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Hanshin - Third Fastest to 50 Wins

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Hanshin - Third Fastest to 50 Wins
In their 6-2 victory over the BayStars in Yokohama on Sunday afternoon (June 29), the Hanshin Tigers chalked up their 50th win of the season in just their 72nd game. This ties them with the 1952 Giants and 1963 Giants who were both 50 wins and 22 losses after 72 games. The Giants were also the top two fastest 50 game winning teams, winning 50 while losing 19 (2 ties) in 1989, and going 50 and 20 in 70 games for the fastest record in the Pacific League in 1955. Naturally, all four teams went on to league championships. Furthermore, all but the 1963 Giants are listed in Albright-san's Top 25 dominating teams. I wonder how Hanshin will stack up at the end of this season.

Historically, Hanshin has choked in the month of June. Tiger fans go wild with great April and May starts, but have been let down year after year by their "June Swoon." [According to WordNet - swoon: A spontaneous loss of conciousness caused by insufficient blood to the brain. Rather fitting, no?] The Tiger fans at work have all been rather cautious this year, down playing yet another great start. But they're all starting to really feel the fever that their time has come again.

Monthly win/loss breakdown:

    Month Games Wins Losses Ties
    ----- ----- ---- ------ ----
    March 3 2 1 0
    April 25 15 9 1
    May 24 18 6 0
    June 20 15 5 0
    ===== ===== ==== ====== ====
    72 50 21 1

That one loss in March was opening day against Yokohama. Since then, Hanshin has a 16 game winning streak against the BayStars, totally dominating them. Close to 1/3rd of Hanshin's wins this year are against Yokohama. Broken down by team, Hanshin is:

    vs. Team Wins Losses Ties
    -------- ---- ------ ----
    Dragons 8 6 0
    Giants 11 4 1
    Swallows 7 7 0
    Carp 8 3 0
    BayStars 16 1 0

As you can see, they haven't dominated Chunichi or Yakult, so I don't think that they really qualify as one of the most dominating teams. On the other hand, they're 12.5 games ahead of second place Chunichi, pretty much running away with the Central League.

To me, Hanshin really looks like Yokohama in 1998. Pretty much all the regular members are having career years. And most importantly, no matter how much they may be down by, there is a feeling that they can always come back in the 7th, 8th, or 9th - and they do. Another parallel with the 1998 BayStars is that the Tigers are winning by putting together big innings with consecutive hits rather than relying on the long ball (currently, only Hiroshima has hit less home runs in the Central League).

[Source for tables: Nikkan Sports]

Comments
Re: Hanshin - Third Fastest to 50 Wins
[ Author: Guest: Jim Albright | Posted: Jul 1, 2003 1:34 AM ]

The newer article on Japan's Greatest Teams will be revised to include 2003 at the end of the season, if appropriate. If the Tigers keep up their pace of run scoring, their winning percentage, and their margins of league leadership in runs scored and runs allowed, a quick estimate is they'd make the new list of great teams. Of course, that's a lot of conditions for them to fulfill. That's why I don't do these things midseason. On the other hand, it is fun to think about.

Jim Albright
Re: Hanshin - Third Fastest to 50 Wins
[ Author: torakichi | Posted: Jul 1, 2003 9:35 AM | HT Fan ]

Randy Bass, in Japan for a "golden oldies" game (?), predicted that Hanshin would take the penant on August 26th against the Giants.

That's slightly wishful thinking if ya' ask me, but the mood here in Osaka is incredible. People have been lining up over night to get tickets for games for the past week or so, now. For instance, tickets for the Hanshin vs. Chunichi card in mid-August went on sale this morning. As I came to work, there were lines of people outside Ticket Pia in Namba who had obviously stayed there over night.
Re: Hanshin - Third Fastest to 50 Wins
[ Author: mijow | Posted: Jul 1, 2003 4:13 PM | HT Fan ]

- People have been lining up over night to get tickets for games for the past week or so, now. For instance, tickets for the Hanshin vs. Chunichi card in mid-August went on sale this morning. As I came to work, there were lines of people outside Ticket Pia in Namba who had obviously stayed there over night.

I hope they had some cover - it was raining quite heavily this morning. But, yeah, I agree, the fever's starting to take hold - I think that huge win against the Giants last weekend had a lot to do with it.
Re: Hanshin - Third Fastest to 50 Wins
[ Author: Animaru Resulie | Posted: Jul 2, 2003 7:42 PM | HT Fan ]

So the other day, Heizo Takenaka, the poor guy in the Koizumi cabinet in charge of cleaning up the financial cesspool the country is in, said that if the Tigers win the championship the economic effect will be tremendous. I guess he means that the entire population of Kansai will go on a buying spree, spending several godzillian yen for everything that's yellow and has pin stripes. Not to mention that KFC's around the region will probably have to replace their Colonel Sanders mannequins that will be thrown into the Doton-Bori. (The influx of U.S. funds for this purpose will also aid the ailiing Japanese economy, Takenaka did not say, but probably wanted to.)
Re: Hanshin - Third Fastest to 50 Wins
[ Author: Sara B | Posted: Jul 3, 2003 12:33 AM | HT Fan ]

Amazing situation indeed, compared to last year when it was no problem to get good seats for any game (except, of course, vs. the Giants). I asked my friend Kayoko to get us some Hanshin tickets during my upcoming visit in mid-July. It was impossible! So we splurged on a Torakichi offer at the Osaka Ritz-Carlton Hotel: one night stay includes 2 Koshien tickets (great seats), brunch and exclusive "Never Never Surrender" caps. Worth every yen.

I am particularly surprised at Irabu's comeback. After his stint with the Yankees I thought he must be done both in the U.S. and in Japan. Did he not also have a physical issue of an arm embolism or minor heart attack? When Hanshin picked him up I was upset. Well, no longer.

Go Tigers!
100 Losses?
[ Author: morosuki | Posted: Jul 3, 2003 8:14 AM | YOK Fan ]

Wanting to know the flip-side of winning, how many teams have lost 100 before? I think my BayStars might achieve that this year. They are looking more sorrier each game they play. Also, has any one team dominated another in the fashion that Hanshin is dominating the 'Stars? One win in seventeen tries is bad. To top it off, that one win was the first game of the season. Be interesting to know!
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