Results on October, 1997
Central League
G W L T PCT GB streak last10 GL
Swallows 137 83 52 2 .615 L1 6-4 0
BayStars 135 72 63 0 .533 11.0 W1 4-6 0
Carp 135 66 69 0 .489 17.0 W1 2-8 0
Giants 135 63 72 0 .467 20.0 L1 6-4 0
Tigers 136 62 73 1 .459 21.0 L1 6-4 0
Dragons 136 59 76 1 .437 24.0 W1 4-6 0
Team vs. Team Win - Loss (Tie)
Swallows BayStars Carp Giants Tigers Dragons
Swallows ---- 13-14( 0) 15-12( 0) 19- 8( 0) 20- 7( 1) 16-11( 1)
BayStars 14-13( 0) ---- 16-11( 0) 13-14( 0) 10-17( 0) 19- 8( 0)
Carp 12-15( 0) 11-16( 0) ---- 13-14( 0) 12-15( 0) 18- 9( 0)
Giants 8-19( 0) 14-13( 0) 14-13( 0) ---- 14-13( 0) 13-14( 0)
Tigers 7-20( 1) 17-10( 0) 15-12( 0) 13-14( 0) ---- 10-17( 0)
Dragons 11-16( 1) 8-19( 0) 9-18( 0) 14-13( 0) 17-10( 0) ----
Pacific League
G W L T PCT GB streak last10 GL
Lions 135 76 56 3 .576 W1 5-5 0
BlueWave 135 71 61 3 .538 5.0 L1 6-4 0
Buffaloes 135 68 63 4 .519 7.5 W2 6-4 0
Hawks 135 63 71 1 .470 14.0 L1 4-6 0
Fighters 135 63 71 1 .470 14.0 W2 6-4 0
Marines 135 57 76 2 .429 19.5 W1 3-7 0
Team vs. Team Win - Loss (Tie)
Lions BlueWave Buffaloes Hawks Fighters Marines
Lions ---- 12-14( 1) 14-12( 1) 16-11( 0) 16-11( 0) 18- 8( 1)
BlueWave 14-12( 1) ---- 14-12( 1) 14-13( 0) 15-11( 1) 14-13( 0)
Buffaloes 12-14( 1) 12-14( 1) ---- 14-12( 1) 14-13( 0) 16-10( 1)
Hawks 11-16( 0) 13-14( 0) 12-14( 1) ---- 11-16( 0) 16-11( 0)
Fighters 11-16( 0) 11-15( 1) 13-14( 0) 16-11( 0) ---- 12-15( 0)
Marines 8-18( 1) 13-14( 0) 10-16( 1) 11-16( 0) 15-12( 0) ----
At Hiroshima
Tigers | 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 | 4
-----------+-----------------------+--
Carp | 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 | 1
WP: Takeuchi (7W 6L)
Sv: (9W 6L)
HR: T Shinjyo 20
C Etoh 27
[Shinjyo got a game-winning 3-run homer off Ohno in 6th.
Takeuchi pitched very well and he also has chance to
lead the league with ERA]
At Nagoya Dome
Swallows | 1 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 | 5
-----------+-----------------------+--
Dragons | 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 | 7
WP: Endoh (2W 3L 1S)
LP: Iwasaki (1L)
HR: D Gomez 30
[Gomez got a game-ending 2-run homerun]
At Chiba
Fighters | 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 | 3
-----------+-----------------------+--
Marines | 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 | 2
WP: Shibakusa (3W 9L)
Sv: Kurogi (5W 5L 6S)
LP: Kuroki (11W 15L)
Hd: F Shimoyanagi
HR: F Nishiura 4, Kaneko 11, Brooks 15
[The Fighters won with 3 homers. Kuroki of the Marines pitched
a complete game, allowing only 6 hits, but he lost]
At Kobe
Lions | 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 5 |12
-----------+-----------------------+--
BlueWave | 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 | 4
WP: Nishiguchi (13W 5L 1S)
Sv: Mori,S. (5W 1L 9S)
LP: Itoh (10W 7L)
Hd: L Hashimoto
HR: L Itoh 13, Sasaki 13
[Itoh got a game-winning 3-run homer in 4th. In late innings,
the Lions scored many runs with errors of the Blue Wave.
Finally the magic number for the Lions becomes one]
At Nagoya Dome
BayStars | 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 | 3
-----------+-----------------------+--
Dragons | 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 X | 4
WP: Udoh (1W 4L)
Sv: Sun (1W 1L 37S)
LP: Nishi (2W 2L)
HR: D Gomez 31
[Gomez got a game-winning 2-run shot off Nishi in bottom of 8th.
Sun got his 37th save to tie with the Japanese record of
the most saves in a season. OTOH, Sasaki had no chance to
get a save :-)]
At Chiba
Fighters | 1 3 2 0 1 2 1 0 0 |10
-----------+-----------------------+--
Marines | 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 | 2
WP: Numata (4W 2L)
LP: Sonokawa (4W 8L)
HR: F Brooks 6, Kaneko 12
[The Fighters finished their final game. Wilson finished
the season with 37 homers. Kukubo has 8 games left and
he got 34 homers. So, it's very hard for Kokubo to go
over Wilson]
At Seibu
Hawks | 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 1
-----------+---------------------------+--
Lions | 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 | 2
WP: Mori,S. (6W 1L 9S)
LP: Yoshitake (7W 7L)
HR: L Matsui 7, Suzuki,K. 18
**** The Seibu Lions have clinched the pennant ****
[In bottom of 10th, the lead-off of this inning, Suzuki Ken
got a season-ending homerun off Hawk starter Yoshitake to
right stand. Most of the starting players in Lions has been
changed when they won in 1994. The Japan series is going
to start on Oct. 18 at Seibu Lions stadium]
At Koshien
BayStars | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 0
-----------+-----------------------+--
Tigers | 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X | 1
WP: Yufune (9W 6L)
Sv: Tamura (2L 9S)
LP: Nomura (10W 8L)
[The Tigers won with nice pitchers. They got 11 hits, but
scored only one. FYI, the total number of SO in the Tigers
becomes 973, which went over the Central League record of
most SO of a team in a season (971, 1992 Swallows). The
Japanese record is 976 by 1994 Buffaloes]
At Hiroshima
Swallows | 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 2 2 | 8
-----------+-----------------------+--
Carp | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 | 2
WP: Tabata (15W 5L)
LP: Kuroda (6W 8L)
HR: S Tatum 11, Ikeyama 17, Miyamoto 1
C Nomura 13, Lopez 28
[Hosey went 3 for 3, but no homeruns. Tabata pitched
5 innings without no runs, so he leads the league with ERA]
At Nagoya Dome
Giants | 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 0 1 | 7
-----------+---------------------------+--
Dragons | 0 0 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 | 6
WP: Nishiyama (2W 3L)
Sv: Cho (1W 2L 11S)
LP: Kadokura (9W 12L)
HR: D Aikoh 2
[No homer by Matsui. Kawamata, who holds the most homers
as PH, appeared but he grounded out to second baseman.
Hirosawa got a game-winning double in 10th]
At Kobe
Buffaloes | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 | 1
-----------+-----------------------+--
BlueWave | 3 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 X | 7
WP: Fraser (8W 9L)
LP: Okamoto (9W 6L)
HR: Bu Yoshioka 2
BW Neel 24
[The Blue Wave won. Clark went 0 for 4, Ichiro 3 for 5.
So Ichiro will be the leading hitter]
At Hiroshima
Giants | 3 3 0 0 0 1 0 6 0 |13
-----------+-----------------------+--
Carp | 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 | 6
WP: Makihara (12W 9L)
Sv: Misawa (3W 4L 2S)
LP: Takahashi,K. (3W 4L)
HR: G Kiyohara 30, Kawai 6, Kiyohara 31, Nishi 10
C Etoh 28, Kanemoto 30, Kanemoto 31
[Matsui went 1 for 4 but no homerun nor RBI. Kiyohara
struck out twice, and his total number of SO has become
150, which is now the new Central league record in the
most SO in a season]
At Kobe
Buffaloes | 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 2 | 9
-----------+-----------------------+--
BlueWave | 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 | 1
WP: Koike (14W 6L)
LP: Sugimoto,Y. (2W 3L)
HR: Bu Yamamoto 12
BW Neel 25
[Koike got 14th win, one less than Nishiguchi. Clark went
1 for 5, Ichiro 1 for 3, so Ichiro will be the leading hitter]
At Seibu
Hawks | 2 0 2 0 0 0 | 4
-----------+---------------+--
Lions | 0 0 0 3 0 - | 3
WP: Tanoue (4W 8L)
Sv: Sakumoto (7W 5L 3S)
LP: Yokota (6L)
(Called game, rain, in middle of 6th)
[The Hawks stopped their losing streak against the Lions,
with help of rain :-) Kokubo didn't get any HR nor RBI.
Martinez didn't appeare in the game]
At Jingu
Tigers | 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 | 2
-----------+-----------------------+--
Swallows | 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 1
WP: Nakagomi (7W 7L)
LP: Yoshii (13W 6L)
HR: T Hiyama 22
[Yoshii pitched a complete game but he allowed 2 ERA, and
he couldn't lead the league with ERA. The Tigrers won,
and the Dragons lost, so the Dragons is the bottom in this
season]
At Yokohama
Dragons | 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 | 1
-----------+-----------------------+--
BayStars | 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 X | 2
WP: Miura (10W 3L)
Sv: Sasaki (3W 38S)
LP: Endoh (2W 4L 1S)
[Sasaki got his 38th save, which is the new Japanese record of
most saves in a season. Araki of the Dragons tried stealing
home with two outs in 9th, but Sasaki threw him out at the plate.
Sun of the Dragons was disapointed to see the game, because
there is no chance for him to be the best closer]
At Hiroshima
Giants | 2 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 7
-----------+-----------------------+--
Carp | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 0
WP: Galvez (12W 12L)
LP: Tanaka (3W 1L)
HR: G Kiyohara 32
[Galvez pitched a shutout game. Matsui went 0 for 3,
1 walk. He appeared on the chance in 2nd when runners
were on first and third with one out (actually previous
hitter Kawai flied out to right field, but third runner
Galvez didn't jump to home). But he flied out to shortstop.
The Giants have only one game left, against the Swallows
for which Hosey plays. Nagashima says that he will put
Matsui into the lead-off in batting order. In Japanese
traditional style, Swallow pitchers will give him intentional
walks in order to make Hosey the HR king, but what will be ?]
At Kobe
Buffaloes | 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 1
-----------+-----------------------+--
BlueWave | 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 X | 2
WP: Maruo (1W)
Sv: Kobayashi (6W 3L 14S)
LP: Takamura (8W 9L)
Hd: BW Mizuo
[Maruo got his career first win. In bottom of 3rd, Ichiro
was called out because he didn't step on the plate when
he "scored" with a basehit of Satake from second]
At Seibu
Hawks | 1 0 3 0 2 0 0 2 0 | 8
-----------+-----------------------+--
Lions | 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 | 3
WP: Sakumoto (8W 5L 3S)
LP: Ishii, Taka. (10W 8L 9S)
Hd: H Wakatabe
HR: H Bonishi 1
L Martinez 31
[This was the retirement game for Kaku and Katori. Kaku
started for the Lions, and the Hawk manager Oh set Akiyama
the lead-off. As you know, Akiyama played for the Lions
with Kaku in '80es. Kaku got him fried out to deep shortstop
and retired. When Akiyama went back to the dagout, he came
accrss the mound and gave five for Kaku.
Next Katori appeared on the mound. He allowed Muramatsu to
triple and left the mound. When he went back to the dagout,
all Lion plears turned a set of flowers for him.
Kaku likes to pitch in Taiwan league next season, and Katori
seems to be a coach of the Giants.
Martinez got a solo-homerun, so he now leads Kokubo by 1
with RBI. FYI, Kokubo went 0 for 5, 4 struck outs]
At Yokohama
Dragons | 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 | 5
-----------+-----------------------+--
BayStars | 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 | 4
WP: Kadokura (10W 12L)
Sv: Sun (1W 1L 38S)
LP: Kawamura (9W 7L)
HR: D Taihoh 12
[The Bay Stars release the manager Ohya, who finishes the
two-year contract. It means that they fired Ohya.
Sun got his 38th save so he again tied Sasaki with saves.
Suzuki of the Bay Stars appeared as PH, and he walked.
His average still ramains .336. Rose went 2 for 4, .328.
Furuta, who had no game today, hits .329]
At Kobe
Marines | 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 | 3
-----------+-----------------------+--
BlueWave | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 0
WP: Komiyama (11W 8L)
Sv: Kawamoto (6W 5L 25S)
LP: Hoshino (14W 9L)
[Komiyama went to the end of 8th, allowing no runs. He
will lead the league with ERA, 2.36. Kawamoto got his
31st save points to tie Akahori. FYI, save point is the
sum of saves and relief-wins,. Hoshino couldn't win, and the Blue Wave
remains 5 games. The race of the most winning pitcher in
Pacific League is as follows]
15 Nishiguchi(Lions) 2 games left
14 Hoshino (Blue Wave) 5 games left
14 Koike (Buffaloes) 2 games left
At Hiroshima
BayStars | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 0
-----------+-----------------------+--
Carp | 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 1 X | 6
WP: Sawazaki (12W 8L)
LP: Fukumori (4W 4L)
HR: C Lopez 29
[Carp rookie Sawazaki pitched his first shutout game.
He seems to have advantege to Kawamura, who gets 9 wins,
in the race of rookie of the year. Lopez got 4 RBI
so he now leads Matsui by 6 RBI. Matsui only have one
game remaining]
At Kobe
Marines | 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 | 1
-----------+-----------------------+--
BlueWave | 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 | 2
WP: Kobayashi (7W 3L 14S)
LP: Kawamoto (6W 6L 25S)
HR: BW Ichiro 16
[Ichiro got a game-ending homerun off Kawamoto]
At Fukuoka Dome
Lions | 0 0 2 5 1 0 0 0 0 | 8
-----------+-----------------------+--
Hawks | 0 0 4 0 0 1 2 1 1 | 9
WP: Wakatabe (7W 8L)
LP: Mori,S. (6W 2L 9S)
Hd: L Watanabe,H.
HR: H Kokubo 35
[Kokubo got a grand slam. He now leads Martinez
by 2 with RBI. Wilson leads him by 2 HR with
homerun, but Kokubo have four more games remaining]
At Hiroshima
BayStars | 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 | 4
-----------+-----------------------+--
Carp | 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 2
WP: Sekiguchi (5W 4L 1S)
Sv: Yokoyama (2W 1S)
LP: Yamane (1L)
[Carp Starter Ohno went to the end of 5th. He allowed one run,
but no earned run. So he now leads the league with ERA.
He also pitched 135.2 innings this season to be a qualifier.
He is the first 42 or more old year pitcher who pitched required
innings]
At Jingu
Giants | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 0
-----------+-----------------------+--
Swallows | 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 X | 1
WP: Ishii,K. (10W 4L)
LP: Okajima (4W 9L)
[Matsui couldn't hit one homer, so Hosey will be the HR king.
Matsui went 0 for 3: walk, struck out, grounded out, grounded out.
Ishii Kazuhisa pitched a shutout game. The final standing of the
Giants is the 4th place]
At Kobe
Hawks | 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 | 6
-----------+-----------------------------+--
BlueWave | 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 1 | 7
WP: Fraser (9W 9L)
LP: Yoshida,S. (4W 3L 3S)
Hd: H Wakatabe Sakumoto
HR: H Akiyama 12, Kokubo 36
BW Fujii 17, Fujii 18
[Fujii led the team to win, hitting back-to-back homers
in 9th and 11th. Kokubo went 3 for 5, 1HR, 3RBI.
He is now in 1 HR behind of Wilson, who has already finished
the season. Kokubo has three games remaining]
At Koshien
BayStars | 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 | 3
-----------+-----------------------+--
Tigers | 0 0 4 2 0 3 0 0 X | 9
WP: Takeuchi (8W 6L)
LP: Tokano (10W 7L)
HR: T Hiyama 23, Hiatt 11
[Takeuchi allowed 3 ER. It is impossible for him to
lead the league with ERA. The Tigers was credited with
the most SO in a season (982 SO), which has become the
new Japanese record]
At Jingu
Carp | 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 | 6
-----------+-----------------------+--
Swallows | 1 0 1 3 3 2 0 0 X |10
WP: Hirota (1W 3S)
LP: Kuroda (6W 9L)
HR: C Kanemoto 32, Maeda 15, Lopez 30, Kanemoto 33
S Ikeyama 18, Tatum 12
[Tabata started for the Swallows to try to lead the
league with ERA, but the Carp hitters helped Ohno
to hit off Tabata. Kanemoto got 2 homers, but still
5 HR behind of Hosey]
At Chiba
Buffaloes | 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 | 2
-----------+-----------------------+--
Marines | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 0
WP: Koike (15W 6L)
Sv: Akahori (10W 7L 22S)
LP: Yabuta (5W 9L)
HR: Bu Clark 23
[Koike got the 15th win to tie Nishiguchi with the most wins.
Akahori got 32 save points (saves and relief wins) to go ahead]
At Chiba
Buffaloes | 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 | 6
-----------+-----------------------+--
Marines | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 | 5
WP: Okamoto (10W 6L)
Sv: Akahori (10W 7L 23S)
LP: Mutoh (2W 5L)
HR: Bu Murakami 4
[Akahori appeared from the 7th inning. He was not good so the
Marines almost tied the game in the 9th, but the final hitter
Hori struck out. So Akahori now leads Kawamoto by 2 SP.
Kawamoto of the Marines has only 3 games remaining (Akahori
has no games left) in 11 and 12. It's not easy for him to
catch up with Akahori]
At Kobe
Hawks | 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 | 1
-----------+-----------------------+--
BlueWave | 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 X | 2
WP: Sugimoto,Y. (3W 3L)
Sv: Kobayashi (7W 3L 15S)
LP: Tanoue (4W 9L)
Hd: BW Mizuo
HR: H Kawagoe 2
[The Blue Wave won the final game at Kobe. Ichiro went 0 for 2.
Kokubo could get no RBI nor HR]
Farm Japan Series (one-game)
At Ginowan (Okinawa)
Blue Wave (Western) |000 000 000|0
Fighters (Eastern) |000 000 001|1
WP Kugogi
LP Ebisu
HR F Ohgai
[The Minor Japan championship was held since 1995. Last year,
there was no sponcers so this kind of game was not held.
Both starters Imai and Ebisu were good so it seems to get
into extra innings. But in bottom of 9th, Ohgai led the Fighters
to win the championship with hitting a game-ending homerun
to right stand]
MVP: Ohgai (F)
Variable Players: Imai (Fighter starter), Ebisu (BW starter)
At Koshien
BayStars | 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 2
-----------+-----------------------+--
Tigers | 1 0 4 0 3 0 2 0 X |10
WP: Yufune (10W 6L)
LP: Kawahara (1W 3L)
[The Tigers defeated the Bay Stars. Yufune got his 10th win.
Imaoka went 3 for 4, got 4 RBI]
At Jingu
Carp | 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 | 4
-----------+-----------------------+--
Swallows | 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 0 X | 6
WP: Katoh (5W 1L 6S)
Sv: Yamabe (2L 2S)
LP: Yamauchi (7W 11L)
HR: S Tatum 13
[The Carp lost, but Carp hitters helped Ohno to be the best ERA
pitcher. They hit Yoshii off and scored 3 runs in 2nd, so his
ERA went down to 2.99, while that of Ohno is 2.85]
At Chiba
BlueWave | 0 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 | 7
-----------+-----------------------+--
Marines | 2 0 0 0 0 0 0/1 0 | 2
WP: Fraser (10W 9L)
LP: Takekiyo (3W 10L)
Hd: BW Itoh
HR: BW Ichiro 17
[The Blue Wave beated the Marines, and they got at least 14
wins for every other team, still they couldn't win the pennant.
Kosaka of the Marines got his 55 SB, which tied with the record
of the club. Ichiro went 2 for 4 to raise his averate to .346,
so he will be the leading hitter again. He will be the second
player who won the leading hitter for 4 years in a row (FYI,
the first such player is Harimoto]
At Koshien
BayStars | 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 | 5
-----------+-----------------------+--
Tigers | 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 | 1
WP: Kawamura (10W 7L)
LP: Funaki (1W 8L)
HR: T Hiratsuka 17
[The Tigers lost the final game, so they stand only in 5th place.
Bay Star rookie Kawamura got his 10th win, so he still have hope
to be the rookie of the year. Nagashima and Mikoshiba of the Tigers
retires and they showed their final play in Koshien. Kameyama of
the Tigers also leaves the team (actually he was fired :-) and he
appeared as PH to grounded out. But he showed his head-first sliding
to first base]
The Tigers and the Dragons annouced the trade:
Sekikawa and Kuji (Tigers) <=> Taihoh and Yano (Dragons)
At Chiba
Hawks | 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 4
-----------+-----------------------+--
Marines | 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 | 2
WP: Doi (1W)
Sv: Okamoto (3W 6L 19S)
LP: Komiyama (11W 9L)
Hd: H Wakatabe Sakumoto
HR: M Hori 9
[Komiyama got the title of the Best ERA, although he gave up
4 ER in 5 innings. OTOH, Kawamoto appeared in 8th, hoping
to get a SP, but the Marine hitters couldn't help him.
Akahori of the Buffaloes has become the best closer in PL]
At Chiba
Hawks | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 0
-----------+-----------------------+--
Marines | 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 4 X | 9
WP: Kuroki (12W 15L)
LP: Kimura (2W 6L 5S)
HR: M Fukuura 6, Satoh 3
[The Marines won their final game. Kuroki pitched a shutout game.
Kokubo of the Hawks couldn't hit any homers in two games, so
he missed to be the HR king.
Nishimura and Nimura of the Marines has announced their
retirement. In this game, Kosaka got his 56 SB, which broke
the club record of the most SB 55 in a season by Nishimura]
At Seibu
BlueWave | 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 | 3
-----------+-----------------------+--
Lions | 0 4 0 2 1 0 4 0 X |11
WP: Shiozaki (12W 7L)
LP: Hoshino (14W 10L)
HR: L Yamada 1, Suzuki,K. 19, Pemberton 1
[The Lions defeated the Blue Wave. Hoshino of the Blue Wave
couldn't win so he couldn't catch up with Koike and Nishiguchi]
Now all 1997 games in PL have been finished. The followings are
the title winners (MVP will be announced after the Japan series
has been finished):
BA: .345 Ichiro (Blue Wave)
HR: 37 Wilson (Fighters)
RBI: 114 Kokubo (Hawks)
Hits: 185 Ichiro (Blue Wave)
OBP: .431 Suzuki Ken (Lions)
SB: 62 Matsui (Lions)
ERA: 2.49 Komiyama (Marines)
Wins: 15 Nishiguchi (Lions) and Koike (Buffaloes)
W-L%: .750 Nishiguchi (Lions)
SP: 33 Akahori (Buffaloes) SP= saves + relief wins
SO: 192 Nishiguchi (Lions)
Holds: 25 Hashimoto (Lions)
At Hiroshima
Swallows | 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 | 2
-----------+-----------------------------------+--
Carp | 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 | 3
WP: Yokoyama (10W 5L 1S)
LP: Nonaka (2W 3L)
HR: S Kobayakawa 12
[Sawazaki of the Carp appeared in 8th in order to try his 13th
win but he gave up a HR against Kobayakawa so he couldn't win.
Kobayakawa hit a HR in both the opening game and the final game.
Now all games in CL have been finished.
The Title winners in CL
BA: .335 Suzuki T. (Bay Stars)
HR: 38 Hosey (Swallows)
RBI: 112 Lopez (Carp)
Hits: 170 Lopez (Carp)
OBP: .444 Rose (Bay Stars)
SB: 49 Ogata (Carp)
ERA: 2.85 Ohno (Carp)
Wins: 18 Yamamoto (Dragons)
SP: 41 Sasaki (Bay Stars) SP=saves + relief wins
SO: 159 Yamamoto (Dragons)
(special awards)
GW-RBI: 17 Suzuki T. (Bay Stars)
MEP: 12 Matsui (Giants)
The Best Reliever Award: 24.75 Shimada
(Relief point system is too complicated to explain)
The schedule of the 1997 Japan series is as follows:
Oct. 18 6:20 at Seibu
19 6:20 at Seibu
21 6:35 at Jingu
22 6:35 at Jingu
23 6:35 at Jingu (if necessary)
25 6:20 at Seibu (if necessary)
26 6:20 at Seibu (if necessary)
At Seibu
Swallows | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 | 1
-----------+-----------------------+--
Lions | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 0
WP: Ishii,K. (1W)
LP: Nishiguchi (1L)
HR: S Tatum 1
Japan Series Game 1 (at Seibu) Swallows 1W, Lions 1L
[Both starters pitched very well. Both pitchers were not good in
early innings. Ishii allowed the lead-off to reach first base
from 2nd through 5th. Nishiguchi was good after 3rd inning but
he delivered his slider to middle-high against Tatum, and he hit
homerun near the left foul pole. Ishii got 12 K and tied with
the JS record of most K in a game (till 9 innings or less).
Swallow manager Nomura laughed at Lion LF Yamada, who has few
experience in regular season games. Nomura said that he felt
very easy when Yamada appeared at pinch in bottom of 4th.
In this inning, Takagi singled and Suzuki doulbed with no outs,
so they had chance of runners on second and third with no outs.
But the following batters, Martinez and Sasaki got struck out.
After 6th inning and later, they had no chance.
Anyway, it damages the Lions very much that they lost with
Nishiguchi]
Score Book
Batting S
PaAb r hBi 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Manaka cf 4 3 0 1 0 63 43 S9 sh14(1-2)
Inaba rf 4 3 0 1 0 S9 6f sh14(1-2) 7
Hosey lf 4 4 0 0 0 4ge(1-3) K 7 K
Furuta c 4 4 0 0 0 52(3-Hx,1-2) 13 7 K
Dobashi 2b 4 4 0 2 0 K 3 S6 S9
Kobayakawa dh 4 4 0 0 0 K K 463dp (CS;26)43
Ikeyama 3b 3 3 0 1 0 S7 43 53
Tatum 1b 3 3 1 1 1 K 53 (*a)H7
Miyamoto ss 3 3 0 1 0 43 7 S6
*a: LF Kawada
Pitching S
IP BF Ptcs R ER
W Ishii,K. 9 32 116 0 0
Misc. S
LOB: 5
DP: 0
Batting L
PaAb r hBi 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Matsui ss 4 4 0 0 0 63 K 43(2-3) K
Harai 2b 4 3 0 0 0 W K 31 K
Takagi, T. 1b 4 4 0 1 0(CS;24)63 S9 8 7
Suzuki,K. 3b 4 3 0 1 0 W D7(1-3) K K
Martinez dh 4 4 0 0 0 K K 33 63
Sasaki rf 3 3 0 0 0 K K 43
Yamada lf 3 3 0 0 0 3 53 K
Kawada lf 0 0 0 0 0
Itoh c 3 2 0 1 0 S7 W 8
Ohtomo cf 3 2 0 0 0 sh14(1-2) B1(1e-4;1-2) K
Pitching L
IP BF Ptcs R ER
L Nishiguchi 9 33 126 1 1
Misc. L
LOB: 5
DP: 1
Umpires: Hayashi, Kobayashi, Maeda, Tomoyose, Igarashi, Ino
Time: 2:41
Japan Series Games 2 at Seibu (night game)
Swallows | 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 | 5
Lions | 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 | 6
WP: Mori,S. (1W)
LP: Yamabe (1L)
HR: L Kawada 1
[What a exciting (but looooong) game. The Lions won the second game,
although the Swallows had momemtam in late innings. Since Iida of the
Swallows has injured and he will miss the series, Hosey has to field
as LF, and Manaka is in CF. In this game, the Swallows proved that
"the hole of Iida" was too big.
Oh, Hosey got a RBI with tricky batting: he hit ball with the
gripend of the bat! Can you believe? the ball rolled, but
anyone didn't understand what was going on at once]
Score Book
Batting S
PaAb r hBi 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Manaka cf 6 6 1 2 0 K S7(2-H,1-3) 63 S8(1-2) B16 (*c)K
Inaba rf 6 6 1 3 0 43 7 S8 S8(2-3) S7(1-2) K
Hosey lf 5 4 0 1 1 W 5 S9(*a) 2fc(*b) 7f
Satoh,S. lf 1 1 0 0 0 7
Furuta c 5 5 0 1 0 13 43 31 643dp S9(2-3)
Dobashi 2b 5 5 2 2 0 S8 S8 3g K 43
Hata dh 5 4 1 2 0 S9(1-3) S9 K W K
Ikeyama 3b 3 3 0 1 1 4 S8(2-H,1-3) K
Kobayakawa ph 1 1 0 0 0 46(6e)
Baba 3b 1 1 0 0 0 3f
Tatum 1b 5 5 0 0 0 4 7 8 543dp 53
Miyamoto ss 5 4 1 2 0 6ge(th;3-H,1-2) 63 S7 W D7
*a: Hosey tried second base because LF threw to 3B. 3B threw back to
2B, but the thrown ball went to outfield(1-3,B-2;5e(th -2B);3-H,2-3).
*b: Hosey hit the ball with the gripend of the bat! The ball rolled
just before the plate, but anyone didn't realize it is fair ball
for a while. An fielders' choice was credited(2fc;3-H,2-3,1-2,B-1).
*c: The ball was hopped near feet (WP;2-3).
In top of 2nd, Miyamoto grounded to shortstop, but Matsui's throwing
was too wide.
In top of 7th, Kobayakawa grounded to second baseman. SS Matsui couldn't
catch the thrown ball and an error was credited with him.
Substituttion
P Yamamoto (bottom of 2nd)
P Hirota (bottom of 6th)
P Katoh (bottom of 6th when Sasaki appeared)
P Takatsu (bottom of 6th when Kanemura appeared)
PH Kobayakawa hit for Ikeyama (top of 7th)
3B Baba (bottom of 7th)
LF Satoh, S. (bottom of 9th when Takagi appaered)
P Yamabe (bottom of 10th)
P Itoh, T. (bottom of 10th when PH Tanabe appeared)
Pitching S
IP BF Ptcs R ER
Tabata 1.0 8 40 5 3
Yamamoto 4.0 14 68 0 0
Hirota 0.1 1 7 0 0
Katoh 0.1 3 11 0 0
Takatsu 3.1 15 60 0 0
L Yamabe 0.1 3 6 1 1
Itoh,T. 0.0 1 4 0 0
Misc. S
LOB: 13
DP: 1
Erros: Ikeyama(1st), Hosey(1st)
Batting L
PaAb r hBi 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Matsui ss 5 5 0 2 0 S8 64 K K S8
Ohtomo cf 5 4 1 1 0 36 443dp W 7f S7(*c)
Takagi, T. 1b 5 4 0 0 0 K 7 K 8 (*d)W
Suzuki,K. 3b 5 4 1 2 1 D7(*A) W K S8 12
Martinez dh 5 5 1 1 1 S7(*a) (*B)K 53 K K
Sasaki rf 5 5 2 3 1 S7(2-H) K S9 33 S8
Kawada lf 5 4 1 2 2 H9 S5(BH) B2f K sh14(1-2)
Itoh c 5 3 0 0 0 33 9f (*b)IW 7L IW
Takagi, H. 2b 2 2 0 1 0 S8 K
Kanemura ph 1 0 0 0 0 W
Narahara pr,2b 1 1 0 0 0 63
Tanabe ph 1 1 0 1 1 S8(2-H)
*a: Hosey couldn't get it and the ball went behind of him(7e;B-2,3-H)
*b: SB;1-2
*c: H&R;1-3
*d: SB;1-2
*A: Blooper to left field (actually bad fielding of Hosey). 3B
Ikeyama threw to home, but the ball hopped and Furuta couldn't
get it (1-H,B-2;5e,th-2;2-3). If Furuta get it, then it would be
bang-bang play at the plate.
*B: Furuta missed to catch a hopped pitch, so Suzuki tried second
base. But he was thrown out by Furuta.
In bottom of first, Matsui was often picked off. Onetime he seemed
to injured his finger(s?). That's why he made two errors in this
game.
In bottom of 10th, PH Tanabe hit high slider (or fastball). The
batted ball went over CF Manaka. The ball hit his glove, but it went
out off his glove.
Substitution
P Ishii, Takashi (top of 4th)
P Sugiyama (top of 6th when Hosey appeared)
P Denny (top of 6th when Furuta appeared)
PH Kanemura hit for Takagi, H. (bottom of 6th)
PR Narahara ran for Kanenura at firstbase (bottom of 6th)
PR Narahara fielded as second baseman (top of 7th)
P Hashimoto (top of 8th when Manaka appeared)
P Mori, S. (top of 8th when Furuta appeared)
PH Tanabe hit for Narahara (bottom of 10th)
Pitching L
IP BF Ptcs R ER
Shiozaki 3.0 17 55 3 1
Ishii, Taka. 2.1 12 47 2 1
Sugiyama 0.0 1 4 0 0
Denny 1.2 6 24 0 0
Hashimoto 0.2 3 13 0 0
W Mori,S. 2.1 9 42 0 0
Misc. L
LOB: 11
DP: 2
SB: Sasaki(6th), Ohtomo(9th)
E: Matsui(2nd), Suzuki K. (4th), Matsui(7th)
WP: Mori,S.(10th)
Umpires: Ino, Igarashi, Kobayashi, Maeda, Tani, Nakamura
Time: 4:45 (the 2nd longest game in the history of JS)
Japan Series Games 3 (Jingu)
Lions | 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 | 3
Swallows | 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 X | 5
WP: Takatsu (1W)
LP: Watanabe, H. (1L)
HR: S Furuta 1
[The 8th inning decided the game. In top of 8th, the Lions
had chance of runners on first and second with no outs.
Sasaki tried to hit a sacrifice bunt, but the bunted ball
hopped in front of the plate and C Furuta got it and turned
it to third, and third baseman threw to first: double play(253).
The Swallows sent Takatsu against Itoh and Takatsu got Itoh
fried out.
In the bottom of 8th, the Lions sent Watanabe Hisanobu
against Furuta. Watanabe gave up a homerun against Furuta
in 1992 Japan series. Anyway Watanabe is not what he used
to be, and he gave up another homerun against Furuta.
Furuta hit the second pitch, fastball to high-inside, and
the batted ball went to center stand]
Batting L
PaAb r hBi 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Matsui ss 5 5 1 3 0 S8 (*b)S7(1-2) 53 7 S8
Ohtomo cf 5 3 0 1 1sh14 S9(*c) HB K 463dp
Takagi, T. lf,1b 4 3 0 1 1 K sf9(3-H) S9 K
Suzuki,K. 3b 4 3 1 1 0 8 (CS;26)- S9 46(2-3) W
Martinez 1b 4 3 0 1 0 9 W 7 S6
Shimizu pr 0 0 0 0 0
Watanabe,H. p 0 0 0 0 0
Sasaki rf 4 4 0 0 0 13 463dp(2-3) K B253dp
Itoh c 4 4 0 1 1 K S8(3-H) 8 3
Takagi, H. 2b 4 3 0 2 0 S9 S7(1-2) W 43
Ishii, Take. p 0 0 0 0 0
Ohtsuka ph 1 0 1 0 0 (*a)W
Ishii, Taka. p 1 1 0 0 0 K
Harai ph 1 1 0 0 0 33
Denny p 0 0 0 0 0
Sugiyama p 0 0 0 0 0
Kawada lf 1 1 0 1 0 S1
*a: WP;1-2 (one hop)
*b: PO26; the batter take a strike with bunting style and the runner
was thrown out
*c: 2-H,1-3
* In top of 8th, Sasaki bunted but the ball rolled just before the
plate and it turned into a double play.
* In top of 9th, Kawada hit a grounder to pitcher. Takatsu blocked
it with his feet, but couldn't get Kawada out.
[Substitution]
Top of 3rd: Ohtsuka hit for Ishii Takehiro
Borrom of 3rd: P Ishii Takashi
Top of 6th: Harai hit for Ishii Takashi
Bottom of 6th: P Denney
Bottom of 6th: P Suguyama when PH Kobayakawa appeared.
Top of 8th: Shimizu ran for Martinez at first base.
Bottom of 8th: P Watanabe, H., 1B Takagi,T., LF Kawada
Pitching L
IP BF Ptcs R ER
Ishii, Take. 2.0 12 44 3 0
Ishii, Taka. 3.0 10 45 0 0
Denny 0.2 4 14 0 0
Sugiyama 1.1 4 15 0 0
L Watanabe,H. 1.0 6 20 2 2
Misc. L
LOB: 8
DP: 2
Errors: Ishii Takehiro(2nd)
PO: Takagi,H.(3rd)
CS: Ohtomo(3rd)
Batting S
PaAb r hBi 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Manaka cf 4 4 1 1 1 7 S7(*a) 1L(13dp) 7
Dobashi 2b 4 4 0 2 2 D9 D8(*b) K 8
Hosey lf 4 4 0 1 0 6 5 S7 63
Satoh,S. lf 0 0 0 0 0
Furuta c 4 3 1 1 1 HB 43 663dp H8
Tatum 1b 4 4 0 0 0 3 K 53 7
Inaba rf 4 4 1 3 0 43 S7 S8 S8
Ikeyama 3b 4 3 0 1 0 S8 43 W 4
Miyamoto ss 4 4 1 1 0 1ge(1-2) 63 sh43(*c) S6
Yoshii p 1 1 1 0 0 B35
Ohno ph 1 0 0 0 0 W
Katoh p 0 0 0 0 0
Kobayakawa ph 0 0 0 0 0
Tsuji ph 1 1 0 0 0 K
Yamamoto p 0 0 0 0 0
Hirota p 0 0 0 0 0
Takatsu p 1 1 0 1 1 S7(*d)
*a: 2-H,1-2; the ball ran along the left foul line.
*b: 2-H,1-H; It went to left-center field
*c: 2-3,1-2; Miyamoto seemed to get bunt hit, and it was what we call
"push bunt". 2B Takagi fielded very well.
*d: 2-H,(7)546x1-3; Takatsu broke the bat, still batted ball went over
third baseman, touching his glove. LF Kawada got it and threw back
to the plate and it would be bang-bang play at the plate... somehow
3B Suzuki cut the ball and threw it to second baseman to get
Miyamoto out. It is said that Miyamoto confused Suzuki.
* In bottom of 2nd, Takatsu bunted just in front of 1B Martinez, who
fielded quite shallow. Matrinez managed to get out at third base.
* In bottom of 5th, Hosey jumped and Furuta hit (H&R play). Batted
ball grounded on the second base, where SS Matsui was covering.
So it was an easy double play (663).
[Substitution]
Bottom of 4th: Ohno hit for Yoshii
Bottom of 6th: PH Kobayakawa appaered for Katoh
Bottom of 6th: PH Tsuji hit for PH Kobayakawa
Top of 7th: P Yamamoto appeared
Top of 8th: P Hirota appeared against Martinez
Top of 8th: P Takatsu appaered against Itoh
Top of 9th: LF Satoh, S.
Pitching S
IP BF Ptcs R ER
Yoshii 4.0 18 64 3 3
Katoh 2.0 9 39 0 0
Yamamoto 1.0 4 20 0 0
Hirota 0.2 2 2 0 0
W Takatsu 1.1 5 20 0 0
Misc. S
LOB: 7
DP: 3
WP: Yoshii(3rd)
Umpires: Nakamura,Tani,Igarashi,Kobayashi,Hayashi,Tomoyose
Time: 3:25
Japan Series Games 4 (Jingu)
Lions | 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 1
Swallows | 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 2 X | 7
WP: Kawasaki (1W)
LP: Shintani (1L)
HR: S Satoh, S. 1
Japan Series Games 5 (Jingu)
**** Swallows won the Japanese championship ****
Lions | 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 0
Swallows | 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 X | 3
WP: Ishii,K. (2W)
Sv: Takatsu (1W 1S)
LP: Nishiguchi (2L)