Comment by Garrett DeOrio

April 4, 2008 @ 6:26 pm

I take back two things I said: First, Yokohama Stadium is not nearly as nice as I remembered it being. I went there on Tuesday evening for the first time in years and found that it is, in fact, not very nice at all except that it’s small and intimate - important, but not enough to outshine the speakers aimed at fans’ heads, the lack of event halfway decent food near the bleachers, and the fact that it is basically a small concrete bowl that leaves one with a feeling of claustrophobia as much as intimacy. It get further strikes for having the bullpen under the stands, out of sight, and a secondary scoreboard that lists only the count and the score - nothing else. The line-up would be nice.

Second, the Giants suck. All-Stars at every position is most definitely not a good indicator of success, especially when so many of them are apparently unaware that they’re supposed to play defense. They’re like a bad caricature of themselves: fat, slow, aging, overpaid, and dramatically overhyped. (OK, not fat. I take that back.)

Even though i’ve just finished Michael Lewis’s Moneyball and found the ideas in it brilliant, I can’t help but think that Takada’s Swallows this season are making a strong case for speed and solid fielding as well as the all-important OBP. Turning close plays into hits, singles into doubles, and doubles into triples puts guys in better position to do the only thing that matters - score.

A little more power would be nice, though. In Tokyo’s only loss, 9-6 to Yokohama on Tuesday night, they left quite a few runners stranded - that could have made a big difference. That and not giving up three or four base hits in a row to shallow left field.

Comment by Christopher Pellegrini

April 4, 2008 @ 9:25 pm

Maybe we’re just spoiled at Jingu. This season we’re definitely heading out to Chiba to check that stadium out.

The game on Tuesday was miserable. It was windy, cold, and our pitching caved in (which felt a whole lot like last season). We were scoring at will for a while, but then there was one throwing error, and everything went downhill from there.

But Tokyo beat Chunichi tonight, which is really not what I expected them to do, and scored another six runs in the process. Muranaka, it should also be pointed out, only gave up three hits in seven innings of work.

6 wins, 1 loss. I have no idea what’s going on. Oh, and the Giants lost again.

Comment by Ken

April 6, 2008 @ 12:35 am

Thanks guys, lots of good stuff in here.

Garrett, I think you were conflating popularity with quality. I know, the Swallows are out to a great start, but I don’t see how they could compete in MLB - aside from maybe the NL Central and West.

Certainly, it will take a lot of time before a sort of “Little League World Series” happens. I like the idea of it being a “Champions League.”

You do realize the Red Sox were taking it easy when t hey came over, right? They just wait until the World Series and then sweep, sweep, sweep. Maybe we’ll be able to sweep the Cubs this year.

Comment by Garrett DeOrio

April 6, 2008 @ 10:01 pm

Unfortunately, the Swallows would not be the team to do NPB proud in the States, but I stand by my comment that the gap is shrinking between NPB and MLB in terms of quality. It’s not equal yet and, were there to be an “Asian League” alongside the American and National Leagues in MLB, it would not fare well. The point, though, is that such a prospect is no longer far-fetched. Bobby Valentine’s challenge was, I think, more than an empty, risible boast.

The Red Sox must have been taking it easy when they played Yomiuri. The Giants looked all right against the Sox, but are unable to catch pop flies, stop routine grounders, or get their high-end stars in the same game at the same time now, which is fine by me.

Comment by Garrett DeOrio

April 6, 2008 @ 10:11 pm

Speaking of the Giants, they kind of did the Swallows a favor by pounding Hanshin 9-1 today (Sunday), thus keeping the Swallows from falling much behind Hanshin as they lost to Chunichi (badly, 6-0) today.
It was a day of butt-whuppings in the Central League - in the third game, Hiroshima beat Yokohama 17-3.
In contrast, all three of the Pacific League games were decided by one run. (Chiba beat Fukuoka, Orix beat Hokkaido, and Saitama beat Tohoku.)

This is an example, I think, of what’s been going on so far this season - the Pacific League is much more evenly matched than the Central, which inflates the records of the best and worst Central League teams, making them look better or worse than they actually are, whereas the strength of the Pacific League is masked by the less-impressive win percentages among its better teams so far.

Comment by Luke

April 6, 2008 @ 10:26 pm

Have just checked the Central League standings for the first time, wow!
So good to see the Giants at the bottom and proof that team building isn’t just a matter of assembling the most expensive/best players in each position. If that were the case I would have lost interest in sport a long time ago.

Comment by Christopher Pellegrini

April 9, 2008 @ 2:58 pm

In nasty weather last night Yomiuri had to settle for a tie down in Yokohama. I suspect that their pitching will settle down soon, and that should signal the start of the Yomiuri resurgence.

That said, Takahashi, their opening day starter, has looked very, very hittable. Last year’s stats are beginning to look a bit like he had a fluke season.

Comment by Masato

April 20, 2008 @ 11:02 pm

The Giants has many great players, but the Giants can’t use their talent. So, the Giants has to change its system to win. For example, I think the Giants have to strengthen its farm team than get new players from other teams.

Current Affairs

Comment by Garrett DeOrio

April 21, 2008 @ 1:48 am

I completely agree, Masato. I’d like to see farm teams strengthened throughout NPB.

Because I’m a Swallows fan, though, I’m happy to see that the Giants’ all-star team is having trouble.