Toothless Tigers

- Yakult's Fujii has been woeful this year and their effort against him was just awful.

Hey now, don't be diggin' on my pitchers now

Fujii was painful to watch when he first came off the DL after surgeory, but he has been doing pretty good lately, winning his last 3 out of 4.

Now, about the Tigers, I too have noticed that Okada lacks the same authority that Hoshino had, and the players don't seem to be as "in" to the games as last year (although the fans certainly are). But you have to remember that a lot of players had career years last year, Igawa, Kanemoto, Hoshino, Imaoka, etc. You can't expect the players to put up the kind of numbers they had last year, every year.

Overall, I don't think the Tigers are doing that bad. They currently have the best ERA in the CL, but they just are hurting because the bats aren't as alive as they were last year. Okada is in his first year with the Tigers, and he's still probably feeling the ropes as to whom is clutch and when to pull pitchers.

You can't win 'em all. I've been a Mariners fan since 1977, and I know what losing and frustration feel like.

Hey JBB!

No offense meant with the swipe at Fujii, I just thought a more patient offense should have been more productive off him last night as he wasn't exactly setting the world on fire with his 5 innings.

Thanks for your reply, and I generally agree with your reply! I just really felt they should be looking for more power in the line up, and with all the money they must be making from those full houses at Koshien, it would be nice to see management splash out on a big bat!

And to think we were talking about the overabundance of offensive talent this off-season. What happened to Kinkade and Hamanaka? Have they been injured? Released due to poor play? I haven't seen either of them in the box scores for a while.

Also, it seems like Toritani's coming on lately. He was down under .140 for a while and is now up to .200 - does anyone have his stats for say, the past month? Are folks considering this a bad draft pick or is he merely rebounding from rookie struggles?

Given Fujimoto`s slump with the bat of late, and a few hiccups in defence (if you saw the routine play he fumbled off Araki last night in the first, eventually leading to a run, you'll know what I mean), I'd like to see Toritani get a start in the lineup. He has the ability to clear the fences as well. I'm not sure of his stats in the last month, but I agree with you, in that his recent numbers are solid considering his average was in the low hundreds not that long ago.

It's baffling why Okada is not playing with the lineup despite such poor offense. The only change he makes is replacing the hot Sekimoto with Kataoka last night! Go figure?!

I'm not sure what is happening with Kinkade, he got hit by that pitch in the hand/wrist area and he kind of disappeared. I haven't read anything about him being cut from the club, so I guess hes still recovering. But it sure has been a long time!

Oh well, it was nice to see the Tigers turn a triple play last night. I'd trade it for a win though.

Could it be that the Tigers didn't win the pennant in 2003, but Hoshino-kantoku did?

I was at the Koshien again last night (Jul. 27; vs. Chunichi) and, to be quite honest, we never even looked like winning. More to the point, although we have generally the same team as last season, no player looked like he was determined to be the one to get us back on the right track.

Looking at the Tigers' performance over the season so far, I have noticed a couple of trends:

• The Tigers' starters have given up three, four, five runs or more in the first inning on a number of occasions, effectively losing the game right there. Just about every time this has happened, the pitcher has thrown really well after that, but the Tigers struggle to overcome such a deficit these days.
• In 2003, our offensive strength lay in stringing hits together, often combining for big-score innings without a single HR being hit. This year (and this was painfully obvious last night, too), our hits come in dribs and drabs. Pitchers need not fear if they put a Tiger on base, because at the moment, there's a good chance that will be the only hit of the inning.
• Okada-kantoku and Hirata head coach just don't command the respect and fear that Hoshino-kantoku and coaches like Tabuchi did in 2003.

You said it Torakichi.

I think your final point cannot be stated enough. Okada is by no means a motivator. Just listening to him during the postgame is so uninspiring!

While on the issue of Okada, why does he continue to start Kataoka ahead of Sekimoto? Sekimoto is swinging the bat so well right now (batting average over .330) and getting clutch hits (look no further than tonight's 12th inning lead off). Sekimoto is a future star of this team, give him some playing time. Furthermore, why wasn't Hiyama given the signal to bunt in the 12th with no outs and runners on 1st and 2nd? Sure, Yano came through with the goods in the end, but let's stick to the basics - especially at that stage of the game!

Fujimoto is really letting those errors pile up at shortstop. Let's give Toritani a few starts. This season is over for Hanshin, so time for a bit of experimentation and at least trying new things to boost production. A potential star like Toritani shouldn't be warming the bench so often. He needs more playing time.

Sorry for the long winded post. Just needed to get a frustrating week of my chest. A week ago the Tigers were still in it, but alas the wheels have fallen off. In saying all that, wasn't it great to see Yano rip that bottom of the 12th, two out RBI up the alley tonight for the win?!

A potential star like Toritani shouldn't be on the top team yet. Poor performances will only hinder whatever he is capable of doing for the top team. Just like many other rookies, Toritani should be polishing his skills so that he can gain some experience and then come out and do his job. Why do you think Nakajima of the Lions is doing so well?

Furthermore, Fujimoto and Sekimoto can both play shortstop. Fujimoto's defense, despite the errors he has made recently, is solid. Both he and Sekimoto are good shortstops who hit well. There was no need for the rush to start playing Toritani at the top team.

I didn't want to sound like I was coming down too hard on one particular player, but clearly some changes have to be made in their line-up! Their anaemic offense saw them finish their recent homestand with a pathetic 2-7 record. They've drifted so far back, this is the time to experiment and make some changes, there's nothing left to lose!

Clearly Toritani is a future star, and I agree with him having to be protected to a certain extent. But he needs to start the odd game to get a feel for things. It's unfair to bring him on time and time again as a pinch-hitter!

Time to mix things up a bit!

Amen, brother! My biggest problem with Okada is his lack of concern and nasty love for old grandma Kataoka! I may be flattering him, but also a pitcher with an ERA higher than a Shinjuku skyscraper blew our second game in two nights. GRRRRR!

Amen brother! Give Toritani a shot. Okada is terrible with decisions. He gives them as much thought as a foreigner would to visiting Okayama on a vacation!

I'm particularly bothered by the use of a pitcher with an ERA larger than the country he inhabits and the insistence on geriatric toothless Kataoka in the clutch. Or is it crutch? Resign Okada! We're waiting. (Looks at watch.)

I agree with most of the views. Okada does not have the guts Hoshino had.

Many of the matches we (Tigers) should have won went begging. Almost all of Fukuhara's pitching matches were finished in with 0-1 or 0-2 at the max. Yet he took the loss. Remember, Tigers had more hits than the opponents, especially against Chunichi. Except in the latest clash at Koshien, Chunich had fewer hits than the Tigers, but they eneded up wining. This shows the efforts that the batters put in, and espeically so many double plays.

Only Okada-kantouku can be held responsible, as his rotation of players is simply awful. He used outta [?] form Yagi and Hamanaka to screw up many winning matches. Sure, they were the stars of last year, but we have a new star in Sekimoto. And I hardly have an clue of his left and right combination of batters against respective pitchers. Either he is clueless or he's simply beleiving in something which is neither his players nor himself.

Okada has to remmeber that Yano is falling prey to double play in many scoring situations. His utilisation of Okihara went begging in many games he chose either Noguchi or Yagi, and eventually chances were lost.

Especially against Yakult, it was Kanemoto who took the blame as he was not sure to hit it or play for RBI. Blame is with Okada. He talks to Hiyama often, but if he did the same with others, then it would have been different game.

Sorry for my long post. I'm also one of the viewers of the Yakult smashin' Tigers at Koshien. They also screwed up their pennet race, as Andoh and Williams will not play in August.

Arrrrghhh. Almost as if it was scripted, yet another blown lead! Four straight! And this time with a 3 run lead in the 10th! Wasn't it Myers who blew a save and gave up a sayonara hit in the same venue against the Swallows a few weeks back?

The Tigers are starting to find extraordinary ways of losing games. Finishing over .500 is looking to be a challenge this season.

It's driving me crazy!