble in the Giants eighth - Mayumi had so messed up the rotation that his relief pitchers were being asked to pitch two innings a piece. Hardly good management. He started with a two base hit to Wakiya. Tsuruoka bunted the batter to third and then Tani (pinch hitter) hit driving in the run 7-4 Giants, runner on first. Tani stole second as Sakamoto struck out but Tsutsui also struck out Matsumoto to end the innings. This extra run would be vital as it once again established a three run margin for the Giants. How useful this would prove was demonstrated in Tigers eighth as Sakurai led off the innings with a solo home run to left off Ochi 7-5 Giants. The next three batters did nothing and the Giants had preserved the lead. Atchison pitched Giants ninth and had no problems. For Tigers ninth Hara, of course, went with Kroon and if the score had been 6-5 Kroon would have been wobbly. However, he had a bit more of a cushion and so was more comfortable. Tigers batters did hit but they all found fielders and were retired 1-2-3 to end the innings. Giants victory.

Once again handicapped by poor pitcher selection Tigers had fallen in an entertaining and exciting game. The use of Abe as a starter needs to be discontinued and the idiots who advocate this theory need their heads banging together. Only then may some sense seep into their brains. Giants had always been able to keep the lead and Hara had managed the game well. Tigers had been handicapped by poor management and it is really one step forward and two steps back.