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08/10/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Carp Explodes the Toad"
Fat Toad Gobbled Up by Carp 5-1
Two run homers by shortstop Andy Sheets, who also made a dandy defensive play to quell an opposition uprising, and third baseman Takahiro Arai did in Hideki Irabu and the Hanshin Tigers in front of an overflow crowd Saturday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium 5-1. The Osaka favorite sons have now dropped three in a row for the first time all year.
Shinji Sasaoka evened his record to 6-6 for Hiroshima, going six innings of one run ball, that coming on former teammate Tomoaki Kanemoto's 13th roundtripper, while new addition Tom Davey picked up his first save in Japan.
Both sides went down in order in the first before leftfielder Kanemoto, who is being bugged by a neck strain he was afflicted while sleeping a little while back, leadoff the second by torquing a 91mph fastball from Sasaoka beyond the leftcenterfield wall for his first circuit clout since July 20th, which was 65 at bats ago.
Staked to a 1-0 advantage, Irabu quickly gave it back in the home portion, as Sheets singled to left and, oneut later, centerfielder Koichi Ogata walked. Third baseman Kenjiro Nomura singled to left to hail Sheets in and knot it at one all. After striking out catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara, Irabu walked Sasaoka to load the bases. However, he induced a popout from Morigasa and it stayed tied.
In the third, the Carp went ahead to stay when first baseman Itsuki Asai singled to left with one out and Sheets cranked a ball into the rightcenterfield stands and it was 3-1 Hiroshima.
Hanshin attempted to mount a comeback in the fifth, as catcher Toshihiro Noguchi singled to center. Hanshin boss Senichi Hoshino flashed the hit and run sign and Noguchi took off as Sasaoka delivered the ball. Unfortunately, rightfielder Yutaka Nakamura sent the ball up the middle, where Sheets had moved to cover the bag. Sheets grabbed it, stepped on second and winged it to first for the double play. Irabu struckout to close out the frame.
Irabu walked Nomura to commence the bottom of the sixth and he was moved along on a sac bunt. Arai, who began the game on the bench for the first time this season, was sent up to pinch hit for Sasaoka and creamed a fourth pitch fastball well into the leftfield bleachers to make it 5-1 Carp, resulting in Irabu getting the hook in favor of Takehito Kanazawa. This was the slumping Arai's first slow tour around the diamond in 105 at bats.
Hanshin had another chance to get back in it in the eighth against Davey when Noguchi singled to right and Nakamura singled to center. But pinch hitter Teruyoshi Kuji grounded into a 4-6-3 twin killing and centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi grounded out to put the kabosh on that revolt.
Hanshin then made a battle of it, too, in the ninth, as shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto grounded to Sheets, who booted it for his 11th error. Second baseman Makoto Imaoka singled to left. Kanemoto struckout. First baseman George Arias singled off the centerfield wall. Fujmoto wasn't certain whether Ogata would catch it, so he made it only to third for a long single to load the bases. Third baseman Atsushi Kataoka, who has revived his career after a hellish previous season, had a chance to tie it up, but fanned instead. Noguchi then grounded harmlessly to second and it was "game setto."
After the game, reporters asked Hoshino about an article in one of the Japanese weekly tabloid magazines which insisted that the fiery field boss was using illegal methods to steal signs. Hoshino denied the charge, saying that if he did and was found out, it would create a cloud over what the team has accomplished this season. He also averred that if he were doing what the rag in question accused him of, Arias would be hitting better than the .257 he has posted thus far. It should be said, though, that the former Angel also has 23 homers and 67 RBIs with an .848 OPS and he has grounded into only four double plays.
Despite the defeat, due to the Swallows being shot down against Yomiuri, the Tigers need only a combination of 27 wins and Yakult losses for a ride to the Japan Series.
For Hiroshima, Sheets, who was brought over to stabilize a league worst defense but has been raking lately with the bat, was 2-4 with two RBIs and is at .328.
For Hanshin, Arias was 1-4 and is at .260.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Irabu (L, 11-4) IP 5.1 BF 27 PC 124 H 7 HR 2 K 5 BB 3 R 5 ER 5 ERA 2.95
Kanazawa IP 1.2 BF 5 PC 19 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.95
Riggan IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 8 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.66
Hiroshima:
Sasaoka (W, 6-6) IP 6.0 BF 21 PC 89 H 3 HR 1 K 3 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.66
Davy (S, 1) IP 3.0 BF 13 PC 50 H 5 HR 0 K 4 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.89
E: Fujimoto, T. Kimura, Sheets
SB: Ogata, K. Nomura, I. Asai, T. Kimura
HR: Kanemoto (13), Sheets (15), T. Arai (7)
RBI: Kanemoto, Sheets 2, K. Nomura, T. Arai 2
WP: Irabu
GIDP: Y. Nakamura (6-3), Kuji (4-6-3)
LOB: Hanshin 6, Hiroshima 6
Game Time: 2:59
Attendance: 32,000
Umpires: Kittaka (HP), Sasaki (1B), Tsuchiyama (2B), Mori (3B)
Petagine Three Run Homer Best Yakult 3-2
A long, long blast to leftcenter with two on in the first by Roberto Petagine was enough for Yomiuri starter Koji Uehara, as he racked up his fourth consecutive complete game 3-2 victory Saturday at Tokyo Dome, though he also had some help from a ninth inning baserunning blunder by veteran Yakult second baseman Katsuyuki Dobashi.In addition, the Atlanta Braves are showing interest in the righthander even though the Giants ace isn't eligible for free agency until 2009. But more about that later.
Yuya Kamada started for the Swallows and, aside from the mistake to Petagine, aquitted himself pretty well, shutting Yomiuri down on three hits during the remainder of his six inning stint.
Uehara was a little rocky in the top of the first, as he walked centerfielder Tetsuya Iida to open the game and, tow outs later, nailed leftfielder Alex Ramirez with a pitch. But third baseman Akinori Iwamura came up empty for the first of Uehara's nine strikeouts to kill the incipient rally.
Then it was the Giants turn at bat and rightfielder Mototsugu Kawanaka plopped a one out fly ball double to center and Centerfielder Takayuki Shimizu beat out a roller toward short. Petagine worked the count to 2-1 and then got an 87mph cutter on the inner half of the plate and clobbered it an estimated 455 feet into the leftcenterfield bleachers for a 3-0 home lead.
Uehara wasn't in any serious trouble until the sixth, when Ramirez whistled a two out double off the centerfield fence and Iwamura yanked one safely into left to shrink the Swallows deficit to 3-1. Catcher Atsuya Furuta, bone bruise on his ankle and bad knees and all, stepped in, but Uehara blew him away and that was that.
Yomiuri's ace settled back in and had one gone in the ninth when Furuta seared a shot up the leftcenter alley for a double and went to third on a subsequent groundout. Dobashi belted a drive off of the leftfield wall to score Furuta easily, but ran through the first base coach's stop sign as Petagine got to the ball rightaway and gunned a strike to second baseman Toshihisa Nishi, who applied the tag and that was your ballgame. Challenging the defensively suspect Petagine wasn't a bad idea, but that wasn't the best time for it. And the 14 year veteran Dobashi should have known that.
A curious epilogue to this game was that Atlanta Braves Assistant to the GM Chuck McMichael was in the stands and remarked after it was over that "[Uehara] is a good pitcher. His salary would be a problem, but I hold him in high regard." Braves scout Hiroyuki Ohya then told the press that seemed to imply that he wants to help Uehara escape to MLB and more explicitly added that he would fit into anyone's rotation. The only trouble is MLB-hater and Yomiuri owner Tsuneo Watanabe is unlikely to allow his number one starter to be posted. So it's uncertain what the Braves have in mind, but it sure is curious.
In any event, Uehara is 6-3 with a 3.29 ERA during the second half so far, as he has returned to form after being rocked in his first three appearances this season. He is also the only Giants pitcher to accumulate three consecutive ten wins or more campaigns since Masaaki Saito did it from 1994-1996. However, Uehara is also suffering from knee and back maladies and is taking painkillers to help him through his starts. How this will affect his long term viability remains to be seen since they may lead to more strain on his arm.
This was the shortest Central League game of the season.
For Yakult, Ramirez was 1-3 with an HBP and is at .336. First baseman Todd Betts was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .298.
For Yomiuri, Petagine was 1-3 with three RBIs and is at .283. Chris Latham was 0-1 in a pinch hitting role and staying in as a defensive replacement in right, and is at .139.
Pitching Lines:
Yakult:
Kamada (L, 2-5) IP 6.0 BF 23 PC 65 H 6 HR 1 K 6 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.54
Yamamoto IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 22 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.40
Yomiuri:
Uehara (W, 10-3) IP 9.0 BF 35 PC 124 H 8 HR 0 K 9 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.45
2B: Kawanaka, Uehara, Ramirez, S. Abe, Furuta
HR: Petagine (19)
RBI: Petagine 3, Iwamura, Dobashi
HBP: Ramirez (Uehara)
GIDP: Dobashi (1-4-3)
LOB: Yakult 6, Yomiuri 3
Game Time: 2:15
Attendance: 55,000
Umpires: Suginaga (HP), Yoshimoto (1B), Ino (2B), Tomoyose (3B)
Orix Loses Artillery Battle to Kintetsu 7-4
Orix centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani slugged a pair of homers and drove in four runs, but he was outgunned by six solo dingers, two each from leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes and first baseman Yuji Yoshioka, by the Kintetsu Buffaloes, the herd prevailing 7-4 Saturday at Kobe Green Stadium (note to the broadband company whose name now adorns that facility: we'll mention your name when you advertise with us). Jeremy Powell was the big beneficiary of his side's power display, and he is now 9-10 on the year.
Koo Dae-sung started for Orix and tied a Pacific League record held by 11 others by being victimized by the longball five times in a single match. He is now tied with Carlos Mirabal and Hisashi Ogura in homers given up with 21.
Orix jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first when first baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani leadoff with a single to right and, one out later, Tani parked a Powell delivery into the leftfield stands. Koo then fended off a bases loaded, two out jam in the second by striking out catcher Akihito Fujii and kept both runners that got on in the third from completing the circuit.
In the fourth, though, Yoshioka rocketed a shot into the centerfield seats to open the inning. One out later, shortstop Masahiro Abe registered his fifth tater when he crushed one into the leftfield seats to deadlock it at 2-2.
Tani pulled the Blue Wave ahead once more when he leadoff with an "arch" into the leftcenterfield bleachers to make it 3-2 Orix.
Tuffy Rhodes, zip for his last 17, rectified that when he got an 89mph fastball off the end of the bat and actually busted it, but still lifted it over the leftcenterfield fence.to make it a new ballgame at 3-3.
The home nine surged to head of the line again in the sixth, as Powell plunked Shiotani, who somehow managed to get to second, though there is no stolen basen wild pitch or passed ball in this sequence. He was sacrificed to third, from where he hustled in on Tani's sac fly to right for a 4-3 Orix advantage.
Kintetsu wasted a two on, one out setup in the sixth, so they put things right when second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi cracked a homer to left beginning the seventh. Rhodes strode up and piled Koo's slider into the second deck just inside the rightfield foul pole and it was 5-4 Buffs. Ogura was waved in from the bullpen and, two outs later, Yoshioka roasted one into the rightcenterfield stands to widen it to 6-4.
Kintetsu stranded Fujii, who had tripled into the rightfield corner, on third with one out in the eighth. So they got their final tally the hard way, with two outs, when pinch hitter Koichi Isobe singled to right, Yoshioka singled to left and rightfielder Shinji Shimoyama flambed one off the leftfield fence to push Isobe across for the final margin of victory, 7-4.
For Orix, leftfielder Roosevelt Brown was 0-3 with a walk and is at .330. Second baseman Jose Ortiz was 0-4 and is at .238. Ortiz needs to step it up now if he wants to come back to Japan, where he has an OBP of .294 and leads all of Japanese baseball
with 17 errors in 83 games. He has also grounded into 12 double plays. On the plus side, he has 40 extra base hits (20 doubles, two triples and 18 homers).
For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 2-5 with two RBIs and is at .279. His OPS is 1.008. The former Cub has a bad heel, one that, he says, doesn't hurt when he runs, but he does feel it when he stops.
Pitching Lines:
Kintetsu:
Powell (W, 9-10) IP 7.0 BF 25 PC 95 H 3 HR 2 K 7 BB 1 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.46
T. Yoshida IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 19 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.99
Takamura (S, 7) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 19 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.49
Orix:
Koo (L, 6-7) IP 6.1 BF 30 PC 131 H 11 HR 5 K 6 BB 2 R 5 ER 5 ERA 5.11
H. Ogura IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 27 H 2 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.18
J. Hagiwara IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 32 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 7.52
2B: Shimoyama
3B: A. Fujii
HR: Y. Tani 2 (12), Yoshioka 2 (9), Rhodes 2 (36), M. Abe (5), Mizuguchi (3)
RBI: Mizuguchi, Rhodes 2, Yoshioka 2, Shimoyama, M. Abe, Tani 4
SF: Y. Tani
HBP: Shiotani (Powell)
LOB: Kintetsu 11, Orix 1
Game Time: 3:13
Attendance: 35,000
Umpires: Higashi (HP), Nagami (1B), Yoshikawa (2B), Yamamura (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri Yoshinobu Takahashi sat out today's game due to right shoulder pain that has gotten worse since he hurt it in a game against Yokohama on the sixth. He is day to day....Kazuhiro Kiyoahara is still being dogged by that bad hamstring and has just started taking batting practice again after being out of commission the last few days. They hope he can be back in the lineup on the 12th against Chunichi....Speedy outfielder Takahiro Suzuki received some private tutoring by manager Tatsunoir Hara on
compacting his stroke and hitting the ball on the ground. Suzuki, who has usually been confined to a pinch running role in past seasons, has seen quite a bit more playing time due to injuries to the team's starting outfielders.
Yakult Outfielder Atsunori Inaba has been elevated back to the top team after recovering from an injury.
Hanshin While I was in Japan, I was treated to the site on Japanese tv of that country's media outlets using helicopters to cover a personal appearance by Manchester United soccer star David Beckham. You would have thought he was a head of state the way they were breathlessly covering that non-story. According to the NY Times, Hanshin helmsman Senichi Hoshino is also puzzled about Beckham's appeal: "what on earth makes Beckham worth so much?" he is quoted as wondering. Couldn't agree more Hoshino- kantoku.
Chunichi Pitcher Takashi Ogasawara is going to be out for the rest of the schedule due to a herniated right foot that will require surgery.
Yokohama Kenichi Wakatabe has been demoted to the minors in order to add Eddie Gaillard to the roster.
Daiei First baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka is back on track after a disastrous 2002 that saw the former MVP have his worst year ever, but now word has come that his right knee is bothering him. He is one guy that the team can't afford to lose during the stretch drive, especially since righthanded starter Nagisa Arakaki is out of action and Hiroki Kokubo is rehabilitating his surgically repaired knee.
Nippon Ham The Fighters were scheduled to play a game in Hitachinaka Saturday, but it was cancelled due to bad weather, so manager Trey Hillman organized an autograph session for the fans who showed up. The former Rangers farm director noted that his club only plays there once a year, so he wanted to show some appreciation for the club's followers....Veteran infielder Yukio Tanaka has been put back on the roster after recovering from a groin injury three weeks ago.
Miscellaneous A member of former Lotte Orions and Chunichi Dragons great Hiromitsu Ochiai's family, professional wrestler Giants Ochiai (real name: Takayuki Okada), died in the wake of what was termed a :training accident," according to to Wrasslin.com. For those interested in further details, you can find an article Here.
Koshien Tournament Komadai Tomakomai High School was sent home Saturday by Kurashiki Kogyo High School 5-2, denying Komadai its first ever Koshien victory. The two teams had originally faced off Friday, with Komadai getting off to an 8-0 advantage, but the weather worsened thanks to a typhoon and it was called before it could be a regulation game....Backed up a leadoff first inning jack into the leftfield seats from 5'7" 132 pound second baseman Hironori Uemoto, Koryo High School righthander Kenta Nishimura, who may be in a pro uniform this time next season, snuffed out the offense of Tokaidai Kofu High School on six hits, striking out 11 on 122 pitches to win it 3-0. He mostly relied on a sharp slider during the game, but his fastball was still clocked at a high of 90mph. Isao Ojimi, the Mets Japan scout, said that he believes that Nishimura has good enough pitching instincts to play in the majors someday. However, as one would expect from a youngster, his command was inconsistent at times. A Yakult scout also thinks that Nishimura is projectable in the pros, though he observed that the 18 year old isn't yet using his whole arm when throwing his breaking pitches, just mostly his wrist, and he needs some work on his weight transfer to help put more octane on his heater. The 6'0" 170 poundNishimura himself allowed that he would give himself a 70 out of 100 for this outing. Uemoto's leadoff bomb was the tenth in Koshien history.
Giants Owner Watanabe Assails Foreign Ownership of Hawks
The joke of Japanese baseball, Yomiuri Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe, came out with another thundering tirade this past week when he once again raised the possibility of his team seceding from NPB and inaugurating a new league. What lead to this nonsense? It appears that the Daiei Hawks are indeed going to be sold, and three U.S.investment firms are angling to acquire the Kyushu club.
Under Japanese pro baseball rules, no foreign firm or indivudual can possess more than a 49% share in a club there. That would still allow the non-Japanese party to call the shots for the team, however. Watanabe looks at this as somehow being inimical and he insists that should such an event come to pass, he will take his ballteam home with him, petty feudalist tyrant that he is. Note that none of the prospective purchasers have mentioned anything about moving the Hawks or really doing anything than what the Fukuoka side does now.
It could be that he is afraid that a company with a huge bankroll who would more than gladly tell him where he can insert whatever stick like object he prefers when he lords the Giants popularity over everyone, one that would have the monetary resources to compete payroll-wise with his team, one that would no doubt bring in people with more marketing smarts than the idiots who currently run NPB, would diminish him and his megalomania.
Has anyone actually looked at what bankrolling a new league would mean? First of all, it plays havoc with the Giants contract situation. Each player signs a separate pact with NPB that outlines the terms under which he will participate in the pro organizatioin. Now the question is, would Yomiuri's leaving NPB invalidate those players' contracts, leaving the likes of Koji Uehara, Tomohiro Nioka, Yoshinobu Takahashi, Shinnosuke Abe, Kimiyasu Kudoh, Hiroshi Kisanuki and a host of other choice athletes to then sign MLB deals? I don't know anything about Japanese contract law, but it could be that Watanabe night be left holding the bag filled with leftovers who will be tainted with not being good enough to be MLB players.
Then there is the issue of who they will play. Industrial League teams? Are you serious? Imagine the Yankees playing a team from the Cape Cod League and it wouldn't even be THAT good! Will Yomiuri bankroll other teams? Who is going to start a new team with no prestige attached to them in the current Japanese economic environment? The Mainichi Shimbun, who were active in starting the Pacific League, tried their hand at owning a team (the Manichi/Daimai Orions) and eventually sold out to Lotte. Asahi had a team for about ten minutes. Fuji-Sankei owned the Swallows for five years and continue to own a minority share in the team, which is now owned by Yakult. Therefore, a WNBA-style arrangement imposed on the part of Yomiuri is largely impossible.
Furthermore, where would they play on the road? NPB teams have almost all of the choice ballparks locked up. And their Tokyo Dome is losing a tennant in Nippon Ham's move to Sapporo next season.
Indeed, the remaining NPB team would have all the best remaining players and draftees are going to go to the highest competition that isn't called MLB and that is NPB, not Bingo Watanabe and his Travelling Company Men's barnstormers.
So it is high time the other Japanese owners tell Watanabe to shut the hell up and begin acting like a rational human being or get lost. But for right now, he reigns over NPB like Saddam Hussein did in Iraq. NPB needs to be liberated from the man's grip. The other owners are a bunch of cowards or are just too stupid to rebel. The Japanese pro game will not get any better or more popular until they get some spine in dealing with the Yomiuri owner, one who makes his country's baseballers look like a collection of small time clowns and pantywaists.
In the News
Arias Loving Winning with Tigers
See story at: Japan Times Story
The Days of '85
The lovely and talented Wayne Graczyk reminisces about the last time Hanshin visited the Japan Series at:
Yomiuri Shimbun Article
Today's Pictures
Roberto Petagine Watches Drive Sail into the Seats in First Inning
Koji Uehara Delivers to the Plate
Kenta Nishimura Says "Try to Hit This!"
Replies: 1 Comment
Gary's back! Hurray!
Posted by Jeff @ 08/12/2003 02:49 PM EST
