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11/01/2002 Archived Entry: "Japan Series Game Four"

Giants Complete Overwhelming Sweep of Seibu 6-2

The Yomiuri Giants finally did it, sweeping a Japan Series in four games for the first time in their history for their 20th championship, as starter Hisanori Takahashi limited the Lions lineup to two runs on three hits Wednesday at Seibu Dome to cruise to a 6-2 victory, the team's eighth straight series game in which they have emerged on top at the end of the night.

Accepting blame for the defeat was Daisuke Matsuzaka, who entered the game in the sixth and was hammered for four runs, three earned, on three hits and his own error after starter Fumiya Nishiguchi had twirled five credible innings of two run ball on two hits, striking out seven and walking three. Again, much like game one, the Lions number one starter demonstrated that it would have been better had he sat it out until next season since the long layoff he had due to elbow and leg injuries had cost him both velocity and command.

The Giants drew first blood on the second, as centerfielder Hideki Matsui walked to lead it off and then, two outs later, first baseman Takayuki Saito mashed a Nishiguchi slider into the rightfield seats for a 2-0 advantage. Saito revealed that he thought it was gone as soon as he made contact.

Offering the Lions lineup a steady menu of sinkers at the suggestion of Kimiyasu Kudoh, Takahashi had suppressed them on one hit through four. However, in the fifth, the home team mounted a comeback. With one away, pinch hitter Tetsuya Kakiuchi singled to center. Takahashi then hung a changeup in the wheelhouse of DH Tom Evans, who pounded it into the leftcenterfield bleachers to deadlock it at 2-2. Seibu proceeded to load the bases on an error and two walks with two down, but third baseman Scott McClain popped to first to quell the revolt.

Yomiuri answered with three run in the sixth off of Matsuzaka, as he hit rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi on the instep with a pitch and Takahiro Suzuki had to be brought in to pinch run for him. Suzuki then stole second. Two strikeouts later,Matsuzaka plunked catcher Shinnosuke Abe in the abdomen with an 0-2 pitch. Matsuzaka attempted to jam Saito, who, like Matsuzaka is an alumnus of Yokohama High School, but the ball bit too much of the plate and he singled to left, Suzuki jetting home with the lead tally. Koji Goto was sent up to pinch hit for third baseman Akira Etoh and bashed a 91mph fastball to the wall in right for a bases clearing triple and it was 5-2.

Matsuzaka then helped the Giants himself in the seventh when he booted leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu's grounder toward first. Shimizu was sacrificed along one out later. Matsui walked. DH Kazuhiro Kiyohara sliced a single to right and Shimizu came around to make it 6-2. Nine of the final ten Seibu hitters went down before Takahashi and closer Junichi Kawahara from the seventh inning on, Evans fanning on a 1-2 forkball for the last out of the series, making it the fourth four game sweep everin the fall classic's history. The Giants were swept by Seibu in 1990 and now Yomiuri was able to exact some revenge.

The Giants then gathered together in a circle and tossed manager Tatsunori Hara, who seemed to be simultaneously laughing and crying, up in the air five times before the individual awards were handed out. Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka, who went 0-5 in this one with three strikeouts but had been a hits maching the first three games, was named MVP.

Hara, while he was a player, had faced the Lions four times in the Japan Series and was on the losing end in three of those. In the aformentioned sweep, he went 4-15 with zero RBIs as the team's cleanup man. This is the sixth time a rookie manager has presided over a series winner, the last one being now former Yokohama Bay Stars field general Hiroshi Gondo in 1998.

Abe, whose growing up process has often been very painful in his two years as a pro, cried after the game.

The victory was Takahashi's second straight in series action, as he wove a shutout in game five of the 2000 wingding.

Perhaps inevitably, reporters asked Kazuo Matsui whether he was going to request being posted this offseason. He replied that while it is still a dream of his to play in MLB, he wants to think about it and also talk it over with his team. He has a meeting scheduled with Lions owner Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, a very powerful personality.

One key to the pathetic Seibu performance was leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada, who was rendered hitless in 15 at bats after slugging more than 30 homers in the regular season.

Lions First baseman Alex Cabrera felt humilated by the sweep and launched into an angry tirade after the game, saying that the lineups manager Haruki Ihara constructed were more for entertainment value (such as hitting the pitchers nigher than ninth twice) than winning and that they should have used Evans, McClain, and Kakeuchi in every game.

Cabrera's teammate, catcher Tsutomu Itoh, stated that he wants to comeback in 2003 for his 23rd season. He didn't have a bad year, hitting .255 with eight homers and 50 RBIs while also acting as a player-coach.

Hideki Matsui's combination of HBPs and walks added up to six, a record number for a four game Japan Series.

Now for the spoils, if you can call them that by MLB standards. The Giants players each took home an additional $20,000 or thereabouts while each Lion pocketed somewhere around $14,000. The players on the winning team receive 16.8% of the gate receipts while the losers snag 11.2%.

To those of you living in Tokyo, now's the time to do your Christmas shopping, since many of the department stores in that city are holding sales to celebrate the Giants nippon ichi. They will end November 5th.

For Seibu, McClain was 0-4 and hit .363 for the series. Cabrera was 0-4 with two strikeouts and ended at .357. Evans was 1-4 with two RBIs and three strikeouts and bows out of the series with a .200 mark.

See related story at: http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getsp.pl5?sb20021031a1.htm

See another related story at: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20021031wo53.htm

Pitching Lines:

Yomiuri:

H. Takahashi (W, 1-0).........IP 8.0 PC 115 H 3 HR 1 K 7 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.25
J. Kawahara...................IP 1.0 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Seibu:

Nishiguchi...................IP 5.0 PC 84 H 2 HR 1 K 7 BB 3 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.60
Matsuzaka (L, 0-2)...........IP 2.0 PC 45 H 3 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 4 ER 3 ERA 12.60
S. Mori......................IP 1.0 PC 16 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.00
Toyoda.......................IP 1.0 PC 19 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

E: Nioka, Matsuzaka
SB: T. Shimizu, Suzuki,. H. Matsui, Kawanaka, Takayuki Saito, Shibata
3B: K. Goto
HR: Takayuki Saito (1), Evans (1)
RBI: Kiyohara, Takayuki Saito 3, K. Goto 2, Evans 2
HBP: Y. Takahashi (Matsuzaka), S. Abe (Matsuzaka)
GIDP: Yomiuri 7, Seibu 5

Series Status: Yomiuri 4, Seibu 0

Game Time: 3:12
Attendance: 31,082
Umpires: Yamamura (HP), Tomoyori (1B), Nakamura (2B), Mori (3B), Higashi (OF), Manabe (OF)

Hot Shots....

The Daiei Hawks have invited another foreign player to their fall camp, according to the Hochi Sports. He is righthander Santos Hernandez, who saved 27 games in Mexican League action this past season....Also, Hochi is saying that Hiroshima Carp leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto, Kintetsu Buffaloes third baseman Norihiro Nakamura and Hawks middle reliever Shuji Yoshida still have not decided as to whether they will be playing elsewhere next season via free agency....Furthermore, the Hawks have chosen to not tender an offer to longtime starter Kenichi Wakatabe, who could now end up with Yakult or his sentimental favorite, Yokohama. For their part, the Stars say they are interested....Speaking of the the Bay Stars, they are still interested in signing Rikkyo University righty Kazuhito Tadano despite his currently undergoing treatment for elbow and shoulder ailments. They like the Yachiyo, Chiba Prefecture native's control and his low 90's heater, so him and Nihon University third baseman Shuichi Murata are still their top two priorities....Sports Nippon's Osaka edition is saying that both the Braves and the Mets are interested in Kintetsu Buffaloes free agent hurler Hiroshi Takamura. Now somebody will have to explain why....Hanshin Tigers righty Keiichi Yabu will be training for two weeks at the Detroit Tigers camp in Lakeland Florida beginning November 2nd and will be paying his own expenses for the trip....The Yokohama Bay Stars have invited former Cuban national baseball team members German Mesa and Luis Ulacia to participate in their fall camp as special instructors. They are especially interested in ex-shortstop Mesa working with versatile Tatsuhiko Kinjo and infielder Seiichi Uchikawa. The two Cubans will reportedly be in camp for three days between November 8-11....Kintetsu Buffaloes closer Akinori Otsuka says he wants to be posted in November so that he can go to the states in December to begin negotiations with the winner of the bid....Otsuka's teammate, pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma, announced that he will be marrying Madoka Hirobashi, a junior college student and the 20 year old daughter of a Seibu Lions batting coach, in Hawaii next month. They have been going out for two years after meeting at a Tokyo art museum. Madoka's father has given his blessing to the marriage and says that he wishes his future son in law good luck, but that the Lions will win the PL pennant again....

Matsui May be Yankees New Overseas Investment

See a really well done article by Hartford Courant writer Dom Amore at: http://www.ctnow.com/sports/baseball/yankees/hc-yanksjapan.artoct30,0,4600589.story?coll=hc-headlines-sports

Yankee Imperialism

See another Dom Amore article on the Yankees international dealings at: http://www.ctnow.com/sports/hc-yankgraphic.artoct30,0,3688585.story?coll=hc-headlines-sports

Macha Learned Patience Playing in Japan

See Fresno Bee story at: http://www.fresnobee.com/sports/story/4999791p-6008006c.html

Kintetsu Aquires Beirne from Dodgers

According to Sports Nippon, the Kintetsu Buffaloes are buying the contract of 28 year old pitcher Keven Beirne. The 6'4" 210 pound righthander spent most of the season in the minors, but saw 12 games at the big league level, going 2-0 with a 3.41 ERA. His overall MLB record is 3-3 with a 6.09 ERA in 46 games.

Today in Japanese Baseball History

This report is for October 30th and on that date in Japanese baseball history in 1969, in the bottom of the fourth inning of the fourth game of the Japan Series between the Hankyu Braves and Yomiuri Giants at Korakuen Stadium, Braves catcher Koji Okamura thought that Giants runner Shozo Doi was out in a play at the plate even though umpire Isao Okada had ruled him safe. Okamura assaulted the umpire and got the gate, the first time any player had been tossed in a series contest.

What happened was this: With Doi on third and Sadaharu Oh on first, Shigeo Nagashima struckout on a 3-2 hit and run play. Okamura, seeing Oh takeoff, threw to second. Doi then busted for home. Hankyu shortstop Fujio Yamaguchi cut the ball off and gunned it to the plate, which Okamura, a big guy, had blocked off. The throw was a little offline, but Okumura snared it ahead of Doi's arrival at the plate and swiped the tag on Doi in a close play, sending the much smaller Giants infielder sprawling. Okada judged that Doi was in just ahead of the tag, causing Okamura to jump up and punch Okada (probably in the body I would imagine). The Braves bench thought that they had been egregiously robbed and manager Yukio Nishimoto replaced Okamura with Yukiyoshi Okada, who intentionally let pitches get by him so they would hit the umpire. That began a Giants comeback from a deficit and they ultimately came out on top in that one.

However, as it turned out, umpire Okada had made the right call. A photo published in one of the sports dialies the next morning showed Doi's foot making contact with the plate just before the tag. Must have made Okamura feel pretty sheepish. But then again, that umpire is about all Okamura hit during his 14 year career (11 with Hankyu and three with Nippon Ham), as he posted a .224 lifetime average with 85 homers and 395 RBIs.


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