We Love Marines

Tag: Kazuya Fukuura

  • Time to Sink Seibu Series: 6-8 September 2013

    rival-sm
    Series Preview: Our Marines have been quite up-and-down since a 12-5 stretch which lasted through early and mid August. A pattern of inconsistency that began last month in Sendai has seemed to carry over into September. After sweeping the Fighters last weekend at home, we were outscored 12-1 in a mini two game sweep at the hands of Orix the last two nights in Osaka.

    This weekend, the Seibu Lions come to town for a rather meaningful three game September set. The pesky Lions are fighting to break through into the third Climax Series spot, but currently sit 2.5 back of SoftBank for that final postseason position. Meanwhile, Our Marines are looking to potentially jockey for one last run at first place – currently 5 games back of Rakuten. At a minimum this weekend, it would behoove us to stake a more comfortable claim to the second place spot (2.5 up on SB) and perhaps knock Seibu further out of contention. The Pacific League standings have certainly began to take a more clear shape as of late, but all it takes is one weekend to turn it all on its head…

     

    [expand title=” Game 1 (6 Sep) – Lotte Loses 8-0 ” trigclass=”arrowright” tag=”h24″ notitle=”true” excerpt=”Seibu: Kazuhisa Makita 5-9, 2.95 @ Lotte: Seth Greisinger 5-2, 3.86

    By Craig Roberts Well, we got crushed Friday night. There’s no other way to put it. Let’s start off in the first inning where Lotte had a chance to strike first and be the crushers, not the crushees…”]

    Dear Seibu: I hate your mascot. Sincerely, Craig
    Dear Seibu: I hate your mascot. Sincerely, Craig

    With two outs, Iguchi lined a base hit into center. Daichi followed with a liner of his own, and Craig Brazell took pitch off his upper arm to load the bases for Kakunaka. But last year’s batter champ couldn’t cash in on the two out rally, and flied out to left to end the threat. It was all downhill from there.

    Seth Greisinger suffered his first loss in his last 6 starts, the most recent one occurring over a month ago in Fukuoka. I won’t delve too deeply into the details of a six earned runs in three innings performance. A double and three singles led to two Seibu runs in the second inning. Two walks, a single, another walk, and a double produced four Seibu runs in the third inning.

    Meanwhile the Lotte bats were kept mostly quiet the rest of the night. Not a single Lotte batter had a multi-hit game. When Marines found their way on base, timely Saitama defense prevented any Lotte chances from materializing into anything remotely threatening.

    Starting pitching has been a concern throughout the year, and it continues to become more and more worrisome by the day. Our two most reliable pitchers this year, Nishino and Furuya, are both reportedly battling shoulder issues. You have to go back to August 13th (five combined starts) for a quality start from either pitcher. Meanwhile we may not see Naruse (who?)1 in Ichi-gun for the rest of the year as he is now battling a shoulder injury himself.  At their best, Gresinger, Karakawa and Otani have been more than serviceable as middle of the rotation/back end starters. But all three have been prone to the occasional shelling, Friday’s game being a case in point. Beyond that, the sixth spot in the rotation is anyone’s guess. Stud rookie reliever Matsunaga is slated to start for a second time tomorrow night.

    1 Ah yes, Naruse. Our ace heading into the year who hasn’t been seen in ichi-gun since interleague play.

    Rakuten, SoftBank, and Seibu (obviously) all got W’s last night causing us to lose ground to all three teams that matter to us at the moment in the PL race. Hopefully Matsunaga can help us snap our three game slide tomorrow night.

    [/expand]

     

    [expand title=” Game 2 (7 Sep) – Lotte Wins 3-0″ trigclass=”arrowright” tag=”h24″ notitle=”true” excerpt=”Seibu: Ryoma Nogami 8-4, 3.69 @ Lotte: Takahiro Matsunaga 3-1, 1.84

    By Craig Roberts First of all, I’d like to apologize for any negativity in the Game 1 recap.  Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, well-meaning mascots are needlessly insulted.  Now that’s out of the way, I’d like to turn the page to Saturday and Lotte’s thrilling victory over Seibu. “]

    The Chiba ouendan honors tonight's heroes Craig Brazell and Iguchi.
    The Chiba ouendan honors tonight’s heroes Craig Brazell and Iguchi.

    Takahiro Matsunaga was called upon to stop Lotte’s three game losing streak in only his second start of the year.  The rookie has been dominant out of the bullpen in 2013.  He earned the win last time out in his first start giving up one run in five innings versus the Fighters.  Taka went five innings again on Saturday, this time giving up no runs in a no decision.

    In both the first and third innings, a two out hit and walk put runners on 1st and 2nd for the Lions.  Matsunaga escaped both those mini jams with a strike out and fly out respectively, and faced the minimum number of batters in the other three innings pitched.  After a lead of walk in the 5th, Taka got some help from a third strike foul bunt attempt for the first out.  The next two outs came when leadoff man German hit a hard grounder straight back where it came from.  The ball flicked off the front-left side of the mound, redirecting its course slightly leftward and on a direct line toward Daichi’s glove – already moving to his left – at short.  A quick flip to Nemo and toss to first ended the inning.  A thing a beauty, and the end of the night for Taka.  Matsunaga’s final line: 5IP, 81P, 2H, 6K, 3BB, 0R.

    The Lotte offense also went silent for the first five innings on Saturday.  On top of that, the 5th inning marked the 22nd consecutive inning of offensive impotence, as Lotte hadn’t scored a run since the first inning Wednesday night.  Our Marines went down in order the first time through the lineup, our first hit coming on a 1 out Nemoto double down the left field line in the 4th.  A Craig Brazell line drive to right almost brought Nemo home, but the ball held up just long enough to land in a Seibu glove.

    In came the bullpen to a 0-0 game in the 6th.  The combination of Nakagoh (2/3 IP) and Hattori (1/3 IP) worked around a 1 out walk to retired the side.  Finally in the bottom of the 6th, Iguchi broke our 22 inning scoreless spell with a MAMMOTH 2-out home run to the back row of the seats in left field.  1-0 Marines!

    On to the top 7th inning. Uchi came in to pitch and stuck out the side on three consecutive batters.  Our Marines then went 1-2-3 themselves in the bottom frame.  #99 Carlos “I Got 99 Problems But My Pitching Ain’t One, You Got Bullpen Problems I Feel Bad For You Son” Rosa got two K’s of his own in a 1-2-3 top 8th.

    With two out and none on in the home half of the 8th, it looked like we were heading for a dramatic 9th inning with a 1-0 Lotte lead.  Instead Kakunaka would have none of that, and sent a deep shot to center right.  The ball hit off the wall, and ricocheted back over the out-stretched gloves of two outward charging Seibu outfielders, leading to a 2-out triple.  A walk to Nemoto and Iguchi brought up Craig Brazell to face fellow American Randy Williams with the bases full of Marines.  Down 0-2 thanks to two big swings, Craig fouled one off, and took a ball to run the count to 1-2.  After fighting off another foul, Craig sent the next pitch on a beeline toward right-center field.  The 2B Watanabe leaped, reached, and got plenty of glove on the ball.  But the ball was hit with such awesome Craig-like power that it practically ripped a hole through Watanabe’s glove and bounced into right.  Kakunaka and Fighting Nemo score, 3-0 Lotte!!!

    Masuda came in a pitched a perfect 9th to close the game and earn the save.  Ho-hum, just another 4 inning, 0 hit, 1 walk, shutout performance by the bullpen.  Iguchi and Brazell are the heroes, everyone is happy, and our losing streak stops at 3 games!  Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!

    [/expand]

     

    [expand title=” Game 3 (9 Sep) – Lotte Wins 4-3 ” trigclass=”arrowright” tag=”h24″ notitle=”true” excerpt=”Seibu: Yosuke Okamoto 3-3, 3.51 @ Lotte: Takuya Furuya 6-1, 2.49

    By Steve Novosel Game 3 was rained out on Sunday, but was made up on Monday. And what a change of fortune that rain-out brought! See, Lotte and Seibu only played 1.5 innings before a biblical downpour opened up over QVC, but in that short time New Lefty Ace Furuya coughed up 4 runs due to bad fielding and a whole lot of water. But hey, that never happened! Instead, in the REAL game 3, Furuya pitched 7 very strong innings, only allowing 2 runs and picking up his 7th win of the year as Lotte beat the Saitama Kitty-Kats 4-3 in the crucial rubber match.”]

    from marines.co.jp
    from marines.co.jp

    Here’s what you need to know about Furuya tonight: A day after throwing over 40 pitches in super bad weather during a game that never happened (wink! wink!), New Lefty Ace threw 98 pitches, giving up only 3 hits and a walk, and 2 earned runs over 7 innings of work. This, in his first start in over two weeks after being removed from the roster with some arm pain.

    And make no mistake – Furuya looked to be the same cat who was beating up on the PL in July and August. His pitches looked sharp, and were it not for the fact that every hit he gave up came back to bite him (Onizaki homer, Onizaki sac fly after a pair of hits) you could say it was one of his best starts of the year. Honestly, though – with the exception of his last start in Sendai where he was clearly injured, every start that Furuya has had in the past two months has been not just good but great.

    Actually the pitching in this game was pretty much opposite from the usual 2013 Chiba M.O. – great starting pitching, but a pretty shaky performance by the pen. Rosa gave up a pair of hits after taking over for Furuya, and Masuda coughed up a run in the 9th before getting Ozaki to fly out to end the game. Still, we take three earned, especially when the bats are putting more than that on the board.

    How did that happen? Furuya’s foil from Sunday’s non-game – reliever-turned-starter-for-some-reason Okamoto – was decidedly non-sharp in the first inning, giving up 3 hits (Kakunaka (batting leadoff??? (how many nested parentheses can I use?)), Nemoto, Daichi, who carded an RBI), a pair of walks (Iguchi, a surprisingly effective Saburo), and a nice sac fly by Braz. Damage? 2 runs, and a 2-0 Chiba lead.

    Seibu clawed back to make it a tie game, though, so the bats had to do it again. Okamoto didn’t make it easy, throwing 5 perfect innings after his first inning mess. But in the 7th, tiring, Okamoto got in serious trouble, and Our Marines made him pay. Saburo led off the 7th with a single, and after a bunt + pinch runner (Okada), pinch hitter and God of Chiba Fukuura brought in the deadlock-busting run. Satozaki singled to move pinch runner Ishimine to third, and temporary-new-Imae Hosoya Kei crushed a ball to the wall in deep left. Ishimine in, SATOZAKI trying to score from first but sadly out. Still, a nice 2 run inning, and most importantly, =if(Lotte Runs > Seibu Runs); Lotte Victory.

    The cushion is back to 2.5 over Daiei, and Seibu skitters back to Tokorozawa looking in bad shape, 3.5 games back of that. Next up – crucial set with RAKUTEN starting Tuesday!
    [/expand]

  • A Series in Sendai: 23-25 August, 2013

    A Series in Sendai: 23-25 August, 2013

    ***Updated 8/25 10:45 PM***

    As Steve mentioned at the conclusion of the Seibu series post, Our Marines are heading north to Sendai on Friday for a pivotal 3 game set between the top two teams in the PL. Thanks to Lotte’s 12-5 run, combined with a five game losing streak for Rakuten, we sit only 2.5 games back of the first place Eagles heading in. With our three most reliable pitchers of 2013 slated to start this weekend, hopefully we can at least take 2 of 3 and win our 7th series in a row.

    Photo from Sponichi. Tanaka rears back and fires a 156-km/h fastball to strike out Fukuura in the 6th.
    Photo from Sponichi. Tanaka rears back and fires a 156-km/h fastball to strike out Fukuura for the third out in the 6th.

    Game 1, August 23: Eagles 5, Marines 0

    Friday’s game featured a match-up between our 9-3 Nishino, and some guy named Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka’s been in the news recently…something about starting the year 17-0 while riding a 21 game winning streak over the last 363 days. Meanwhile, Nishino is returning from a brief 2 week hiatus due to some discomfort in his pitching shoulder.

    Could this be the night that Tanaka’s streak came to an end? Last time around versus Ma-kun, we were two outs away from doing just that, but ultimately failed. Nishino certainly thought he had a chance to best Tanaka tonight, and actually was the stronger pitcher through the first four innings. Nishino was perfect the first time through the Eagles lineup, and didn’t give up his first hit until the 5th. The Lotte bats had a chance to strike early in the first inning, loading the bases thanks to an Okada lead off double, an Iguchi HBP, and a Kakunaka walk. But Chiba couldn’t capitalize on the 2-out bases loaded opportunity that resulted from Tanaka’s early issues, as Saburo was punched out looking on a 3-2 pitch to ever-so-frustratingly end the inning.

    Our Marines did manage at least one base runner in 6 out of 7 Tanaka innings pitched, but failed to produce a run all night. Meanwhile, Rakuten finally got to Nishino in the 5th inning getting their first two hits of the night. The Eagles plated one run in the inning on a Shimauchi sac fly to make it 1-0. Chiba had a chance to strike back in the top of the 6th, but Tanaka got a big 2-out strikeout of Fukuura on some 156-km/h heat, stranding Imae and Daichi in scoring position.

    Rakuten blew the game open in the bottom of the 6th, chasing Nishino from the game on a 2-run 1-out double by Casey McGehee to make it 3-0. Nishino had struck out the first batter of the inning, but was pulled after giving up three straight hits and the two runs on the aforementioned McGehee double. Nishino was charged with one more run, as Hattori came in and allowed a hit to his first batter Masuda, knocking in McGehee making the score 4-0.

    The rest was pretty much history. Rakuten scored one more off Ledezma in the 7th, moving on to a 5-0 victory. Tanaka is now 18-0, extending his winning streak to 22 wins in the last calendar year. It was a valiant effort by Nishino going toe-to-toe & round-for-round with Tanaka through 4 innings, but in the end there was no way Rakuten’s ace was going to allow his team to lose six in a row.

     

    G.G. Sato and Imae celebrate G.G.'s grand slam in the first inning.
    Photo from Nikkan Sports. G.G. Sato and Imae celebrate G.G.’s grand slam in the first inning.

    Game 2, August 24: Eagles 7, Marines 5

    Last Saturday, Our Marines were the victims of a first inning grand slam by Orix’s Baldiris. This Saturday, we were the perpetrators of such first inning brutality versus Rakuten. Iguchi and Imae each had a two out base hit in the top of the first, followed by a Kakunaka walk to load the bases. Next up, getting the rare start in left field, the veteran journeyman and fan favorite G.G. Sato walked up to the plate with the bases loaded. First pitch swinging…Crack!…Way Back…Way Back…Gone! A grand slam to left center! 4-0 Chiba Lotte in the first!!!

    So ya, I mentioned that last weekend we gave up a first inning grand slam to Orix. The difference between that game and this Saturday’s game in Sendai you ask? We had no signs of even hinting at making a comeback in last weekend’s game. On Saturday, Rakuten wasted little time getting back in the game, tying it at 4-4 by the time we completed the 4th inning. By the time it was all said and done, Rakuten scored seven unanswered runs and went on to a 7-5 victory.

    Despite the seven unanswered runs, we had chances to strike back. Saburo, Kakunaka and Imae all had two hit performaces at the plate, while Nemoto had a 3-5 modasho. Chiba failed to convert on three chances with RISP after the G.G. grand slam. After Rakuten’s closer Rasner left with an injury in the 9th, Lotte finally managed to score one run on an Imae RBI single, but it was too little too late.

    Rakuten’s starter Wataru Karashima survived the rough first inning going a full 5 innings and earning the win.1 Meanwhile, our New Lefty Ace Furuya was pulled after giving up three runs in three innings, barely escaping the 3rd with the lead in tact. The bullpen couldn’t hold the 4-3 lead for long, Hattori allowed the tying run in the 4th and was he was also charged with the go ahead run in the 5th after he was relieved by Ueno.

    1 Credit to Karashima for lasting so long in the game. With two runners reaching base after the G.G. grand slam, someone on Twitter who shall remain nameless, pleaded to Hoshino to keep Karashima in the game as long as possible so we could keep scoring runs. Well, he stayed in the game and kept putting 0’s on the board after that.

    It looks like our streak of taking 2 of 3 games in each series will stop at 6. Hopefully, we can salvage one win in Sendai and pull back within 3.5 games of the Eagles. Otherwise, we’ll be down 5.5 to a team nobody wants to go on the road against in Stage 2 of the Climax Series.

    Capture
    Balloons fill the air as Enomoto’s sayonara hit makes its way through the gap.

    Game 3, August 25: Eagles 6x, Marines 5

    I’m not sure where to start with this one. After two difficult losses on Friday and Saturday, Sunday’s defeat was absolutely crushing. It looked like we were going to take at least one game in Sendai, but once again we blew a 4-0 lead and went down in defeat. Let’s get to the recap:

    Craig Brazell got things going with a solo HR in the 2nd to make it 1-0 early on. Braz also got an RBI on Chiba’s second run of the game, knocking in Kakunaka (who cleverly advanced from 2nd to 3rd on an Imae ground out in the previous AB) on a line drive sac fly to center. Lotte scored again on a line drive sac fly to center in the 5th, this time it was Okada knocking in Fukuura. Later in the inning, Kaukunaka drove in Daichi Suzuki on an RBI single to LF to make it 4-0 Marines. The pair of Kakunaka and Daichi had the only multi-hit games for Lotte on a night in which we had 9 hits total as a team. Kakunaka went 2-3 with an RBI single, double, HBP and walk. Daichi had a triple in the 3rd (a lead off triple no less, in which no one was able to bring him home) and a double in 6th.

    Ok, so it’s 4-0 after 6 innings. Greisinger has thrown 75 pitches thus far and had given up only two hits.1 Then with one out Ginji Akaminai and Andruw Jones hit back to back singles. With Ginji on third, Casey McGehee drove him in on a sac fly for the Eagles’ first run. The next batter Masuda sent a big fly to right center for a two-run home run, pulling the Eagles even closer at 4-3. Greisinger was chased from the game by a single from the next batter, Kaz Matsui. Uchi came in relief but gave up 2 two-out singles of his own that led to a 4-4 tie. Uchi managed to escape the inning with the tie in tact when Okajima lined out on a very sharply hit ball to first.

    1Rakuten ended up with 13 hits. You do the math.

    Despite Lotte loading the bases in the 7th, the game remained tied until the 8th inning when T. Ogino sent a home run down the left field line to give Lotte the 5-4 lead. The lead held through the bottom half of the inning with Carlos Rosa escaping a 2 out bases loaded jam by popping up Shima to end the threat.

    In came PL saves leader, and a well rested Masuda to close the 9th. It didn’t start well for Masuda though, as he gave up a lead off single to Shimauchi. The single turned into 3 bases for Shimauchi, thanks to a very untimely two base error in right by Ishimine. The next batter Okajima drove in Shimauchi on a single to LF to tie things at 5. A sac bunt and intentional walk later, in came Aoi Enomoto to PH for Andrew Jones. Fun fact about Enomoto: this was his first AB in 2013 and only his 20th the 21 year, 1 month, 1 day old’s career. This was certainly an AB he’ll remember for this rest of his life, as he golfed a 2-2 pitch deep into the right center field gap, driving in the winning run for a 6-5 sayonara victory.

    So there you have it. Rakuten swept us back to 5.5 games behind, looking up at them in the standings in second place. Please refer back to the opening paragraph of this post for a case example of how quickly fortunes can change in baseball. Luckily, we are still alive and very much kicking as we prepare for the stretch run, but now only a game up on SoftBank for second place. There remains 3.5 games separating us and 4th place Seibu for the 3rd Climax Series spot.

  • A Midwinter Night’s Dream

    Chiba Marine Stadium during Yakult series (artist rendition)

    April baseball is great, but cold at Chiba Marine Geez, QVC Marine Field*. It’s usually nice and windy, temps in the low teens or single digits, vendors selling shochu and hot water instead of cool, fruity Chu-Hi. It’s definitely more a time for the hardcore fan than the casual fan as even hardy members of the ouendan will feel a deep chill despite bounce bounce bouncing all game. This is common knowledge. But would anybody expect this week’s interleague games versus the Swallows – May 30-31 – to be as cold as a game in the first week in April?

    *I’ve got a bad habit for overusing parenthetical asides to begin with so I’m going to overuse these sorts of asides for a while, just for novelty. I’ve been reading too much Joe Posnanski, I think.

    The naming rights to Chiba Marine Stadium were sold in the offseason to TV retailer QVC, so Chiba Marine Stadium is now QVC Marine Field. Until I come up with a pithy nickname for the place I’m still probably going to call it Chiba Marine. Perhaps. At least we got a nice new turf out of the deal.

    Freezing as it was – and for the first game I was wearing but a dress shirt I wore to work plus my uniform, this in 12 degree, blustery conditions – the feeling in the stands was anything but. Tuesday was my first home game in the gaiya* after moving around from picnic box, reserved A, unreserved, and even upper deck reserved. I had to show up a little late due to work, so I grabbed a bite to eat on the way in, looked around for a seat, found a nicely located one in the middle upper portion and settled in as Yakult was coming to the plate.

    *Though I did sit/stand/bounce/sing in the gaiya ouendan at Seibu Dome. I almost always sit in the outfield on the road and almost never do at home. I have absolutely no idea why other than I am peculiar.

    Not 30 seconds had passed until I heard “STEVE!!!!” – uttered by someone I didn’t know. It was a large and already inebriated group next to me and someone recognized me. I’m used to getting noticed at the stadium (“Hey Benny Fan!”) but I usually at least know the people doing the recognizing. Soon enough a girl I did know joined the group, a bottle of sake was produced and thrust in my face. Home.

    On such a cold night we loudly singing fans wanted some OFFENSE to warm us up but we got a whole lot of whiff. 8 baserunners and only one run – a sac fly by Fukuura to score the wonderful Ishimine. In the first. Let me also point out that virtually all of our meager offense of late has come in the first inning or innings – no late inning heroics recently. What was heroic was the pitching of young Tomohisa Ohtani, second round pick in ’09, making his first career start. Ohtani went 5 2/3 innings of two hit, 5-K ball before a 6th inning throwing error on out three by 4th-string shortstop Takahama* derailed his evening. 2 unearned runs later and Ohtani was taking the loss – sad.

    *The answer to the trivia question “Name the four starting shortstops for the 2011 Chiba Lotte Marines through May” will surely be one that rings throughout the ages. The answer is obvious, of course – even kindergardeners know it’s Takashi Ogino, Takayuki Takaguchi, Hosoya Kei (of the easiest ouenka outside Kohbe – wait, didn’t I promise no more parenthetical asides? But what do you do inside an inside? HMM.), and Takuya Takahama, compensation for losing Kobayashi to Hanshin in free agency this offseason. Sorry to tell you something you surely knew already.

    But at least we had fun. As the evening wore on the group next to me got progressively loopier. I was fitted with a mask, extensively photographed and mocked. Somebody’s kid wandered around singing songs. The guy and girl next to me finished each other’s cheers, “Sato!” “Zaki!” Eventually she gave up coherent cheering and just yelled “aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!” repeatedly. I’ve missed the gaiya ouendan.

    He didn't pitch in this series, but this post needed some Uchi, dammit!

    Anyhow it was back to my traditional 1st base reserved A seats for Wednesday’s game. Yoshimi, who I secretly and pretty inexplicably like for no real reason, took the hill looking to break the home non-winning streak, at that time sitting at 8 games. YIKES. Our Marines gave him some early run support off a first inning RBI single by Fukuura and a second inning solo shot to left by Imae (first home HR by anybody in 2 weeks, and only the second overall!). At least 4 men came to the plate in every inning, 13 baserunners reached in the last 7 innings including bases loaded in the 6th, runners on first and second with no outs in the 7th, runners on first and third in the 8th, and two on in the ninth – nary a spike crossed the plate. Sigh.

    For his part Yoshimi was reasonably solid – 3 ER in 6 2/3 but with 9 hits/3 BB – but 3 runs is just too much to overcome in our current slump. But I’ll say it again – at least we are playing dreadful ball in May, not September. Bad news for this game was the injury list grew even longer as Kiyota took a fastball headed for his skull off his hand (and his helmet I believe – I haven’t seen the replay but live it looked like it hit him square on the helmet) and has a broken finger, out indefinitely.* I have no idea who will be replacing him in the starting lineup; Kohbe? Kakunaka? Aono?

    *Reached for comment after the game Nishimura-Kantoku said “There is nothing to say.” Actually I think there is – #$&%!!!

    Back in my normal seats I got to cheer with my normal crowd, though. Some guys I’ve been sitting with for four years swung by my seat – “Steve, what’s the problem right now?” “We’re not very good.”
    Most enjoyably, the crazy family from last year (too lazy to find the link) was sitting a few sections over. This was the family that managed to be louder than me (and I am notoriously loud) – mother was the loudest. The crazy family found me as the kids came running over in the middle of the game. The middle kid (maybe 6 or so) said, “Hey, remember us? Remember us???” How can I forget? The kids scream like banshees when we drop a successful sac bunt, let alone score a run. Mom screams encouragement at the players like a particularly angry trucker screams profanities at the econobox that cut him off on the interstate. Yeah, I remember you kid. The kids ran back over to their parents who look over and wave – well, about 20 people sitting near them wave, too, so I don’t know what the hell they were discussing over there, probably “That dude’s as loud as our kids.”

    After Ohmatsu smooshed an 8th inning double the oldest kid ran back over to my seat and yelled “OHMATSU!!!!”, high fived me, and sprinted back. Just think of the chaos if we actually came back to win that game.

    Oh, it ended 3-2 Yakult. Perhaps we can get something going this weekend at Yokohama and Chunichi – last time we were in Nagoya it worked out pretty well.

  • I Love a Parade!

    A good old fashioned victory parade. Yeah, we didn’t see that one coming in September!

    I’m a doofus who can’t read a parade map properly, so instead of being in the thick of torrent of paper raining down upon Our Marines as they celebrated their amazing run to the Nippon Series title I got to stand on the main road to Chiba Marine, confetti-free. So it goes. The most important thing is that I was there, man!

    It was pretty stinking crowded there, too – I had estimated the crowd to be around 4.7 quadrillion people (a bit more than 700,000 times the entire population of earth, so maybe I was mistaken) but estimates were that the crowd size was a wee bit less. You may be surprised to hear that I actually don’t like crowds all that much, despite spending so much time in them at games, but of course in the case of the Victory Parade I will gladly make an exception.

    They had the whole area decked out really nice with Marines signs. I especially liked the uniforms on the light towers – one for each player. Disappointingly they took they only had them for one day – I would have loved to see those up for a while! I took a picture of Naruse’s – see below.

    I did manage to squeeze off quite a few pix at the parade itself and the fan festival afterwards, so this is mostly going to be a (belated) picture post. I was also surprised that so much of the usual external stuff at Chiba Marine was open – the food stalls and farmer’s market, the beer vendors, stores, etc. I guess the stores isn’t so surprising given Sunday was the day they decided to release the first wave of championship goodies so the lines were really long, like an hour plus. I waited later in the day to go in and by the time I made it into the store pretty much everything was cleared out. I did manage to get a keitai strap, 2011 calendar and the official 2010 DVD, though. The official DVD is well over 3 hours long, too, and you can get it from Amazon.

    It was cool to see most all of the players who contributed to the championship (minus all of the foreign players – no KTK, Murphy, Corey, Penn, Muniz) up close, and it was REALLY cool to see Ogino (Ta-Ka-Shi!) again after so long and Ogino (Tadahiro) after even longer. Despite the crowds I fortuitously ran into many people I knew, too – as I waited in line to get into the shop I had a bunch of people I knew come up to say hi, so I’m sure the people in line with me were wondering who the hell I was. They would have been wondering especially hard after I got interviewed by BS12. That was awkward – I’m happy to talk on TV but I don’t really have the confidence in my Japanese ability to pull it off! Fortunately it was just BS12 which nobody but us Marines freaks watches anyway.

    So: pictures, lots of them!

    All Stand Together
    Rise up o ace of Chiba
    All aboard

    Champions again
    Greeting the fans
    Last visit to Chiba Marine
    Tacos

    Ogino and Hattori working as greeters
    Mar-Kun looks happy
    Must have been interesting
    Hope the hammy is feeling better
    チャンピオンフラッグを掴もうぜ！

    Is the the line for tacos?
    Furuya, Heiuchi and T Ogino

  • Nippon Series Game 5 – One More to Go

    Today was the last home game of the season for Our Marines, and they made the most of it. Lotte batters bashed 15 hits and hung 10 runs on the “best pitching staff in NPB” en route to a decisive 10-4 victory and a 3-2 series lead. Since Nishimura-kantoku made a surprise move in starting Hayden Penn over the expected Naruse, Lotte now gets to start their ace in Game 6 in Nagoya on Saturday with a great opportunity to close out the series and win the title!

    Penn pitched quite well for his part. He gave up a run in the top of the first off of a Wada sac fly (following a walk to Oshima and a Morino double) but really settled into a nice groove for the next few innings, staying in until giving up 3 hits and another run in the 6th. If you had told me ahead of time that Penn would start Game 5 and go into the 6th only yielding 2 runs I would have told you I’d take it, for sure.

    The Lotte offense was the real star of the show tonight. Right from the bottom of the first inning the Lotte bats battered Chunichi starter Kenichi Nakata – usually a quality arm – and they didn’t let up until the game was way out of hand. The first inning featured 5 straight hits – Iguchi to Kim Tae Kyun – with an RBI double by Imae, an RBI single by Fukuura, and a 4th RBI provided by Kim. Not only did Our Marines swipe the run given in the top of the first but they tacked on 3 more for good measure!

    In the fourth inning Nakata was still in. Tsuoyshi was camped on third with two outs, Saburo at the plate. On a two strike count he pounces on a fork ball from Nakata and smashes it into the Chunichi fans in left! It looked gone right off the bat and arced beautifully through the night like a little white victory rainbow. Lovely! 6-1 Lotte.

    Nakata was STILL in for the fifth inning, which I find inexplicable. I seriously wonder if Ochiai-kantoku was even trying to win at this point! Nakata never seemed in command, and spent his entire 5 innings in trouble. This is great news for Lotte fans and must be troubling for Dragons fans. With one out, rat-a-tat-tat, just like that – Kim, Satozaki, and Okada knock out hits to load the bases. Tsuyoshi at the plate – bam! He drives one to center; it won’t drop in but it’ll score Kim easily and move Sato and Okada over to scoring position. Up next is Mr October/November – Kiyota. He’s had a string of meaningful hits these last few series, can he add another? YES! A single to center, two runs in, the game turned into a 9-1 laugher!

    Chunichi would tag on three more runs thanks to the bat of Blanco (who has only hit well when games are blowouts, like this one and game 2) and Lotte would get one more via a weird passed ball. Heiuchi on third, the ball trickles past Tanishige but neither he nor anyone else seem to care. I care! So does Heiuchi – he races in for the score.

    This game was Deadly Serious for me (so serious I Wrote It In Caps) so I vowed not to film or take pictures unless we were 10+ runs ahead or the game was almost over and we were comfortably ahead. Kobayashi finished the game in very uncomfortable fashion (as he could not find the plate) but still, we were up 6. So here’s a few videos I shot in the outfield late tonight!

    Champion Flag

    Chiba Marine ni Tsudou Warera (with tons of towels!)

    And the hero Banzai! for Penn and Imae.

    It’s a bit sad to be the last game at the ol stadium this year, and next year the stadium will probably have a new name due to the sale of the naming rights. As we celebrated the great victory tonight and the impending championship sealing victory in Nagoya, the ouendan leaders asked who was going to Nagoya to raise their hands. I did, of course, and after that most of the fans around me came up and said “Cheer hard!” I must, and I will! We need to support our Men of Lotte to win the Nippon Series! Tonight was pure hot-blooded cheering and Saturday is going to be that, and more.

  • Miracle Marines Mega Multi-Media M…extravaganza? – Part 1

    I want to share some of my recent videos and some videos that I’ve enjoyed from other Marines fans. These are generally all Climax Series related. I’m just using a regular camera as my video camera and that sort of thing just isn’t my specialty, so I apologize for the poor at times video quality.

    Here’s a couple of videos from the Game 6 public viewing at Chiba Marine. It was so invigorating to watch the game with so many other hard core fans. I’m sure the Marines players felt the energy from the cheering all the way in Fukuoka!

    The first video is Iguchi’s ouenka and a run scored.

    Here’s the A-Seki ouendan singing Fukuura’s ouenka.

    And also Imae’s ouenka.

    I put this on YouTube a few weeks ago but never linked it here. It’s from the after party at Seibu Dome after the thrilling comeback in Game 1 of the Climax Series. This was taken quite a bit of time after the end of the game.

    This one is from the same game from YouTube user breakingball30. I was standing just a bit behind where this video was taken. The audio is poor but the mood is just perfect – it’s taken from the time of Satozaki’s game-tying 2 RBIs.

    And another cool one from Shada026 of the end of the second game of the Climax Series First Stage.

    He hasn’t played since May but we still love Ogino (Ta-Ka-Shi!). Here’s a great one from hirune5656 after Game 2 of the Seibu series.

    And another – indescribably happy fans! Love the crowd surfing.

    Finally – not from the Climax Series (this was shot in September) – it’s a band whose name I did not catch performing with our dear Mar-Kun. Rock on, little bird!

    I’ve got a bunch of non-video stuff to share to get you ready for NIPPON SERIES 2010. Tomorrow!

  • Climax Series Final Stage Game 5 – With Great Force!

    from marines.co.jp

    I’m not going to yank your chain with an extended intro – The Chiba Lotte Marines came alive late in tonight’s Climax Series Final Stage Game 5, finally turning on the jets and setting fire to Hawks pitching. With great pitching and furious offense, Lotte put away the Hawks 5-2 to force a decisive game 6.

    This is it; one game for a return to the Nippon Series for the first time in 5 years!

    Uninspiring Start
    I go through many stages while watching a game, especially a tight and essential game like tonight’s. We had to have a win. As I have mentioned, the offense has been sleeping a bit as of late. Early on, this game continued that trend in the worst way. Daiei starter Ohtonari mowed down the Lotte 9 to start the game – 11 in a row, right off the bat. Ugh. The hideous streak was ended by a single to deep right off the bat of Iguchi (answer to the trivia question: “Who was the first Lotte batter in this series to realize we needed baserunners, and lots of them”) Imaoka beat out an infield single in the 5th and… yup, that’s what we got off Ohtonari.

    I felt like crap.

    Seriously, I was feeling physically ill. I didn’t go to the public viewing to watch the game so I was “enjoying” the stress-filled lack of offense from the comforts of my home. I got up from the sofa, paced, turned something else on (but checked the score on my phone), turned it back, fidgeted and paced some more before resigning myself to it. Ohtonari looked great, and the later it got in the game the closer Falkenborg/Settsu/Mahara got. Nothing could get us started.

    Well, except Hawks manager Koji Akiyama. For reasons that are completely inexplicable to me, Akiyama pulled Ohtonari – again, the guy who sent down 11 straight and struck out 7 in 5 innings – for Falkenborg. Is this Hubris? I think yes. Hubris has a way of biting you in the ass.

    Not that I felt any better at the time. Falkenborg – perfect in 2010 against Our Marines with a 0.00 ERA in 11 appearances – blew through the lineup 1-2-3 in the 6th. I felt really, really ill. I mean, Lotte pitching was again GREAT tonight – Ohmine only went two innings and gave up a run off a double to Kokubo in the first, Ono and Uchi came in in long relief (5 IP combined 3-hit ball), and then the rest of the bullpen, I’ll get to them! – but going into the Lucky 7 were were still down 1-0. A big 1-0.

    Big Lumber
    Falkenborg still in to start the seventh, Iguchi at the plate. Blam! A gapped double, Iguchi in to second with nobody out. Nice. Saburo comes to the plate, we need a run at least – he’s squaring to bunt??? Eek. (Note: I can’t think of any situation where it’s justified to have your #4 hitter square up to bunt.) He offers badly, pops foul. Eek eek. Falkenborg doesn’t seem to want to throw anything near the plate, so he rifles a breaking pitch into the dirt… and past catcher Yamazaki! Iguchi scoots to third making the bunt a totally useless option (thank goodness). Saburo gets into his normal stance and RIPS a double into the gap! Iguchi is home, game is tied!

    Yeah! I get on the horn to Katsu, it’s speaker phone the rest of the way. I gotta share this.

    Falkenborg out, Settsu in (aka – the one Daiei reliever we can actually hit.) Imae sac bunts Saburo to third (oh, OK…) and Fukuura brings him home with a single of his own! We have the lead! Kim Tae Kyun singles, Ohmatsu barely beats out a double play ball bringing up Satozaki. Satozaki, hero of Tokorozawa but 0 for the series so far. Does he still have the feel for the moment? HE DOES! A double to right, Tanaka (pinch running for Fukuura) scores – 3-1! We actually load the bases for Kiyota, who lifts a fly ball to deep right, but short of the fence for out three.

    3-1 after 7, yeah!

    Uchi was still in for the bottom of the seventh and he made the Daiei batters look weak and distracted. The Hawks just looked rattled.

    Gratuitous Uchi Photo

    Tension and Release
    Our Marines get two more runners on in the 8th off of the very stylishly coiffed Morifuku, but we can’t plate anyone else. In the bottom part of the inning, Itoh takes over for Uchi. Maligning Itoh is a stadium-based hobby of mine (“That’s because he was like a pitching machine early this year,” Katsu said) but I must admit he’s been great down the stretch and into the Climax Series. First batter Honda fouls an Itoh pitch off the ground and into his, um, delicate place. Katsu and I make unprintable jokes about what the trainers will need to do to get him back in action, but he steps back in and pokes one just past Iguchi. One on, nobody out, Ortiz up. Ortiz, whisper-quiet this series, smashes the first pitch over Imae, down the line, scoring Honda, oh no oh no.

    Eek.

    Itoh didn’t throw such bad pitches, I thought. I thought he still looked OK. Could he pull us out of this? Kokubo, Tamura, Petagine – in order. YES. Great resilience from Itoh!

    Top 9, now 3-2 Lotte looking for insurance. Morifuku is still in and makes short work of Ohmatsu and Satozaki. Tsuyoshi is in, and he’s been quiet this series, too. Not tonight – a double past the third base bag! There’s a chance for more runs, and it’s Kiyota’s time. I’m in my living room, singing Kiyota’s ouenka, oblivious to my still-sore throat and open windows. Kiyota sees a first pitch fastball from Morifuku and BOOM! 12 rows deep into the Lotte ouendan! Morifuku looks like someone kicked his kitten. Akiyama-kantoku looks like they kicked it into his mouth. All gentlemen and ladies of Lotteland are going crazy. It’s 5-2!

    Kobayashi comes in for the 9th, but all the tension has melted away. There’s no doubt he’s getting those three outs, and 9 pitches later – he does. The series is now tied going into the final game (or, for those interested in reality, Lotte leads 3-2. Unfortunately NPB is not one of those believing in reality.). It’s a rematch of the first game, ace battle, Naruse and Sugiuchi. Can Naruse recreate his game 1 magic? Can the Lotte offense keep it’s rhythm? I’ll say YES and YES, but we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out for sure. I’ll be at the viewing party with a few thousand of my friends!

  • Climax Series 1st Stage Game 2 – Indefatigable Spirit

    From marines.co.jp


    “I feel like everything is shiny. Just… shiny.”
    -Katsu, about 60 minutes after the end of the game

    The world is indeed a shinier place this evening as yesterday’s comeback kings found a way to do it again today. Down late – again – needing a spark – again – wanting a hero to step up and lead us to victory – again – the Lotte Marines of Chiba summoned the fighting spirit that cannot be defeated and snatched Game 2 of the Pacific League Climax Series from the devastated Seibu Lions. With today’s 5-4 victory at Seibu Dome the Lions go home losers and Our Marines book tickets to Fukuoka.

    I thought yesterday’s loss would be too much for Seibu to overcome. Honestly, that sort of loss is impossible to stomach. But Seibu put up a great fight today – Our Marines just fought harder and delivered the same crushing blow for the second day in a row. As I mentioned yesterday, I took in today’s game at the public viewing at Chiba Marine. Right as I arrived the drizzle abated and the sun started to peek through. The fans turned out in strength, too – I don’t know any official numbers but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it was 4000+. Food stalls were open, cheerleaders, Mar-kun and Rine-chan were there, and everybody was primed to scream their heads off, loud enough to be heard in Tokorozawa.

    Not coincidentally, I can’t speak at all right now. That’s not an exaggeration, my voice was scratchy at best before today’s game and as I type I can’t make more than a raspy squeak. Its the good sort of muteness, though – happy silence.

    Early Problems
    Today’s pitching matchup featured 12 game winner Bill Murphy against Seibu’s Takayuki Kishi. Lotte’s start was promising with Kiyota blasting a liner to right, but directly to Takayama, and Iguchi skying one deep to right that stopped just short of the fence. In the Seibu half of the inning, Murphy got roughed up due to some wildness. Two walks, three singles, and a ton of pitches led to Seibu plating three for the early lead. (Isn’t it nice how I completely dismiss Seibu’s big inning in two sentences?)

    How would the Lotte offense respond? In the second with two outs, Imae at the plate – HUGE smash to left! That ball was much closer to the back of the stadium than to the wall! Lotte throws a punch that lands squarely on Seibu’s nose, and the game goes to 3-1 Seibu.

    But Seibu would answer in the third with a leadoff double by Nakamura (delicately lumbering to second), a sac bunt, and a sac fly to score another run and increase the lead to 4-1. With that, Murphy was pulled for Shunsuke Watanabe, El Submarinero extraordinare, at the start of the fourth. It was Shunsuke’s first appearance for some time as he was rather ineffective late in the season.

    Chipping Away
    I’m going to spoil some of the suspense for you, I apologize – from the 4th inning until the end of the game the Lotte pitching staff and defense would not allow a single Lion to cross home plate without being smacked with a tag. It was a remarkable run of relief work by first Watanabe, then Yabuta, Yoshimi, Itoh, Uchi, and finally Kobayashi. 6 pitchers, all performed their job perfectly. Who’s maligning the Lotte pen again?

    In the 6th, Kiyota led off with a single, Iguchi walked, and Saburo pasted a double to left to score Kiyota! It was 4-2 Seibu now, nobody out, runners on 2nd and 3rd. Unfortunately we couldn’t get anyone else across that inning, but one run was a nice start.

    Everytime Lotte put a run on the board the fans at Chiba Marine erupted sure as the ouendan in Seibu Dome. It really was almost as good as being there (without the two hour transit).

    Ohmatsu led off the 7th with a lovely double to the left gap, and Satozaki drove him on home to inch the score ever so closer, 4-3 Seibu. Lotte would load the bases yet again be unable to get another runner in. Strangely, I never felt that this was going to hurt us, though of course I wanted more runs, and right then.

    Breakdown
    In the 8th Seibu threatened to score another run. With one out Gotoh singled and Hosokawa bunted him to second. Kuriyama came to the plate, and he lined a single to left in front of Ohmatsu. Gotoh got the green light – he was coming in. Ohmatsu cocked, fired a shot right to Satozaki at home who gloved the throw, blocked the plate masterfully, and planted the tag. OUT. See this great play yourself:

    Sato looked pretty shaken after that collision – it’s only his second game in two months – and he had to bat immediately after. Oof. I hope he wasn’t too rattled – it’s the top of the 9th, Lotte down by one, we need all hands to pull!

    So Satozaki steps to the plate. Osada has come in in relief. Sato settled in, probably still a bit fuzzy. The first pitch from Osada – Satozaki clubs it deeeeeep and OUT to left field! GREAT defensive play followed immediately by a GREAT smack! It’s the essential run, the chance, the tie!

    from Sanspo

    He even got his flip in action. This is precisely when I lost my voice, for those who are interested. How about Satozaki – 3-3 today (2 RBIs) and 1-1 (2 RBIs) last night. What a spark he is!

    The big screen at Chiba Marine kept showing fan and player shots – Fans looking like they were about to cry, players looking like someone stole their lunch money. It was great. Here’s a video from You Tuber dokozonochibakenmin, who’s in the Lotte outfield:

    Let nobody say Lotte fans don’t show up for big games.

    The Dagger
    Seibu players looked totally rattled, mounting no chance off of Itoh in the 9th, though Jose Fernandez did blast a very deep foul that was a lot closer to fair than I would have liked.

    Lotte did nothing in the 10th as well. Itoh gave up a leadoff walk to Nakamura in the 10th, he was promptly bunted to second. With one out, Nishimura-Kantoku called for the only sensible play – an intentional walk to Brown, then brought in… Uchi. My man! I heard some not-so-nice words from the fans today based on last night’s adventure, but I was glad to see Nishimura giving him another chance in a big spot. After a high breaking ball, Uchi coaxed Gotoh into a inning ending DP. Great.

    It’s the 11th – we love the 11th at Seibu Dome. Ohmatsu leads with a single and is pinch-ran for by Okada. Satozaki surprisingly bunts Okada over, after which Watanabe-kantoku gives a free pass to Tsuyoshi. Now this is a stupid move, IMO. There’s a big difference between putting the second run on in the top of the inning and creating the force play in the bottom of the inning. I like dumb managerial moves for my opponent’s manager, though!

    Kiyota lines one to right (again!) but the outfield is playing super-duper in so Gotoh fields it on the fly. At normal depth that scores a run, easily. Not this time. It’s two outs and up to Iguchi to do something. For the game he is a not-very-good 0-4 with a walk. Onodera is pitching – he gave up the hit to Satozaki that tied it last night. What about tonight? First pitch, high fastball, Iguchi pokes it to center! Okada is rounding third and racing home, nothing will stop him! With that super-ultra timely hit, Lotte takes another 11th inning lead, 5-4!!

    from marines.co.jp

    The camera pans around the Seibu players. Watanabe-kantoku looks like he soiled himself. A few of the players look like they are about to break down in tears. You can hear it, even though it’s not audible, “Not again!!!” Yes, again.

    Kobayashi is in for the bottom of the inning. After a leadoff single and a nice snag by Tsuyoshi it’s one out. Pinch hitter Asamura pops one up to the infield – out two. “After one more! After one more!” the crowd at Chiba Marine screams. It’s the dangerous Nakajima – he takes a 1-2 slider and pops it to center. Okada is under it, gloves it, game, series!

    It’s on to Fukuoka!!

    What an amazing series. Lions fans were seriously crying after this one (and I don’t blame them) – the cameras showed the Seibu ouendan all weeping madly. Lotte fans from Chiba to Tokorozawa, and surely in Fukuoka, Sendai, Osaka, Ishigaki, and all other places where the Marines faithful live and cheer – celebrated the great victory.

    Game 1 against the Hawks starts Thursday – I must admit I am totally spent right now, so I’ll have to write more on that later. It’s a REALLY REALLY good sort of spent, though!

  • Climax Series 1st Stage Game 1 – Never Say Die

    ‘‘This is what happens when you never give up,’’ said Fukuura, who pumped his right fist as he rounded the bases.
    – Kyodo News on Saturday’s Climax Series First Stage Game 1

    If you were to make a time capsule for sports – a representative collection of the appeal of sport and the significance to the people who love it – you could grab Saturday’s game and have all the greatness embodied in baseball. Dazzling pitching – there. Big home runs – there. Clutch defense – there. The will to win, passion of the fans, deep lows and amazing highs – all of that there.

    In one of the more remarkable games I’ve ever seen in person, the Chiba Lotte Marines defeated their arch-rival Seibu Lions in stunning fashion by a score of 6-5 on Saturday to kick off the 2010 Climax Series.

    The Lotte starting lineup was almost the same as game 144 vs Orix – Tsuyoshi (SS), Kiyota (CF), Iguchi (2B), Saburo (RF), Fukuura (DH – only change over the last game), Imae (3B), Kim Tae Kyun (1B), Ohmatsu (RF), Matoba (C). Disappointingly, Satozaki was on the roster but did not start this game, though he would see action later.

    Ace Battle
    I’ll be honest – Seibu was firmly in control for most of this game. The starting pitching match was just as electrifying as anticipated. Lotte starter Naruse was great – 8Ks in 7 innings of work, but Seibu’s Wakui was even better – 9 K’s in 8 IP and only 4 hits. For the first couple of innings Wakui was essentially unhittable. You could see the movement on his pitches in the results off Lotte bats – grounder after grounder after grounder as his pitches danced around the strike zone. Naruse fell victim in the second inning to the problem he’s had all year – he left a pitch over the plate for Takeya Nakamura. You don’t want to leave anything over the plate for the big 3B as he smashed it deep into the outfield. I didn’t think it was gone when he hit it as it was so high, but Kiyota went back, back, all the way back, climbed the fence, and still couldn’t get to it. 1-0 Seibu early.

    There were a few scattered base runners after that for both teams but not too many legitimate scoring chances as the dueling aces did performed masterfully. In the 7th the Lotte offense finally got something going with a one out walk to Saburo and a single by Fukuura – the Lotte ouendan, already at jet-engine levels of noise, went to work with our chance theme and caused the roof to lift just a bit. Imae lined a shot to right, but right at Takayama. Kim Tae Kyun grounded out to end the chance.

    We were sitting in so-called “Lions Seats” which were 1B reserved behind the Lotte dugout. Despite the designation, they were still infested with us disreputable Chiba exports. It was clear to see that frustration with KTK was at a high – I had my inflatable KTK bat raised, one of my friends walked by and said “you should put that away”. Another fan told me simply – “Tae Kyun, Dame!” Our big former cleanup hitter needs to do something to get back into the fans good graces!

    Equalizer
    One person who definitely does not need his status raised is Captain Tsuyoshi – the hit king and our team’s clear MVP on the year had a quiet game to this point. He came to the plate with two outs in the top of the 8th, Lotte still down 1-0, needing some sort of spark. On a 3-1 pitch Wakui threw a fastball low and Tsuyoshi ripped it. I jumped out of my seat and yelled GO! I thought it might go to the fence and Tsuyoshi could leg it into a triple but the ball just kept sailing and sailing, soaring over the center field fence for a huge HR! Just like that, after all the masterful pitching of Wakui, the game was tied at 1-1. WOW.

    Hopes Fade
    It’s the bottom of the 8th, in comes my man Uchi. Can he continue his recent greatness? Eek, no. 3 hits, 2 walks 2 errors on the same play (a throwing error by Saburo and another by Satozaki, who came in for this inning), and…. 4 runs for Seibu. Seibu fans danced and screamed as their team took a 5-1 lead. Itoh came in for Uchi as Nishimura-kantoku mercifully pulled the shaken reliever.

    Is it Possible?
    It was now the 9th, Lotte needing a miracle. We left our seats and moved to the outfield unreserved to be amongst our people. As we walk to the outfield, the ouendan gets the Seibu Dome song cranking – “Seibu niwa! Makerarenai! Tamashii wo komete tatakae!” At Seibu, we can’t lose. Yes, it seemed possible to come back but not likely, I’ll admit. Seibu at home with a 4 run lead, bringing in our old friend Sikorski to finish us off – it didn’t look good.

    Right when we get situated – standing room only on the back concourse – Iguchi leads off with a single. Saburo swings at strike three for the first out, but Fukuura singles to center for runners at first and second. I say to John, “Hey, get a few runs, anything can happen!” Imae’s up – he can make it interesting with a hit. A hit! Iguchi stops at third. Bases loaded, one out. Up at the plate, Kim Tae Kyun, our much maligned 1B. He’s hit into a league leading 24 DPs this year. One right now kills us. First pitch fastball from Sikorski – KTK swings, it’s a grounder, but up the middle and safe! Iguchi scores, Fukuura scores, and just like that it’s a 5-3 game, still one out. WHOA.

    We are going crazy in the outfield. I’m hugging people I’ve never seen in my life. Lions fans are quiet – I can feel there nervousness from the outfield. Up at the plate – Ohmatsu with a chance to do some real damage. Ohmatsu and Sikorski go head-to-head for an 11 pitch at bat, foul after foul after foul. On the 11th pitch, Ohmatsu draws ball four to re-load the bases (and is pulled for pinch-runner Okada, which has a big impact on the future). It’s up to… Satozaki! His first at-bat in two months, and the veteran catcher could not possibly come in at a bigger moment. What will he do?

    On the second pitch he lines one to center!! Imae in, Kim Tae Kyun in! All the way back – there seemed like so little hope, but all the way back in the 9th – a 5-5 tie! And STILL only one out!

    Tsuyoshi is back up with a chance to give us the lead. Okada is at third. The Captain lines the second pitch to Gotoh in left; Okada is tagging. The throw comes in to Ginjiro at the plate…. out. Nice defensive play to stop our rally. But we have a chance, a real chance now!

    Extra Time, Extra Drama
    Itoh is still in for the 9th. He makes things a bit interesting by yielding a pair of singles, but he strikes out everyone else to keep it tied.

    The top of the Lotte order does little in the 10th – the center field scoreboard reminds us that if the game is still tied after 12, it’s a tie. I have no idea how that would work in practice.

    In the bottom of the 10th, Seibu has a real chance. Ginjiro leads off with a lucky bounce infield single and is sacrificed to second. Abe lofts a dying fly to left – Kiyota has moved to left after Ohmatsu was pinch-run for in the 9th. He makes a break on it, dives, and gets it! I don’t think Ohmatsu makes that play, Kiyota is fast and has great instincts out there. Great play. Nakajima grounds out and we’re off to the 11th.

    Doi is in for Seibu – he’s facing Fukuura. On the second pitch, Fukuura CRUSHES a ball right at the Lotte ouendan! It clears the fence and we go NUTS. NUTS. “Seibu niwa! Makerarenai!” My goodness, what a clutch hit that was!

    Doi is pulled for Osada but it’s one pitch too late. Kobayashi is in for a second inning of work in the 11th and yields nothing to the Seibu offense. Just like that, from defeat to victory, from a potential 0-1 hole on the road to a 1-0 lead! What a great game, and I am so happy to have been a part of it.

    Up on Sunday – Game 2, Murphy vs Kishi. I’m going to the public viewing party at Chiba Marine instead of Seibu Dome, just for fun. Let’s hope Murphy and the offense can close out this series today!

  • Righting Wrongs

    So it’s just not possible to fix all of the world’s issues in a day. It’s not possible to right all of the wrongs in the Pacific League in a night either. But boy, Rakuten has sure been Kryptonite for our season and beating the stuffing out of them by the tune of 16-6 today sure feels good.

    To get you up to speed: Most of Lotte’s problems with Rakuten is on the road. More specifically, Our Marines haven’t won a game in Sendai since before I began this blog. In fact, I was at the last Lotte victory in Sendai way-y-y back in 2008. Yeah, it’s been that long.

    But more recently I sat through Tuesday’s debacle at Chiba Marine. It had all the makings of a great game – 11 game winner Bill Murphy vs perennial ace Hisashi Iwakuma. Murphy didn’t have much going for him on that night – getting beat up for 5 runs in 3 innings of work – and for all intents and purposes the game was over in an hour. What to do when you’re at the stadium for a game like this? Chat chat chat. I chatted with the chap in front of me (a driving instructor, he told Imae and Yabuta are basically my neighbors.). I cheered with the ladies next to me (they’ve been to almost as many games as I have.). In a way it’s more fun to be at a game where the drama is over early than a game where you’re losing but not enough to be a laugher. Who am I kidding, it’s not so much fun either way but you gotta make the most of what you got.

    ANYWAY tonight’s game with Rakuten karmically fixed some of that. On the hill – Watanabe vs Nagai. Matoba still behind the plate, Okada in center, Kiyota in right, everybody else in their normal spots.

    In the first Lotte scored a bizarre little unearned run. Tsuyoshi reached on an error, swiped second, was sacrificed to third by Kiyota, and scored on an Iguchi sac fly. Just your standard one-run first inning on no hits.

    Happens every day

    I told my friend that I would pay real money to see the game end like that.

    But end like that it did not – in the bottom of the 3rd the Lotte attack sprung to life, crossing the plate 5 times on 4 hits, a walk, and another Rakuten error (as with the other error, by Ruiz at first). The big hits were Tae Kyun’s RBI single (GREAT to see him smashing the ball – 3-5 with 2 RBI and just barely missed a HR late in the game) and a 2-RBI double by Imae. Incidentally, Imae was an amazing 5-5 with a pair of doubles on the evening to raise his average to a lovely .324.

    I had cheered before with the two rather drunk gentlemen next to me, but I didn’t realize how well they knew me. They called for a beer from a vendor I knew (who hadn’t seen me sitting there) and when she got to their seats I heard them say “Hey Kanako, Steve’s sitting next to us.” Maybe I am a minor celebrity in the A seats.

    El Submarinero Watanabe was not on his game tonight, though. Right after our 3rd inning assault on Nagai’s stats, Shunsuke gave all 5 runs right back. Oh dear. I figured a 6 run lead would just be a nice cruise to the 9th inning but apparently not. 6-5 after the top of the 4th.

    …But maybe it WILL be a nice cruise to the 9th after all! Matsuzaki replaced Nagai in the bottom of the 4th, and combined with more bad defense and a machine-gun assault by the Lotte bats Our Marines piled on 8 more runs in the bottom of the 4th – 18 runs combined by both teams in the span of an inning and a half! Everybody got into the act this time – Kiyota (3-4 with 2 RBI), Tsuyoshi (4-6 with 2 RBI), Ohmatsu (1-2 with an RBI in the 4th before getting pulled for Muniz), and even Matoba walked in a run. It was pure plate crossing goodness, and after the dust cleared and all the cheering ended, Lotte was up 14-5.

    The benches emptied, and the rest of the game was like an exercise in Advanced Ouenkology – how many player songs do you know? Sure we all know the main stars, but how about Heiuchi’s new one? Muniz? (Of course, for both) How about Masato Watanabe’s? Hmm. When Masato filled in for Iguchi late in the game one of the gents next to me whipped out a Masato towel, probably the only one in the stadium, I would think.

    Lotte tacked on two more runs (and Rakuten put up another) off a Muniz sac fly and a Fukuura HR to make the final 16-6. Now I feel much better about having sat through the loss on Tuesday! Combined with the Seibu win and Daiei loss the Marines are still in third but only 1 game out of first, half a game out of second. And on the really good news front, it seems that the teams below us are unable to make a move on the third spot – Orix and Nippon Ham are 4.5 back with less than 20 games left – so our spot in the climax series is looking increasingly secure.

    The bad news is Karakawa is missing his planned start tonight due to elbow tightness, but it’s not supposed to be anything major. Naruse takes the hill instead, hopefully we can close out this series with another win!