1996 JAPAN'S PRO BASEBALL SEASON

All teams have finished playing 130 games on October 10.

The total attendance at Central League games was 12,220,000, down 130 thousand from last year. The Giants attracted the most number of spectators surpassing 3 million 10 years in a row. Attendance to Tigers game diminished 4 years in a row marking 1.86 million.

1996 PRO BASEBALL AWARDS

Selections are based on votes by baseball journalists with more than 5 year experience with a newspaper company, news agency, or a broadcasting station.

CENTRAL LEAGUE PACIFIC LEAGUE
Most Valuable PlayerHideki Matsui (Giants) Ichiro (Blue Wave)
Rookie of the YearToshihisa Nishi (Giants) Makoto Kaneko (Fighters)
Best NinePitcher Masaki Saitoh (Giants) Eric Hillman (Marines)
CatcherHideji Nishiyama (Carp)Koichiro Yoshinaga (Hawk)
1st Baseman Luiz Lopez (Carp)Atsushi Kataoka (Fighters)
2nd BasemanKazuyoshi Tatsunami (Dragon)Koichi Ohshima (Blue Wave)
3rd BasemanSatoshi Etoh (Carp)Norihiro Nakamura (Buffaloes)
Shortstop Kenjiro Nomura (Carp)Yukio Tanaka (Fighters)
OutfieldersHideki Matsui (Giants)
Takeshi Yamasaki (Dragons)
Alonzo Powell (Dragons)
Ichiro (Blue Wave)
Arihito Muramatsu (Hawks)
So Taguchi (Blue Wave)
Designated HitterNot appliedTroy Neel (Blue Wave)

SAWAMURA AWARD: Masaki Saitoh (Pitcher)
Japan's version of a Cy Young Award.

BATTING AND PITCHING LEADERS IN EACH LEAGUE
Central League Leaders Pacific League Leaders
TeamTokyo Giants Orix Blue Wave
Homerun Takeshi Yamasaki (Dragons) Troy Neel (Blue Wave)
Batting Average Alonzo Powell (Dragons) Ichiro (Blue Wave)
Runs Batted In Luis Lopez (Carp) Troy Neel (Blue Wave)
Stolen Bases Koichi Ogata (Carp) Arihito Muramatsu (Hawks)
Games WonMasaki Saitoh (Giants)
Balvino Galvez (Giants)
Kip Gross (Fighters)
Earned Run Average Masaki Saitoh (Giants)Hideki Irabu (Marines)
Strike Outs Takashi Saitoh (Bay Stars)Kimiyasu Kudo (Hawks)
Saves Kazuhiro Sasaki (Bay Stars)Motoyuki Akahori (Buffaloes)
Toshihide Narimoto (Marines)
Hold Points Hirofumi Kono (Giants) Takeshi Shimazaki (Fighters)

OCTOBER

PACIFIC LEAGUE
Since the Blue Wave has become this year's league champion, the fans are interested in whether Ichiro will be able to make 200 hits. He had 191 as of Oct. 2. Ichiro played the last game of the season on Oct.4. He marked his final hit--the 193rd in the 7th inning against the Marines. Ichiro finished with a batting average of .356 to win his title as the leading hitter for the third time.

The Lions were able the secure their place in the top 3 for the 15th year in a row. They've made quite a recovery from 6th place! Too bad though for their star player Kazuhiro Kiyohara. Fans looked forward to him winning his first title in pro baseball, but he was one homerun short. Troy Neel of the Blue Wave is the homerun king with 32 homeruns.

The final league standing is as follows.

1.Orix Blue Wave
2.Nippon Ham Fighters
3.Seibu Lions
4.Kintetsu Buffaloes
5.Chiba Lotte Marines
6.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks

CENTRAL LEAGUE
The Giants is back in shape on Oct.1. Ace pitcher Masaki Saitoh hurled a null game against the Swallows. He picked up his 16th win to lead the league. The Giants batted in 5 runs. Meanwhile, the Dragons beat the Carp by a margin or 3 to 2 that day to surpass the Carp. The Giants won another shut out game achieved this time by Hiromu Makihara the next day. The Dragons won that day against the Carp too. But from now on, a loss for Dragons will automatically give the Giants the league title.

The Dragons' been winning 6 games in a row as of Oct.5. There was possibility then of a playoff. The schedule was even announced. However, the Dragons direct encounter with the leading team the Giants on Oct. 6 in Nagoya settled the league pennant. The Giants took the first move. In the second inning, Giants batter Ohmori slugged a homerun. The Dragons caught up in the bottom of that inning. Then in the 3rd, Shane Mack belted in a 3 run homer. The Dragons tried to catch up again that inning but succeeded in batting in only a run. In the 8th, Giants rookie Shimizu added another homer. Giants pitchers Kida, Mizuno, and Kohno kept the Dragons from batting in more runs. Kazuhisa Kawaguchi, a former ace pitcher for the Carp relieved the Giants from the 8th inning. He struck out Tatsunami to give the Giants the pennant victory in the 129th game this season. It's the 28th Central League victory for the Giants and probably the most dramatic pennant victory ever for the team. The TV rating was on the average 37.1%. The peak rating was when manager Shigeo Nagashima was tossed by the players immediately after the final pitch. It was 60%.

The game on the 6th became the last baseball game hosted at Nagoya Stadium. If the Dragons proceeded to a playoff with the Giants, more games would've been played. From next season, Nagoya Stadium will be replaced by the Nagoya Dome. So after Giants' victory event was held there, Dragons manager Senichi Hoshino gave a farewell speech on behalf of the close down of the stadium. The hot tempered manager spoke with fire and sadness to the fans from the baseball ground. He didn't forget to congratulate the Giants fans for the victory.

The Central League standing for the 1996 season has been decided on Oct. 6.

1.Tokyo Giants
2.Chunichi Dragons
3.Hiroshima Toyo Carp
4.Yakult Swallows
5.Yokohama Bay Stars
6.Hanshin Tigers

SEPTEMBER

PACIFIC LEAGUE
The Lions players aren't very happy even though they've defeated the Marines 4 to 3 on Sept. 2. That's because they had a turnout of only 4000. It's the worst spectator record for any team this season. Meanwhile, the Lions fired Scott Cooper, formally with the St. Louis Cardinals. He hit an average of.243 and only 7 homeruns.

What's wrong with the Fighters! They've only won their first game this month on Sept. 8. Meanwhile, the Blue Wave is extending their lead in the league by winning all games this month until Sept.10.

The Fighters is playing without its manager Toshiharu Ueda from Sept.10--from the day the Fighters had been scheduled to face the Blue Wave for a 2 day series. Ueda asked to be given time off from baseball. It is said that he doesn't have the strength to lead his team having to tackle domestic problems. His struggle with his family has been covered greatly in TV and magazine gossip slots. It has to do with his daughter and wife's conversion to a religion.

The Blue Wave has been scheduled to face the Fighters for a 4 game series starting Sept.20, but the first game was rained out. The Blue Wave won the game on the 21st 3 to 1. One more victory against the Fighters would give them the league victory. The Fighters, however, decided to give the Blue Wave a hard time. The game on the 22nd was played up to the Pacific League limit of 12 innings, tying the teams 1-1.

The impact of Blue Wave's league victory on its franchise city, Kobe is said to reach 35 billion yen, according to a survey announced on Sept.20. That's the total profit assumed from "victory sales" at the local supermarkets and shops, from baseball ticket sales and transportation fees and sales of Blue Wave memorabilia. Since the city of Kobe was still recovering from the great earthquake when the Blue Wave won last year, the local profit was much less, or 24 billion yen.

Another tense game was played between the Blue Wave and the Fighters on Sept.23. The Fighters was the first to bat in a run. Since, both teams alternated the lead 5 times! This game too went into extra inning. The guy who ended the game was no doubt Ichiro. He batted in a run in the 10th inning--that's what we call a "sayonara" hit here in Japan. The Blue Wave clinched its 2nd league title in front of a full crowd of 40,000--the largest number of spectators Green Stadium Kobe attracted this season.

Troy Neel is the Blue Wave's first baseman since Sept.24. That's to prepare him to play out in the field in the Japan Series. In the Pacific League he plays the designated hitter.

Meanwhile, it's unfortunate that the Hawks have marked their 9th straight loss on Sept.23. Still, Sadaharu Oh is expected to manage the team again next season.

The league standing as of Sept. 29 is as follows.

1.Orix Blue Wave
2.Nippon Ham Fighters
3.Seibu Lions
3.Kintetsu Buffaloes
5.Chiba Lotte Marines
6.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks

CENTRAL LEAGUE
It was learned on Sept. 2, that Giants' Hiromitsu Ochiai will need at least 4 weeks to be able to start batting again. It's most likely that he will not be able to play with the team this season. The Giants though is not really missing Ochiai. What a surprising victory the Giants clinched from the Bay Stars on Sept.3. Non-regular player Koji Goto belted a homer in the bottom of the 10th inning.

On Sept.4, the Carp got overexcited when Kenjiro Nomura's head slide to first base was declared out. Nomura and Carp's skipper Toshiyuki Mimura both attacked the refree, and they were both ousted from the game. Nevertheless, the Carp beat the Tigers 7 to 3. Since the Giants lost that day, the Carp won back first place.

The top teams, the Carp and the Giants met on Sept.7 in Hiroshima. In the bottom of the 11th inning, with bases full and one out, Giants pitcher Masao Kida's came on the mound to relief the team. However he hurled a wild pitch. That simply finished the game. The Carp extended its lead to 1.5 games over the Giants.

The Swallows and the Bay Stars played the second longest game in the Central League on Sept. 8. It went on for 6 hours 19 minutes! In the 14th inning the Swallows scored and concluded the game 6 to 5.

The Giants won games on both Sept.10 and 11 played against the Tigers. Ace pitcher Masaki Saito won a shut out game on the 10th--his 14th victory this season catching up with fellow teammate Balvino Galvez.

Tigers manager Taira Fujita has been warned by his team that he will be dismissed after this season. Fujita has been refusing to leave the post for two days, but agreed to quit after the team told him that he will be reprimand with 60 million yen--the amount he would've received if he were managing the team another year. The Tigers is taken over by Shibata, its head coach since Sept.13. The teams no better with the new leader though.

Hideki Matsui took the lead in the league with his 37th homerun, and Masaki Saitoh his 15th win, which both marked on Sept.17 against the Bay Stars. The game resulted in a 10 to 2 for the Giants. The following day, Matsui smashed another homer--his 38th.

What a game the Giants played against the Dragons on Sept.20! The Giants scored first, then the Dragons caught up and took the lead. Giants batted in a homerun in the 8th and in the 9th to take the game to the 10th inning. With bases loaded and no runner out, pinch hitter Koji Gotoh sacrificed a fly ball to the far left, helping the team win the game and take first place in the league. The Dragons beat the Giants the following day 6 to 3, but because the Carp lost, the Giants kept its post.

By the way, for the first time since 1990, a game at the Tokyo Dome was cancelled. That's the Giants vs. Dragons game on Sept. 22. The same match was disabled in 1990 because the Dragons couldn't make it to Tokyo from Nagoya due to a strong typhoon that halted the bullet train. The reason this time is because the fans weren't assured of getting a ride to the dome because of a powerful Typhoon 17.

The Giants faced the Carp on Sept.23, the following day after the typhoon has passed the Tokyo area. Before the game, there was only 0.5 game between them. The tense game went into the 10th inning. There, Shane Mack hit a double to give the Giants a 3 to 2 victory. The following day too, the Giants defeated the Carp 5 to 2. This victory gave the Giants the "magic number" 5.

The Carp has been losing 6 straight games until their game against the Bay Stars on Sept.19 where the team won a dashing game of 13 to 5. On the other hand, the Giants lost against the Tigers on the same day 1 to 5. The defeat is blamed on Balvino Galvez who was knocked out in the first inning. The Giants' magic number disappeared giving not only the Carp, but the Dragons too the chance to become the league champion.

Here's the Central League standing as of Sept.30.

1.Tokyo Giants
2.Hiroshima Toyo Carp
3.Chunichi Dragons
4.Yakult Swallows
5.Hanshin Tigers
6.Yokohama Bay Stars

AUGUST

PACIFIC LEAGUE
The Hawks defeated the Buffaloes by a point on August 6. The result of the game has reversed their league standings. The Hawks surged to 4th place for the first time since April 15. Since, the bottom 4 teams are performing very much alike that it's like they are playing musical chairs this month.

Meanwhile, with regard to the top two teams--the Blue Wave has defeated the Hams 2 days in a row as of Aug. 11, The victory has made the Blue Wave only 2.5 games apart from the Hams. Of course, the leading batter Ichiro is an important contributor to enhancing the Blue Wave's performance.

The Buffaloes has won its 7th victorious games in a row on Aug. 14 in the game against the Lions. It's the first time in 2 years for them to do this well. The Lions, on the other hand, is in a devastating situation.

The Blue Wave has won its 8th consecutive game on Aug. 18. Their true challenge came on Aug.20, facing the leading team in a 3 game series. The teams tied on the first game, but in the second game, the Blue Wave defeated the Fighters by driving in a game winning run in the 10th inning. And in the third game, the Blue Wave again beat the Fighters 4 to 1, narrowing the game difference to 0.5.

On Aug. 23, the Blue Wave stole the top position from the Fighters. It's by winning a close game between the Buffaloes 5 to 4. But it was only one day the Blue Wave topped the league. The following day, Fighters' pitcher Kip Gross collected his 14th victory to take the team back to the first spot.

In the game on the 27th against the Lions, Ichiro, of the Blue Wave has marked the 22th game this season to achieve more than 3 hits per game. What this means is, Ichiro has tied with that of the record held by Wally Yonamine and Isao Harimono who are both big names in Japanese baseball. Meanwhile, his team is doing well. The Blue Wave has won 3 games in a row until the 29th and has taken the lead from the Fighters.

Ichiro broke the more-than-3-hits-a-game-in-a-season record on Aug. 30. Ichiro actually went for 4 hits in this game against the Hawks. Troy Neel smacked either or a homerun to bring Ichiro home It was a great game for the Blue Wave. The team won 12 to 4.

Ichiro leads with a batting average of 359 as of August 31. Here's the league standing.

1.Orix Blue Wave
2.Nippon Ham Fighters
3.Kintetsu Buffaloes
4.Chiba Lotte Marines
5.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
6.Seibu Lions

CENTRAL LEAGUE
The Carp became the first team in the league to mark its 50th victory this season. That's on August 3 in its game against the Swallows, winning 4 to 1. The Carp, however, is slowly being caught up by the Dragons cutting their lead to only 3 games on Aug.6.

Too bad for the Swallows. They've lost their American pitcher Terry Bross, probably for the rest of this season. Bross was playing since April despite a pain in the shin. But it's worsened on the 4th of this month.

The Hanshin Tigers play such an unpredictable game. The one against the Bay Stars of the 9th was one great example. The teams went into extra innings. It was a nerveracking game until the top of the 12th inning. Kevin Maas of the Tigers, came on to bat with bases full and no outs. His swing wasn't a great one, but the ball went to the left and a runner came home. After that, the Tigers scored 10 more runs! The game finished at 11:57 p.m. It's the longest game this season and one of the most unusual kinds.

The Giants are doing swell this month! Balvino Galvez won July's MVP along with teammate Hideki Matsui. Galvez is leading the league with 13 wins, and Matsui has appeared on the cover of major sports papers 3 days in a row until the 11th, hitting homeruns on all of those days. The Giants have won 5 games in a row as of Aug. 10, and replaced the Dragons for second place in the league that day. However, they're winning streak ended on the 11th. Dragons pitcher Shigeki Noguchi clinched a no hit no run victory over the Giants. It is Noguchi's 3rd winning game this season.

The Bay Stars marked a record losing streak this season on Aug. 14. And they've come so close to the Tigers with only 0.5 games between them. On the other hand, the top 4 teams are in close competition with only 5 games between the first to the 4th ranking as of that day.

Hideki Matsui of the Giants is as super as his team. He's continuing to blast more homers. Since the All-Star break, he's smacked 10--giving him a total 32 on Aug. 18. He's just one short of the leading homerun hitter. It's the first time since 1988 that a Giants batter has hit more than 30 homeruns--ever since Tatsunori Hara who retired last year. Thanks to Matsui, the Giants have caught up with the Carp. Then on Aug. 20, the Giants took over the number one spot by defeating the Bay Stars while the Carp to the Dragons. Can you believe that on July 6, the Giants were 11.5 games behind the top team?! But the following day, the Giants lost a very close game to the Bay Stars 2 to 3 and their winning streak was halted there at 6. Meanwhile, the Swallows have settled down for 4th place.

Matsui does it again! He's blasted a league tie with his 33rd homerun this season on Aug. 25 and the Giants won the game that day against the Swallows 4 to 2.

On the 27th Matsui smacked a homer that went out of the Hiroshima Stadium. He's become the league's homerun leader with that 34th homerun. The Giants won that game against the Carp by a margin, or 9 to 8. Speaking about the series between the top two teams, the Giants took 2 games to 1. The Giants is ranked second still after the Carp, but with no game between them. The Carp is in trouble, because their central hitter and homerun king of '94 and '95 Akira Etoh has been sriously injured in the last of the series from a ground ball attacking his face. A bone under his eye has been broken.

The Giants has also lost its central player as a result of a dead ball hurled from Dragons' pitcher on Aug. 31, Hiromitsu Ochiai fractured a bone in his left hand. Some criticize the Dragons for injuring Ochiai on purpose and taking him out of games for at least 2 weeks. The Giants' been able to defeat the Dragons on both the 30th and 31st. The first game was really long, running 5 hours and 28 minutes!

August ended with the Giants taking the lead in the CL.

1.Tokyo Giants
2.Hiroshima Toyo Carp
3.Chunichi Dragons
4.Yakult Swallows
5.Yokohama Bay Stars
6.Hanshin Tigers

JULY

PACIFIC LEAGUE
Lions manager Osamu Higashio was so happy with rookie pitcher Fumiya Nishiguchi on July 2 that he presented the guy 1 million yen out of his own pocket. Nishiguchi won his 10th victory this season with 10 strike outs and shutting out the Hawks.

The Buffaloes are slowing down. As of July 6, they've lost 9 games in a row. Meanwhile, the Hams continue to be very strong.

Lotte Marines' ace pitcher Hideki Irabu has been asking his team to trade him to a U.S. Major League team. However, team executives refused to consider such a move now, since no trades are allowed after July until the season ends. It is possible that Irabu will get a chance to discuss such action when this season finishes.

The Buffaloes clinched their first victory this month on the 11th. It was a close match against the Marines. The game went into the 10th inning. There, the Buffaloes added 2 runs winning the game 5 to 3. They lost 9 consecutive games before that win.

The Fighters lost all 3 series to the Buffaloes immediately after the All Star break.

Here's the league standing as of July 31

1.Nippon Ham Fighters
2.Orix Blue Wave
3.Chiba Lotte Marines
4.Kintetsu Buffaloes
5.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
6.Seibu Lions

CENTRAL LEAGUE
The Carp won 8 games in a row as of July 3.

Hiromichi Ochiai marked his 500th homerun on July 3. This was in the 6th inning. The Giants were behind the Swallows 2 to 3. Ochiai who at age 42 is today's oldest ball player, smashed a two run homer and the team went on to win this game. As if to celebrate their central players wonderful homerun record which is the 7th best in Japan, the Giants overwhelmed the Swallows in all of the 3 games series played from July 3. The Giants also beat the Tigers on July 7. The Giants is proving to be a great winner every other month.

The Giants have stopped the Carp from gaining their 10th straight game victory on the 9th. And they did it brilliantly. In the 2nd inning, the Giants wacked 9 hits in a row tying with the Japan's consecutive hit record. The Giants won again the next day in the 2 day series at Sapporo's Maruyama Stadium.

Violent pitches by Bay Stars enraged Giants players on the 13th. Two Bay Star pitchers were actually dismissed from the game for aiming accidently or some say deliberately at Giants players' heads. Catcher Yoshihara actually was knocked out with a pitch that directly hit his head. The Bay Stars did not deserve it, but won this game 5 to 3.

The Giants defeated the Tigers by a margin in the first two games after the All Star break. The teams went into 15 innings on July 28. The Tigers took that game. Meanwhile the Carp has lost all three games to the Bay Stars and another to the Giants.

Here's the C.L. standing as of July 31.

1. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
2. Chunichi Dragons
3. Tokyo Giants
4. Yakult Swallows
5. Yokohama Bay Stars
6. Hanshin Tigers

JUNE

PACIFIC LEAGUE
A new attendance record was set at the Akita city stadium in the game between the Blue Wave and Hawks on June 5. The number reached 21,000 at a park with a seating capacity for just over 19,000.

On June 8, the Nippon Ham Fighters were elated. It's not that they performed well, because they lost to the Orix Blue Wave that day. The fact was, their franchise, the Tokyo Dome was packed with 55,000 people for their game. Although this is nothing new to the Tokyo Dome as the homeground for the Tokyo Giants, it's the first time in 3 years that the Fighters attracted a fully packed crowd there. The reason for this, of course, has a little bit to do with the Fighters leading the league, but there's no question, all the attention has a lot more to do with the popularity of star player Ichiro of the opposing team. However, performancewise, the Fighter lost this and the next game and the Blue Wave caught up with them in the league standing on June 9.

Great pitching by Seibu Lions' ace hurler Hisanobu Watanabe on June 11. He shut out the Blue Wave to a no hit no run making him the 63rd pitcher in Japanese pro baseball to achieve a quasi-perfect pitch. Watanabe almost made it in 1990. The game went into extra innings. Only in the 11th inning was his dream shattered then. So he must have been super happy for making up for that disappointment.

The Hawks were stopped from going beyond 4 winning streaks on June 18. At least, the players have won back their confidence although their league standing has not changed.

Sports papers are reporting that Marines' ace pitcher Hideki Irabu is giving his team executives a headache. This is because, he's pressing them to give him a chance to play in the U.S. Major Leagues. In fact, it is said that the Padres is seriously looking forward to having him. However, Irabu is Marine's star pitcher. Just this month, the Chiba Marine Stadium started a lunch box named after him calling it "Irabu bentoh". The team would not want to let him go unless they can replace him with someone as talented. This issue is to be discussed and considered further in the coming months.

Ichiro of the Blue Wave finished June with the highest batting average in the league at .324. He's also leads in runs batted in and the number of hits. He's naturally getting a tremendous number of votes for the all star games.

As of June 30,

1.Nippon Ham Fighters
2.Orix Blue Wave
3.Kintetsu Buffaloes
4.Chiba Lotte Marines
5.Seibu Lions
6.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks

CENTRAL LEAGUE
The Giants stopped the Carp from further stretching their winning streak at 6 on June 6. The Tigers, surprisingly, also defeated the Carp on June 12 and 13. It's a miracle! In fact, the Tigers team spirit seemed to have returned since they defeated the Dragons by batting in a sayonara hit in the 9th inning on June 6. The Tigers have long been regarded as the second most popular baseball team after the Giants. Finally, they seem to take in criticisms seriously. Fans are not only booing at them at the stadiums. Tigers fans have decided to go up directly to the players and managers to complain and ask for an explanation of their constant loss. The disappointment has been reflected in the attendance which has slumped below 20,000. Even the baseball commissioner directly asked the Tigers players to try harder.

The Tigers officially fired their foreign players Scott Coolbaugh and Glenn Davis on June 10. The reason is because they have not contributed to the team this year. They are blamed for the Tigers' being so weak. Their replacements were confirmed June 17. They are Kevin Maas who played for the Minnesota Twins and Craig Worthington formerly with the New York Yankees. Meanwhile, the Tigers have been winning 5 games in a row which includes 3 consecutive victories over the Giants. The Giants are as unfit as they were in April. The Giants have been defeated 6 games in a row as of June 19.

The Giants had another losing streak of 4 until June 23. Disappointment among the fans is probably reflected in their games' TV ratings. During the past week, their live broadcasts have not surpassed the 20% mark.

The Dragons put on a one-sided game against the Bay Stars on June 29 by winning 10 to 0. Great contribution came from Takeshi Yamazaki. He took the lead over his teammate Yasuaki Taiho in the number of homeruns by smacking his 21st and 22nd this season.

The Tigers' losing streak against the Swallows is going too far. They've lost their 13th game in a row to the Swallows on June 30-- 3 to 5. Besides, the players were so hostile toward eachother that game and the day before that was even worse. On June 29, in the bottom of the 8th inning, Tigers' pitcher Shimada hurled 3 straight pitches near star catcher, Atsuya Furuta's head. Shimada's 4th pitch passed right over Furuta's head again. Furuta was so infuriated he walked toward the mound to confront the pitcher. At the same time, Furuta tossed his bat which hit the Tigers' catcher. Immediately, Tiger's Tom O'Malley crushed the two men, and both team members rushed to the site. It was crazy! Furuta came out of the scene with his eyes all swollen. Both catchers were dismissed from the game.

Here's the league standing as of June 30.

1. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
2. Chunichi Dragons
3. Yakult Swallows
4. Tokyo Giants
5. Yokohama Bay Stars
6. Hanshin Tigers

MAY

PACIFIC LEAGUE
Two teams were able to stop themselves from stretching further their consecutive loss on May 2. The Hawks, stopped their consecutive loss at 6, thanks to their ace pitcher, 33 year old Kudo Kimiyasu. He didn't give up any runs to the top team then, the Blue Wave. However, the Hawks has not taken advantage of that mood to improve its standings.Poor manager Sadaharu Oh. He has to be protected by the police to ward off angry fans.

The Buffaloes have been slipping down from the top post by losing 5 games in a row. On that same day, they halted the depressed mood lingering in the team by taking a whooping 19 runs from the Orions.

On May 16, 39-year old Yoshitaka Katori of the Seibu Lions broke Japan's save point record. Katori relieved 2 and a half innings in the game against the Fighters. His career save points have totalled 211, surpassing those of the great Yutaka Enatsu. Katori has been playing professionally for 18 years.

The game between the Buffaloes and the Blue Wave on the 25th was a historical one. Homers were smacked when bases were loaded three times! The total runs scored on both sides amounted to quite a number. The Buffaloes batted in 13 points while 10 went to the Blue Wave. It included a homerun by Ichiro.

By the way,Ichiro is in great shape. He's ended May leading the league in the batting average. And the Pacific League continues to be very competitive. The standing as of May 31 is as follows.

1. Nippon Ham Fighters
2. Orix Blue Wave
3. Kintetsu Buffaloes
4. Chiba Lotte Marines
5. Seibu Lions
6. Fukuoka Daiei Hawks

CENTRAL LEAGUE
What a day May 1st was for the Giants. Balvino Galvez of the Dominican Republic pitched a ball high over Dragons' batter Takeshi Yamazaki. That angered Yamazaki. He headed furiously toward the pitcher's mound, and Galvez faced him. Then, both team members rushed to the scene. The two players were dismissed from the game. Yamazaki for attacking Galvez, and Galvez for his risky pitching. But Giants manager, Shigeo Nagashima found Galvez not guilty. Rather, he complained to the umpire that Dragons' pitcher should have been dismissed from the game for actually hitting Giants' central player, Hiromitsu Ochiai in the back earlier. Since the umpires would not listen, Nagashima abandoned the game for 32 minutes. A day after, Yamazaki and Galvez were fined 100,000 yen each and Nagashima was warned about his attitude.

Mario Brito pitched officially for the first time on May 7. He took over in the 7th inning in the game against the Carp, and he just gave up one hit. Mario, as he is called here, has marked his first save in Japan.ĦĦMario is now the team's relief ace. He's really helping the Giants to pick up wins. In fact, the Giants are winning more games than any others this month, which includes victories in 3 consecutive games that went into extra innings.

Something strange is happening to the Hanshin Tigers fans. Since the end of May, they're not cheering their team on with their rowdy bands as they always used to. The stands of their franchise, Koshien Stadium is amazingly quiet. I guess the fans are doing this in protest of their teams poor performance.

No wonder, the Dragons is on top this month. Their player Yasuaki Taiho is way ahead in the number of homeruns. He's hit 18 of them. Just for your information, Taiho's batting style is an exact copy of Sadaharu Oh. He is followed by Hideki Matsui of the Giants who's smacked 11 homeruns. Teams have finished the month of May in the following positions.

1. Chunichi Dragons
2. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
3. Tokyo Giants
4. Yakult Swallows
5. Yokohama Bay Stars
6. Hanshin Tigers

Michiyo's Note:I've been fortunate enough to see Galvez pitch well in two games in May at the Tokyo Dome.By the way, the Bay Stars slid down quickly from the number one spot!

APRIL

PACIFIC LEAGUE
The Pacific League opened its season earlier than the Central League--that's on March 30. Initial view of ex-players and fans was that either last year's champion Orix Blue Wave or Seibu Lions, the strongest team during the past decade, will finish first this year. However, the results brought about during the first couple of weeks of the season have been surprising the fans. The Kintetsu Buffaloes, the team that's won the least number of games last year has been leading the league first.

Then, another unexpected team the Nippon Ham Fighters surpassed them. Kintetsu bearly leads again having defeated the Hams 2 to 1 on April 25. But what's wrong with Sadaharu Oh's Daiei Hawks! Here are the standings.

1. Kintetsu Buffaloes
2. Nippon Ham Fighters
3. Orix Blue Wave
4. Chiba Lotte Marines
5. Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
6. Seibu Lions

CENTRAL LEAGUE
The season began on April 5th with no team appearing as a dominant power in this league. However, there was an outstanding performance by a single player to start off. He's Masaki Saito of the Yomiuri Giants. He shut out the Hanshin Tigers 9-0. He has become the only pitcher to successfully blank out openers 3 years in a row. What's wrong with his team though in their 3 game series against the Bay Stars starting April 12! The Bay Stars overwhelmed the Giants in the bottom of the 9th inning in the first two games, and again on the 14th, defeated the Giants after coming from behind. The problem obviously has to do with their unreliable relief pitcher. Thank goodness, Giants manager seem to realize that. He's leaving the entire game up to the starting pitcher that the team has finally started to pick up with their 2 consecutive victories against the Carp on April 24 and 25.

By the way, sad to say that the Giants have fired Jeff Manto, formerly with the Baltimore Orioles. He's been replaced by Mario Brito from the Florida Marlins Triple A team. Brito is expected to take on there role of a "reliable" relief pitcher which the Giants lack. Here's the Central League standing as of April 25.

1. Yokohama Bay Stars
2. Chunichi Dragons
3. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
4. Yakult Swallows
5. Tokyo Giants
6. Hanshin Tigers


BASEBALL ARCHIVE INDEX