Adam Riggs

You can check out Adam Riggs' 2005 season stats on this page (from Borisov's NPB site). Riggs basically came to Japan as a no-name, and only the Yakult Swallows had big expectations from him. He started off really slow, and there were doubts about his abilities. However, in August and September he really began to heat up, and at one point had 8 consecutive hits.

As far as I know, he'll be back next year for the Swallows, and hopefully he can pick up where he left off. I know I enjoyed his second half much more than the first.

As for him being a big player, he just didn't have a big impact for the newspapers to pick up on him, plus with the release of Tuffy Rhodes by the Giants, there wasn't really room for Riggs in the headlines even when he did start busting out. Players on non-championship teams don't really become big names, unless they have outstanding seasons the way the Swallows' Norichika Aoki did (by becoming only the 2nd player in NPB history to reach 200 hits in one season).

He's the same size in Japan as in the US, about 5' 10".

Is he in the news now? He is hitting .295 with .611 slugging, 15 HRs, 16 doubles, 35 runs, 37 RBI. And he was the MVP of May where he hit .324 and 12 HRs and 23 RBIs!

Go Riggs.

I was at the Friday home game against Orix when Riggs hit the walk off sayonara home run, amazing! Furuta needs to learn to pull pitchers earlier, though. Can't rely on amazingly hot hitting forever.

- Furuta needs to learn to pull pitchers earlier, though. Can't rely on amazingly hot hitting forever.

I see where you're coming from here, especially with the starters. However, our relief pitching can be a little erratic at times, so if he can get an extra inning or two from a starter, then I guess you can hardly blame him.

On this subject, one of the big positive changes this year with Furuta is the faith he shows in his pitchers. If a reliever has a nightmare outing, he'll be thrown back in there in the next game to have a chance to redeem himself, which is a little different from the way Wakamatsu used to work. I like this change in attitude, and you can really see that all the players on the team are really playing for the manager. Which is part of the reason why we're on such a good run of late.

Long may it continue.

Passing through Jingu during the match I happened to see Greg LaRocca outside the stadium and he was limping. Did he pick up an injury yesterday?

Hmm, don't see anything on LaRocca in Yahoo Sports, but I only did a quick glance.

Yeah, faith in your pitching is good (does it have something to do with the fact that he and Itoh are both catchers turned managers?), and I agree that relievers definitely need to be thrown back out there the next chance they get because relievers occasionally have bad innings (just like starters), and that's a given.

And good point about the shaky bullpen causing Furuta to leave the starters in for longer. I noticed the same trend with Seibu, and the way starters are handled here and in Korea suggest that maybe it's got a bit more to do with Asian style ball as well.

I didn't see anything about La Rocca anywhere either. Let's hope he's okay.

On the subject of the Swallows and Seibu, I'm looking forward to this week's series at Seibu Invoice Dome. The "Lions News" flyers that are all over the inside of Seibu-line trains are billing it as Itoh vs. Furuta and as a chance for revenge for the whipping you guys took at Jingu. Should be a good series.

I enjoy sitting on that green carpet in the bleachers at Seibu Dome. I just wish they never put than stupid roof over the stadium!

I haven't had any CL allegiances for a long time (used to be a Carp fan long, long ago), but former Players Association president Furuta turned me into a Furuta fan, which in turn gave me a reason to cheer the Swallows. And Jingu is just so convenient, cozy, and a great ball park, so I've been seeing many more Swallows games than Lions games these past couple of years. So my allegiance is starting to split, and this inter-league matchup means that I'll be happy no matter what the result is (haha).

I've always been a Furuta fan, as he hails from Kawanishi, just down the road from us (almost). Would have been a Tiger, too, had it not been for the glasses.

- [Furuta w]ould have been a Tiger, too, ...

Ugh. That's a thought to send a shiver down the spine. Furuta in a Tigers uniform. Kind of like a glimpse of some horrific alternate universe.