[Previous entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Sugiuchi Pitches, Iguchi Homers Daiei to Series Tying Victory' Mets Tampered With Kazuo Matsui?; Zeile May be off to Japan"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Iguchi to Ask to be Posted Thursday; Igawa, Johjima MVPs"]
10/28/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Iguchi, Johjima Power Hawks to Japan Series Triumph"
Iguchi, Johjima Back Superb Wada Outing for Championship 6-2
Daiei Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi has found his stroke just in time, as he connected for his second two run homer in as many games while catcher Kenji Johjima delivered a pair of roundtrippers himself to prop up a wonderful complete game performance by lefthander Tsuyoshi Wada, the first rookie ever to start a game seven, in a 6-2 Japan Series title clinching victory Monday at Fukuoka Dome. It is the Hawks sixth "Nippon ichi (number one in Japan)" since their founding in 1938 and second since the Daiei supermarket chain bought them in 1988.
Trey Moore, who helped put the birds of prey in a precarious fix with a solid start earlier in the Japan fall classic, was ineffective in this one and absorbed the defeat after three innings of five run, five hit ball.
Wada was on his heels a bit when Hanshin second baseman Makoto Imaoka singled to center to kick off the festivities and then the Waseda university grad threw wide of first on centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi's bunt to put men on first and second with nobody out. However, leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto missed a hanging slider and popped it up to right and then rightfielder Shinjiro Hiyama bounced to Iguchi, who flipped to shortstop Yusuke Torigoe, who gunned it to Nobuhiko Matsunaka at first for an inning ending twin killing.
The Hawks then dented Moore in the home portion, as centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu beat out a ground ball toward third and third baseman Munenori Kawasaki walked. They each moved up on a ground ball that third baseman Kentaro Sekimoto had to charge and go to first on off the bat of Iguchi. Matsunaka whistled a Moore delivery into the rightcenter alley for a two run double and a 2-0 Daiei lead.
The Tigers then ran into some bad luck in the second when DH Osamu Hamanaka drilled one right on the screws with one out, but right at Iguchi. Catcher Akihiro Yano scorched a shot down the rightfield line for a two bagger. Shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto got good wood, but that rocket was flagged down by Kawasaki and the Hawks advantage was still a going concern.
In the third, it was James Brown time in Fukuoka, that is, "get on up." With one out, Kawasaki cranked one over the head of Kanemoto for a double. Iguchi then torqued a Moore slider into the rightcenterfield stands. Matsunaka drilled another Moore selection, but it was snagged by Imaoka. Moore threw the next man, Johjima, a fastball and saw it sail into the great wide open in left and it was 5-0 Daiei.
With one out in the fifth, Wada split a nail on his middle finger and it bothered him enough to where Sekimoto took him into the leftcenterfield bleachers to make it 5-1. Imaoka banged a single to center. Akahoshi singled to left. Wada got comfortable again and the Tigers went quietly from there through the eighth.
In the meantime, Johjima went "gaijin-gari (foreigner hunting)" once more, as he obliterated a Jerrod Riggan pitch in the sixth and deposited the remains in the leftfield seats to restore the five run gap and make it 6-1 Hawks.
Jeff Williams came on in the eighth and struckout the side, his way of signaling what he intends to do to opposing hitters next season.
The Tigers order had its final turn in the ninth. First baseman George Arias flied out to right. Hamanaka grounded out to second. Katsumi Hirosawa was sent up to pinch hit for Yano in his last at bat ever in a pro uniform. He got a 1-1 slider down in the zone and launched it beyond the 18 foot high leftfield wall. What a way to go out, with a circuit clout in the Japan Series! But aside from supplanting the memory of all those whiffs Hirosawa, who became the oldest man ever to go yard in a series faceoff at 41 years old, had earlier in earlier contests, it still only brought Hanshin within 6-2. Reserve shortstop Yoshinori Okihara swung through an 85mph down and in fastball and it was "let's go pour large amounts of alcohol on each other" for the Fukuoka nine. It was manager Sadaharu Oh's second series crown, too, both with Daiei. He is 12-12 in series games. His opposite number, Senichi Hoshino cruises into that good night with a 5-12 Japan Series record.
This was the first seven game Japan Series all time where the home teams won every match. Furthermore, All the winning pitchers were lefties, the first time in series history that happened.
Toshiya Sugiuchi , who cadged a pair of victories, was named MVP, which was accompanied by a brand new car. Sugiuchi said he will give the wheels to his parents. Sugiuchi is the 20th pitcher to be named series MVP and the first in nine years, when Yomiuri's Hiromi Makihara won it. The last Hawks moundsman to be series MVP was Joe Stanka in 1964. He is the sixth pitcher in history with more than ten innings to not walk a man, as he went 15 with nary a freebie. His average per inning pitch count in the series was 12.9. During the regular season, he needed an average of four more pitches than that.
Hirosawa is the eighth man to homer for two different teams in a Japan Series game seven. His pinch homer is the 29th in Japan Series history and the first ever by a Hanshin player. It was the 600th big jack in series history. He ended up with 306 lifetime regular season bombs.
Among other series accomplishments, DH Julio Zuleta and leftfielder Pedro Valdes were only the third non-Japanese pair to homer in the same series game. Valdes was only the third man in history to strikeout four times in a series game when he did it in game four. He was the fourth in history to strikeout in five consecutive series at bats. Too, Valdes tied a runs scored record with eight, the fifth man to do thatRighthander Nagisa Arakaki was the first rookie to take a sayonara loss on a homer in game four. Daiei set a record by losing nine consecutive road games in Japan Series. Daiei also set a record for most series strikeouts with 58 and most total bases with 113. Hanshin tied a record for most third baseman used in a series with five. Southpaw reliever Makoto Yoshino tied a record with six appearances, the seventh to that mark.
Johjima is the 22nd man to homer twice in a game seven, the 27th time that has occurred. His nine series homers is seventh on the all time list., tying him with Tatsunori Hara and Hankyu's Tokuji Nagaike. He is only the second man with two four homer series. He is the first catcher ever to play every inning of every series game. Johjima has the best homer to at bat ratio of any player in series history with at least seven homers at 7.73. Oh's average was 8.34.
Wada wears number of Tadashi Sugiura, 21, who won four straight games in a single Japan Series. He is the tenth rookie to win a series game (rookies have won 13 overall---Kazuhisa Inao had three of those in 1956, Motohiro Ando two in 1962). He is the sixth to do it complete game stylee.
For 20 game winners Kei Igawa and Kazumi Saito, it is only the second time in history that the competing 20 victory men didn't win a game between them, the last time being in 1970 in a series between the Giants and Lotte.
The series set an all time attendance record for a seven game series with 289, 640. TV ratings for game seven were down over what they were for game six, but still very good.
For Hanshin, Arias was 1-4 and is at .260. The Tigers hit .200, one of the lowest team averages ever.
For Daiei, Zuleta was 0-3 with two strikeouts and is at .333. Valdes was 0-4 with three strikeouts and is at .321. The Hawks hit .281 during the series.
See related story at: Mainichi Shimbun Article
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Moore (L, 0-1) IP 3.0 BF 15 PC 60 H 5 HR 2 K 5 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 5.40
Riggan IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 23 H 2 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.50
Yoshino IP 1.1 BF 5 PC 16 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Williams IP 1.2 BF 5 PC 27 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Daiei:
T. Wada (W, 1-0) IP 9.0 BF 35 PC 117 H 8 HR 2 K 4 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 1.80
E: T. Wada
SB: Muramatsu
2B: Matsunaka, A. Yano, M. Kawasaki, Torigoe
HR: Iguchi (2), Johjima 2 (4), Sekimoto (1), Hirosawa (1)
RBI: Sekimoto, Hirosawa, Iguchi 2, Matsunaka 2, Johjima 2
WP: Riggan
GIDP: Hiyama (4-6-3)
LOB: Hanshin 6, Daiei 3
Series Status: Hanshin 3, Daiei 4
Game Time: 2:47
Attendance: 36,341
Umpires: Higashi (HP), Kittaka (1B), Kakigizono (2B), Watada (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri Utility guy Daisuke Motoki has an inflammation of the lining of a heel tendon. It is difficult to say right now if he will participate in the team's fall camp, which is irritating Giants coaches. God, give the guy a break, will ya?
Nippon Ham Will star infielder Michihiro Ogasawara be posted in the next year or two? An executive with the team made a reference at a meeting of club honchos that "it would be good for Japanese baseball over the long term" to develop players to the point of being good enough to do well in the major leagues, "even if it would hurt the team itself." Ogasawara, at least to my knowledge, has never talked about wanting to go stateside, but this is sure a curious statement if Hochi Sports reported it correctly.
Orix Leon Lee, after watching his son Derrick help the Florida Marlins win a World Series title, is back in Japan. According to Sankei Sports, six MLB teams are attempting to lure the former Lotte Orions great to their ballclub. The Mariners just signed Lee's second son Brian, 22, and Lee has indeed met with Seattle front office people.
Miscellaneous Lefty fireballing reliever Hirotoshi Ishii threw 61 pitches in the bullpen while working out with the Japanese olympic baseball qualifying team.
In the News
Cubs, Bosox and Hanshin: The Cursed Trio
See story at: Reuters Article
The Japanese Players Just Keep on Coming
Today's Pictures
Kenji Johjima Puts the Bomp into a Moore Pitch
Hawks Manager Sadaharu Oh is Hoisted on Shoulders of His Players
