2005 SEASON IN THE CENTRAL LEAGUE

Central League champion: HANSHIN TIGERS

October
The Swallows Norichika Aoki hit his 200th hit Oct 11. He's only the second player in Japan to exceed the 200th mark. The other one was of course Ichiro who currently plays in the U.S. with the Seattle Mariners. He finished the season on Oct 14, with his 202th hit of the season. It was also the last day for Tsutomu Wakamatsu as the skipper of the Swallows.

The Giants played the last game of the season on Oct 5. It was also the last game of Koji Goto and Daisuke Motoki's pro baseball career. On the same day, the Giants skipper Tsuneo Horiuchi stepped down from his post and it was announced that Tatsunori Hara was taking over. The Swallows Norichika Aoki on Oct 6 had his 193rd hit of the season breaking the league record. His team also won 5 to 0 over the Dragons and rose to 3rd place.

September
The Dragons won in the only game of Sept 27, 5 to 2 over the BayStars. It lost the game next day,and that day, the Tigers defeated the Giants 7 to 5. And on Sept 29, the Tigers defeated the Giants 5 to 1 to clinch the Central League pennant. It's the Tigers 5th league victory.

The Tigers beat the Carp 8 to 6 on Sept 23. The Dragons Kosuke Fukudome blasted a 3 run homer to take his team to a 10 to 6 win over the Giants. The Dragons beat the Giants in the next 2 games too. The Swallows lost its 5th game in a row, in a 0 to 5 game against the BayStars on Sept 23.

The top 2 teams faced eachother from Sept 19.The Dragons line-up hit well and defeated the Tigers 12 to 2. It won again the next day 5 to 2 thanks to Kosuke Fukudome's 2 run homer. But on Sept 21, the Tigers won on a homerun by Tomoaki Kanemoto, 4 to 0. The BayStars on Sept 19 and 20 beat the Carp. But on Sept 21, the Carp won. The Giants, with Yoshinobu Takahashi's 2 run homer defeated the Swallows 4 to 3 on Sept 19, the next day 3 to 1 and on Sept 21, 3 to 2.

The Tigers lost to the Swallows on Sept 17, 2 to 7, but the Dragons lost to the Carp too, 2 to 4. The Giants with its 5 to 11 loss to the BayStars succumbed to a majority loss for this season for the first season in 8 years. The Tigers defeated the Swallows on Sept 18 too,while the Dragons lost again. The Giants too lost that day too against the BayStars 3 to 4.

On Sept 15, the Tigers Makoto Imaoka grand slammed and his team defeated the Giants 7 to 1. The Dragons lost that day to the BayStars 3 to 6, meaning the Tigers can win the pennant with 11 wins in a row.

On Sept 13, the Tigers had a 16 to 1 win over the Giants. The same day the Dragons losing streak ended at 4, with a 5 to 2 win over the BayStars. But it lost the next day, which allowed the Tigers to flash its magic number 13. The Tigers can automatically win the pennant with 13 straight wins. On Sept 13, the Carp's skipper Koji Yamamoto announced he is stepping down from his post at the end of the season. The Carp ironically won this day 5 to 1 over the Swallows, but lost the next day 2 to 8.

The Tigers Tomoaki Kanemoto's with his home run, his career 1000th RBI helpd his team win 3 to 1 over the Carp on Sept 9. The next day, the Tigers won again a whooing 21 to 2. Then on Sept 11, the Tigers won 10 to 0, in a game Makoto Imaoka marked his birthday home run. The Dragons lost to the Giants 0 to 3 on Sept 9. In this game, 42 year old Kimiyasu Kudo earned his 11th win. The Giants Masumi Kuwata who has yet to earn his first win this season started the next day, but the Dragons equalized. So even thought the Giants won, he was not given the credit. On Sept 11, the Giants won on Shinnosuke Abe's home run. The BayStars Marc Kroon earned his 21st save in a 6 to 5 game against the Swallows on Sept 9. The BayStars lost the next games and clinched the game on Sept 11.

The top 2 teams faced eachother from Sept 6. The Dragons rookie Kenichi Nakata struck out 11, while he was supported by 2 home runs by Kazuhiro Tatsunami for his team's 5 to 2 win. The next day the Tigers won on Yutaka Nakamura's home run in the 11th inning. That day, the Carp defeated the BayStars with Tomonori Maeda's 2 run homer but it was the BayStars that won the next day. The Giants lost a whooping 3 to 14 on Sept 7, but won 8 to 4 on homeruns by Hiroki Kokubo and Tomohiro Nioka.

The Dragons lost on Sept 2, 3 to 6 against the Swallows, but it won the next day on homers by Kosuke Fukudome and Tyrone Woods. On Sept 4, the Swallows won on Akinori Iwamura's 3 run homerun, 5 to 4. The Giants lost on Sept 2 against the Carp 4 to 6,but won the next day 12 to 9 and then the following day 13 to 2 on Shinnosuke Abe's grand slam. The Tigers on Sept 3 beat the BayStars 4 to 3 and did so the@next day 2 to 1.

The Giants rookie Kentaro Nishimura started and won his first game 3 to 1 against the Swallows on Sept 1. The Tigers defeated the Dragons with 2 homers by Makoto Imaoka.

League standing as of September 30
1. Hanshin Tigers
2. Chunichi Dragons
3. Yokohama Bay Stars
4. Yakult Swallows
5. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
6. Hiroshima Toyo Carp

August
On Aug 30, the Giants lost 2 to 3 to the Swallow, making it its 3rd loss in a row. It won on home runs by Tomohiro Nioka and Hiroki Kokubo, 8 to 7 on Aug 31. That day, the Dragons beat the Tigers on Tyrone Woods' grand slam, 7 to 5. The Carp beat the BayStars on Aug 30, and it was the other way around the next day.

The Tigers lost on Aug 26 to the Giants 0 to 4. 42-year old Kimiyasu Kudo earned his 10th win. The next day the Tigers won 5 to 2 on Tomoaki Kanemoto's 2 homers and won on Aug 28 too 6 to 2. The Dragons had 3 wins in a row over the Carp from Aug 26. The Swallows did too over the BayStars.

The Tigers Kei Igawa hurled over the distance on Aug 23 in a 7 to 1 game against the Carp. But the Tigers lost the next 2 games. The Dragons Masahiko Morino's 3 run homer helped his team win 3 to 1 over the Swallows on Aug 23.The Dragons won the next day 3 to 1. The BayStars beat the Giants 3 to 1 on Aug 23. The Giants Hiroyuki Kokubo homered 3 times on Aug 24, to take his team to a 7 to 0 win.

The Tigers lost a whopping 2 to 12 to the Swallows on Aug 19, but won on Tomoaki Kanemoto's grand slam the next day 9 to 3 and then on Aug 22 3 to 1. The Dragons lost the first 2 games against the BayStars from Aug 19, but won on Aug 22 7 to 2. The Giants beat the Carp 2 to 1 on Aug 19,but lost the next 2 games.

The Tigers and the BayStars tied in a competitive game on Aug 16. The Tigers won the next 2 games. The Dragons on Aug 16 lost to the Giants in an unusual game that suffered from a black out due to a thunderstorm. The next day the Dragons won in a game Alex Ochoa blasted a 2 run. It lost the following day. The Swallows lost to the Carp on Aug 16, but won the next day on Shinya Miyamoto's grand slam, 15 to 8 and the day after too.

The Tigers lost 2 straight games to the Giants in the series from Aug 11. First, it lost in the 10th inning to Tomohiro Nioka's home run, and the next day to Shinnosuke Abe's game base hit. But on Aug 14 the Tigers clobbered Masumi Kuwata to win 7 to 3. The Dragons won on Aug 11 with Mitsunobu Takahashi's home run 7 to 5 against the Carp. It lost though the next day 1 to 2 on Koichi Ogata's home run, but won on Aug 14. The Swallows won the first game against the BayStars but lost the next 2 games.

The last stage for BayStar's former ace closer Kazuhiro Sasaki on Aug 9 in his hometown of Sendai. It was in the 2nd inning, when the Giants Kazuhiro Kiyohara was up to bat that he was summoned to pitch. Kiyohara was in tears as he swung his bat. He struck out to Sasaki's famous fork ball. The Giants won the game 1 to 0. The next 2 games, however, the Giants lost. The top teams faced eachother from Aug 9. The Dragons defeated the Tigers 11 to 7, and inched close to the leader. But the result was the other way around on Aug 11. The Swallows beat the Carp 5 to 3 on Aug 9 bu he Carp won the next day on Tomonori Maeda and Greg LaRocca's consecutive home runs.

A shocking event on Aug 5. The BayStars Marc Kroon came up to close to game, but he gave up a sacrifice fly and then a grand slam to the Dragons Kosuke Fukudome. The Dragons won 9 to 7. The Dragons won again the next day 8 to 5 thanks to home runs by Tyron Woods. The Giants Kimiyasu Kudo lost his 7th game on Aug 5. The Giants lost again to the Swallows the next day 8 to 13 and also the day after even thought Masumi Kuwata pitched all right. On Aug 6, the Tigers beat the Carp 13 to 2. But the Tigers lost on Aug 7. On Aug 7, a shocking news. The BayStars Kazuhiro Sasaki announced he's retiring. On the same day the BayStars marked its 4th straight loss in a 6 to 7 game.

The Dragons winning streak was halted by the Swallows on Aug 2 in a 2 to 5 game, and lost again the next day. But on Aug 4 Kazuhiro Tatsunami's home run helped the team tie and then win 5 to 4. The Tigers marked its 4th straight loss on Aug 2 in a game against the BayStars, but managed to win the next day on Makoto Imaoka's grand slam. The Giants lost against the Carp in a see-saw game on Aug 2, and won the next game, but lost again on Aug 4.

League standing as of August 31
1. Hanshin Tigers
2. Chunichi Dragons
3. Yakult Swallows
4. Yokohama Bay Stars
5. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
6. Hiroshima Toyo Carp

July
The Dragons played the Giants from Jul 19. It won all 3 games to inch closer to the Tigers. The Tigers meanwhile won the first game against the Swallows and lost the next two. The Carp won the first game and tied the next, and clinched the last.

The later half of the season after the all-star break took off on Jul 26. The Giants Kazuhiro Kiyohara homered, but the Tigers were consistent with base hits and won 9 to 3. The Giants won the next day but had a devastating loss of 1 to 9 on Jul 28. The Dragons Kosuke Fukudome slammed a 3 run home run, and his team defeated the BayStars 10 to 8 on Jul 26. That day, the Carp's Takahiro Arai blasted his 26th home run, a 3 run for his team's 5 to 4 win over the Swallows. But it was the Swallows that won the next day. 0

The Tigers accumulated runs on Jul 18 to win over the BayStars 3 to 0. The next day, the BayStars Marc Kroon hurled a pitch of 161 km/hr breaking the Japan record. The Dragons managed to defeat the Carp 6 to 5 on Jul 18 and continued to win marking its 7th win in a row on Jul 20. The Giants rookie Takahiko Nomaguchi pitched well on Jul 18, and the team won 6 to 1 against the Swallows. The next day, the Giants lost 3 to 4. On Jul 20, the Giants won on Tuffy Rhodes 2 run home run.

The Tigers are in good shape. On Jul 15, it won 14 to 5 over the Carp. Makoto Imaoka slammed a 2 run homer. It won 5 to 2 the next day. But on Jul 17, it lost 0 to 1. The Giants lost on Jul 15 to the BayStars despite Tuffy Rhodes' 2 run home run, 3 to 4. It won the following day 2 to 0 and then lost on Jul 17 4 to 7 despite Shinnosuke Abe's 2 run homer. That day the Dragons clinched its 4th win in a row in a 4 to 2 game against the Swallows.

The Tigers clinched the lead from the Swallows to win 7 to 5 on Jul 12. But it lost the next day 0 to 1. The Giants had a devastating 2 to 11 lost against the Dragons although its starting pitcher on Jul 12 was ace, Koji Uehara. It lost the next day agin 12 to 2. Meanwhile, the BayStars have been doing well, and its 6 to 5 win over the Carp on Jul 14 rose its ranking to 3rd place.

The Tigers clinched its 6th win in a row on Jul 8 in a 0 to 3 game against the Dragons. The next day its winning streak was ended by Kazuhiro Tasunami's game winning homerun. But it won the 3rd game 2 to 0 The Giants defeated the Carp 6 to 2 on Jul 8. Kazuhiro Kiyohara slammed his 510th career home run to tie for 5th place in career home runs. He homered again the next day, but the Giants lost that game 8 to 9. The only game of the season in Kagoshima was played on Jul 10. The BayStars won 4 to 2 over the Swallows.

The Tigers Makoto Imaoka's 3 run homer on Jul 5 helped his team beat the Swallows 4 to 1. It won the next day 2 to 1 and again on Jul 7, 4 to 2 on Osamu Hamanaka's RBI. The Giants managed to defeat the Dragons 2 to 1 on Kazuhiro Kiyohara's RBI on Jul 5. But lost 1 to 2. The Carp on Jul 6 clinched the game in the 9th inning, to finish 5 to 4 against the BayStars. The next day, the Carp's Takahiro Arai slammed a league leading 22th home run--a 3 run, for a 6 to 4 win.

On July 1, the BayStars' Marc Kroon closed the 5 to 4 game against the Tigers.But the Tigers clinched the game the next day in the 11th inning, 5 to 4, and again won on Jul 3. The Dragons beat the Swallows on Jul 1. But lost the 2 games. The Giants, Hisanori Takanashi shut out the Carp 3 to 0 on Jul 1. Then the next day, the line up hit well, starting with Kazuhiro Kiyohara's home run, and ending with Yoshinobu Takahashi's 2 run homer for a 6 to 1 win. On Jul 3, the Tokyo Dome celebrated the visit of former superstar Shigeo Nagashima who was recovering from a brain damage. But the Giants was unable to in a 1 to 4 game.

League standing as of July 31
1. Hanshin Tigers
2. Chunichi Dragons
3. Yokohama Bay Stars
4. Yakult Swallows
5. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
6. Hiroshima Toyo Carp

June
On June 28, the Tigers had a big victory of 14 to 4 over the Carp, and won again the next day 7 to 3. The Giants won in the first of the series, but lost the Swallows 1 to 11 the next day. Then on June 30, Koji Uehara shut out the Swallows in a 1 to 0 game.

On June 24, the Tigers and the Giants played a close game which in the 11th inning was finished by Makoto Imaoka's sacrifice fly. It was 4 to 3 for the Tigers. The next day the Giants won on Tuffy Rhodes 3 run home run, 8 to 6. But following that the Tigers won 8 to 2. The Dragons beat the Carp 12 to 4 on June 24. It was the other way around the next day with the Carp winning 16 to 12.

On June 21, it was back to the regular format. The Tigers beat the Dragons 4 to 3, the Swallows defeated the Carp 11 to 2, and the BayStars clobbered the Giants despite Kazuhiro Kiyohara's 3 run homer. The BayStars won agains the next day 8 to 0. The Tigers' Takashi Toritani homered twice to beat the Dragons in a 12 inning game, 4 to 2. The Carp won this time 10 to 2. On June 23, the Carp's Kenjiro Nomura marked his career 2000th hit to enter the "Meikyukai". His team celebrated by winning 5 to 2. The Giants at last won with 2 run homers by Yoshinobu Takahashi and Shinnosuke Abe, 14 to 2. This time, the Dragons won 9 to 3.

League standing as of June 30
1. Hanshin Tigers
2. Chunichi Dragons
3. Yakult Swallows
4. Yokohama Bay Stars
5. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
6. Hiroshima Toyo Carp

May
MORE IN INTERLEAGUE.
The Dragons beat the Swallows 9 to 3 on May 3, thanks to Kosuke Fukudome's 5 runs batted in. The next day, the Dragons won on Kazuyoshi Tatsunami's 2 homers. It's 12 to 1. The team marked a 4th win in a row on May 5, in a 1 to 0 game. The Giants lost to BayStars home run attacks, 4 to 5 on May 3. It lost the next 2 games too. The Tigers faced its 5th straight loss in a 2 to 3 game against the Carp on May 3, but won the next game 6 to 1, and 9 to 3 on May 5.

On May 1, the Giants Kazuhiro Kiyohara homered his 501st, and Hiroki Kokubo blasted 2 homers to help rookie Takahiko Nomaguchi's debut game. The Giants won 7 to 4 over the Carp. The Dragons that day beat the BayStars with Alex Ochoa's 2 homers, 15 to 9. The Swallows won its 6th straight game, in a 5 to 1 win against the Tigers.

League standing as of May 31
1. Hanshin Tigers
2. Yakult Swallows
3. Chunichi Dragons
4. Yokohama Bay Stars
5. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants

April
The big news on Apr 29. The Giants Kazuhiro Kiyohara blasted his 500th career home run. He's the 8th player in Japan to reach the mark. It seems his feat has triggered others to homer. The Giants defeated the Carp with 7 homers, 12 to 4. The next day,however, the Giants lost 5 to 6. The Dragons won 9 to 4 over the BayStars on Apr 29. Despite Kosuki Fukudome's 3 run homer the next day, lost 4 to 8. The Swallows Alex Ramirez helped his team beat the Tigers 2 to 1 with his homer on Apr 29. The Swallows won again the next day 5 to 2.

The Dragons defeated the Tigers on Apr 26, 6 to 1, but lost the next day 3 to 6. On Apr 28, it won a game it was 7 runs behind with Tyrone Woods 3 run homer. It's 9 to 8. The Giants lost to 2 homers to Alex Ramirez of the Swallows and was defeated 5 to 7 on Apr 26, and lost the next dat too 2 to 3. The Carp's Takahiro Arai slammed 2 homers on Apr 26. With his 8th, he leads the league. It won the next day 5 to 2 against the BayStars too.

From Apr 22, the Giants lost 3 games in a row against the Dragons. The Tigers lost its first game against the Carp, and barely won the next game 3 to 2. The Carp, on Apr 23, was supported by Greg LaRocca's 2 run homer, to win 4 to 0 over the Swallows. Definitely, what fans were waiting for. On Apr 24 the Swallows Atsuya Furuta marked his 2000th hit. It's an unprecedented record for a player who went to college and played for a corporate team to make it to the "Meikyu kai" or automatically earning a membership among the players who have achieved 200 hits, or 200 win, or 250 saves.

The Tigers took a big lead from the Giants on Apr 19, with a 3 run homerun by Akihiro Yano, and won 8 to 5. It was the other way around the next day. Kazuhiro Kiyohara's 2 homers helped the Giants win 9 to 0. The Giants faced a devastating loss on Apr 21, 2 to 11. The Dragons beat the Carp 8 to 5 on Apr 19, and 3 to 2 the next day on Tyrone Woods homer. But on Apr 21, the Carp won big on 2 homers by Takahiro Arai, 13 to 3. The Swallows that day defeated the BayStars Kazuhiro Sasaki in the last inning to win 3 to 2.

The Giants Kazuhiro Kiyohara homered again.The 3 run, and a single by Hiroki Kokubo helped the Giants beat the Swallows 5 to 3 on Apr 15. The next day, the Swallows beat the Giants in the 9th inning, 4 to 3. In the 3rd game, Kiyohara homered a 3 run to help his team win 6 to 5. On Apr 16, the Carp managed to beat the BayStars on Kenjiro Nomura's home run. But it lost the next day 5 to 8. The Tigers won on Apr 16 1 to 2 to the Dragons, and it was the other way around the next day.

On Apr 12, the Tigers clobbered the Giants 8 to 1. But the Giants won the next day 4 to 2. And in the 3rd game, the Giants on homeruns by Kazuhiro Kiyohara and Hiroki Kokubo beat the Tigers 8 to 1. The Dragons beat the Carp 3 to 1 on Apr 12. But lost in a 10 inning game the next day 7 to 8. That day, the BayStars Kazuhiro Sasaki earned his first save in a 3 to 1 game against the Swallows. On Apr 14, Sasaki collected his 2nd save in a 3 to 2 game.

The Giants slugger Hiroki Kokubo's first home run of the season was a grand slam. It helped his team beat the Dragons on Apr 8, 6 to 4. The next day, the Giants won again, on a 3 run homer by Kazuhiro Kiyohara, and a solo by Tuffy Rhodes. It was a 5 to 3 game. On Apr 10, the Giants had a devastating loss of 0 to 10. On Apr 8, the Carp clinched a see-saw game in the 9th inning from the Tigers 10 to 9. It won again the following game, 4 to 1. The Swallows that day beat the Carp 8 to 2, with the support of Atsuya Furuta's 2 base hits. On Apr 10, a laborador retriever carried balls in a basket to pass them to the umpire. The Carp perhaps with that suppport won the game 5 to 3. The Tigers doing well. It beat the BayStars on Apr 9, and then the next day, knocked down the just-reported-to-be-divorced Kazuhiro Sasaki.

The Dragons Tyron Woods blasted 2 homers, and helped his team beat the Swallows 4 to 3 on Apr 5. The Dragons clinched a 10 inning game the next day 4 to 3. THe Swallows star Atsuya Furuta had his first base hit on Apr 7, and that got him going. he helped the team win 4 to 2. The Giants Kazuhiro Kiyohara slammed a 2 run home run on Apr 5. The 12-inning game however was clinched by the BayStars 4 to 3. Finally the next day, the Giants clinched a see-saw game in the 11th inning with Yoshinobu Takahashi's home run. The game was 8 to 7. On Apr 7, however, the Giants had a devastating loss of 6 to 14. The Tigers meanwhile defeated the Carp 9 to 2 on Apr 5, and again 9 to 4 the following day to mark its 4th win in a row. On Apr 7, the winning streak ended with a 9 to 10 loss.

The BayStars won it's first game on Apr 3, defeating the Dragons 14 to 6. The Giants caught up and then went ahead of the Carp on Daisuke Motoki's RBI. But Brian Sikorski succumbed to a 2 run homer. With a 7 to 8 game, the Giants had its 3rd loss in a row. The Tigers was supported by homers by Shane Spencer--who hit a solo, and Andy Sheets who blasted a 3 run to beat the Swallows 9 to 5.

The Dragons won with a homer again on Apr 2. Mitsunobu Takahashi blasted a 2 run from the BayStars closer Kazuhiro Sasaki to finish the game 5 to 4. The Tigers won 9 to 1 over the Swallows. The Giants young starter Tetsuya Ukai was finished in the first inning. The Giants lost again to the Carp 4 to 5.

On opening day, Apr 1, starting for the Dragons was Kenshin Kawakami. For the BayStars it was Daisuke Miura. Both pitched well. But the game ended in the 9th on Alex Ochoa's grand slam. It was 4 to 0 for the Dragons. The Swallows Alex Ramirez helpd his team beat the Tigers with a 3 run homer. The game ended 6 to 1. At the Tokyo Dome, the Giants Yoshinobu Takahashi singled a home run to catch up with the Carp. But newcomer, Dan Miceli who took over the mound from Koji Uehara was defeated. The Carp won 4 to 2.

League standing as of April 30
1. Chunichi Dragons
2. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
3. Hanshin Tigers
4. Yakult Swallows
5. Yokohama Bay Stars
6. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants

LAST SEASON CHAMPION: CHUNICHI DRAGONS

Final league standing in 2004
1. Chunichi Dragons
2. Yakult Swallows
3. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
4. Hanshin Tigers
5. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6. Yokohama Bay Stars



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