This is it – my last game of 2009. Sad. I can’t make the 6 October grand finale and the Seibu games are all mid week and far away. So – fin. The blog’s not done for the year by any means but I won’t even be able to watch the last 3 games live …
Tag: Yuki Karakawa
Live Blog: Lotte vs Nippon Ham, 12 September
I made plans to go to Yomiuriland to see Lotte’s ni-gun take on the Giants ni-gun but the weather looks truly foul (both out the window and on radar), so I’ve decided to stay in and do another Live Blog. Some notes about last night’s game as I didn’t make a blog posting. Lotte took …
Live Blog: Lotte vs Seibu, 23 August
As I mentioned in yesterday’s live blog I intended to go to Tokorozawa for today’s game. Clearly I am not there (for reasons too complicated to explain) so I’m kicking out another live blog. On the hill today is the always-interesting Karakawa. As I’ve mentioned repeatedly this season he has to be the hardest-luck pitcher …
Live Blog: Lotte vs Orix, 9 August
I had made plans to go to Lotte Urawa today for the ni-gun game but changed my mind this morning. Instead, I’ll be blogging the Lotte-Orix tilt as it happens. Orix took the first game of the series on Friday 5-1, and Lotte evened the series with a big 9th inning on Saturday to win …
A Ham-Free Weekend, Part 2
The Ham-Free Weekend rolled on in utterly brilliant and heart-stopping fashion as both Saturday and Sunday’s games went all the way to the last frames as the visiting Golden Eagles of Rakuten battled our beloved Chiba Lotte Marines. In both games Lotte overcame adversity and missed opportunities only to make the game-winning play. On Saturday …
Game Report: Softbank vs Lotte, 7/18
A very intriguing game this evening. It was at times one of the worst games I’ve ever watched, at times one of the most exciting games I’ve watched, but it is in the end an 8-6 loss to the visiting Hawks. Karakawa was on the hill tonight for Lotte, and he pitched three perfect innings. …
Game Reports: Lotte vs Nippon Ham, 11-12 July
As I mentioned in my last post, I have a tendency to not write really quickly if there’s not any good news to report. Since this report is written a full day after the games in question that means…. yep. Both Saturday and Sunday’s games were far more interesting than Friday’s one from a Lotte …
Game Report(s): Lotte vs Rakuten, 9 July, Lotte vs Nippon Ham, 10 July
You may have noticed that I am slow in posting when things don’t go well. I admit it; I don’t really like to talk bad about my favorite team. There’s no way around it, though – these last two games were really unpleasant to watch as a fan. Both games unfolded similarly and the results …
Game Report: Orix vs Lotte, 4 July
This one didn’t go as planned. Karakawa returned to the mound the day before his 20th birthday looking for his last win as a teen. He pitched solidly but took the loss instead as Lotte dropped their second game in a row to Orix, 4-1. That also brings Lotte’s season record with Orix to a …
Game Report(s): Fighters vs Lotte, 6/26-27
Unfortunately I am more than a little late with reports from this weekend’s action. Baseball IS life, but sometimes other aspects of life get in the way. In the ‘seemingly-unfortunately-but-actually-worked-out-well’ category, I missed my first Lotte home game in over a month on Friday as the Nippon Ham came to town this weekend for the …