Pacific League champion: FUKUOKA DAIEI HAWKS
October
The Hawks 2 players are competing for the RBI title.
Keji Jojima had his 33rd single homer on Oct 3.
But on the same day, Nobuhiko Matsunaka had 2 homers or 5 RBIs to take the lead from Jojima with 121.
The Hawks beat the BlueWave 10 to 4.
The Hawks Kazumi Saito won his 12th game on Oct 7. The Hawks won 4 to 1 against the Marines. The Buffaloes Tuffy Rhodes slammed his 51st home run and also clinched the home run title as Alex Cabrera has finished the season with 50.
On Oct 11, the Fighters played its final game as a Tokyo team. From next season it will be based in Sapporo. The Fighters won the game in the 11th inning 5 to 4 against the Marines.
Final standing of the season
1.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
2.Seibu Lions
3.Kintetsu Buffaloes
4.Chiba Lotte Marines
5.Nippon Ham Fighters
6.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
September
The 2nd and 3rd ranking teams played a see-saw game on Sept 1. The Buffaloes' sluggers, Norihiro Nakamura and
Tuffy Rhodes blasted, but in the 10th inning game, the Lions won 6 to 5.
On Sept 3, the Hawks and the Fighters tied 3 to 3.
The next day, the Hawks caught up in a game they were behind by 6 runs, and in the end won 12 to 9.
On Sept 5, the Buffaloes had a devastating loss against the Blue Wave. It was 0 to 11. It lost again the next day 3 to 5. The Hawks lost too, in a 10th inning game 6 to 7 against the Lions. On Sept 7, the Lions won again 9 to 0 and Daisuke Matsuzaka hurled over the distance,
The Hawks beat number 2 Buffaloes 7 to 1 on Sept 8, to move closer to winning the league pennant. It won again the next day 3 to 2, but lost on Sept 10, 2 to 5. The Lions that day had a dramatic victory in the 9th inning over the Marines to win 7 to 6.
On Sept 12, the Buffaloes beat the Marines on Tuffy Rhodes 46th home run. It's 6 to 2. The Lions' Alex Cabrera avoided being left behind Rhodes by blasting his 44th home run in a 10 to 7 game against the Fighters. On Sept 13, the Hawks faced the BlueWave and in the end won 13 to 7. The Lions managed to beat the Fighters 8 to 6. Alex Cabrera had a 2 run homer this time. The next day, Cabrera homered his Japan career 150th home run the faster than anyone else. But his team lost to the Fighter 9 to 10. The Hawks had 6 homers and beat the BlueWave 20 to 11.
The Buffaloes was not giving up. It beat the Hawks 2 to 6 on Sept 15 with Tuffy Rhodes 2 run home run. It's his 48th to lead the league. The Lion's Alex Cabrera stayed close behind in the home run race with his 47th. And his team beat the BlueWave 8 to 6. The next day, the Buffaloes beat the Hawks again 7 to 6. The Lions won too 6 to 5. On Sept 17, the Hawks' Kazumi Saito clinched his 19th win in a 12 to 4 game. The Lions' Alex Cabrera blasted 2 homers to lead the league.
The Hawks on Sept 20 lost to the Fighters despite Kenji Jojima's 2 run homer. It was 3 to 4. The Lions too lost 2 to 3 against the Buffaloes in a 11th inning game. The next day, the Hawks with homers by Pedro Valdes and Kenji Jojima won 6 to 1. The Lions lost again 3 to 4. The Hawks need to win only 5 more games at this point regardless of the Lions result. On Sept 23, the Hawks had a tough win over the Lions, 2 to 1.
The Hawks is struggling still. It's pitchers on Sept 24 were in a mess. It lost to the Fighters 6 to 12. The next day, however, with 2 homers by Nobuhiko Matsunaka and good pitching by Tsuyoshi Wada,won 5 to 1. On Sept 26, the Hawks in the end lost to the BlueWave 3 to 4. Then the next day, the Hawks caught up with the BlueWave and needed to win this game to clinch the pennant victory on the day since the Lions lost, but it lost in the end again 11 to 12.
The Hawks' starter Hayato Terahara gave up 4 runs. The Hawks lost more thereafter and the game ended 4 to 10 against the Buffaloes. It was the Hawks last game this season at Fukuoka Dome on Sept 28. And if it won, the Hawks would've clinched the league pennant.
On Sept 30, the Lions lost to the BlueWave 3 to 6 despite a homer by Alex Cabrera. When the result was out, the Hawks still played against the Marines, but its pennant victory was confirmed then. The Hawks managed to beat the Marines 13 to 10, to celebrate its league win. Skipper Sadaharu Oh was tossed up by his players 5 times at the Chiba Marine Stadium.
Standing as of September 30
1.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
2.Seibu Lions
3.Kintetsu Buffaloes
4.Chiba Lotte Marines
5.Nippon Ham Fighters
6.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
August
The Hawks on Aug 1 broke the Japan record for a number of runs batted in in one game since pro baseball
divided into 2 leagues. It's 29. The BlueWave on the other hand had only one run.
The BlueWave however turned the game around with Roosevelt Brown's grand slam the next day, to win 10 to 6.
On Aug 3, the Hawks won 10 to 3.
The fans were focused on the rivalry between the Hawks' Hayato Terahara and the Lions' Daisuke Matsuzaka on Aug 5. Matsuzaka won, the game which finished 3 to 1. The next day however, the Hawks beat the Lions 11 to 2.
The home run competition is hot. On Aug 8, Alex Cabrera had his 36th and the Lions beat the Marines 4 to 3. The next day, however, Tuffy Rhodes blasted his 35th and 36th homers, and his team won 7 to 4 over the BlueWave. On Aug 10, the Hawks furthered its lead from the Buffaloes by defeating the Fighters 13 to 4, while the Buffaloes lost 6 to 12 against the BlueWave.
On Aug 11, the Lions beat the Buffaloes 7 to 5, and replaced it for 2nd place. But the Buffaloes reclaimed it the next day winning 8 to 5. The Hawks contined to lead the league. Kenji Jojima homered 2 days in a row and its pitchers doing well. On Aug 11, it won 6 to 2 over the Marines and again 7 to 0 the next day.
Many games have been rained out for days, and finally on Aug 16, all games were held. The top 2 teams faced eachother which the Hawks clinched 7 to 3. The Lions was clearly not giving up in winning the pennant, defeating the BlueWave 17 to 4 and replaced the Buffaloes again for 2nd place. It won again the next day with Kazuhiro Wada's 2 homers won 8 to 2. The Hawks tied with the Buffaloes 4 to 4 in a game which it was actually winning.
On Aug 18, the Hawks slammed the BlueWave with homers by Nobuhiko Matsunaka, Pedro Valdes, Tadahito Iguchi and Kenji Jojima. It's 9 to 4. The Buffaloes blasted too that day beating the Fighters 19 to 6. The Hawks, as its lost 2 to 6, and the Lions won its 5th game in a row the next day, it's "magic" number disappeared giving the Lions a chance to clinch the pennant. The Buffaloes that day secured the game over the Fighters with Tuffy Rhodes 2-run homer. THe Hawks managed to win again on Aug 20, and Kazumi Saito clinched his 17th win in a 4 to 3 game.
The Hawks managed to defeat the Marines 5 to 2 on Aug 22. The Lions stretched its winning streak to 6, with Daisuke Matsuzaka's shut out win over the Fighters. The Lions, however the next day faced defeat in the 9th inning to finish 5 to 6. The Hawks' Akihito Muramatsu broke his shoulder when he tried to catch a ball out in the field. The bad luck was reflected in the team's result, losing 3 to 5 to the Marines. But on Aug 24, it won 4 to 1.
The Lions faced the leader from Aug 25. It managed with Tomoaki Sato's grand slam to defeat the Hawks 10 to 8. The next day, the Hawks won 8 to 3. And again on Aug 26, the Hawks started off with Nobuhiko Matsunaka's 3 run homer and clinched the game 9 to 5.
On Aug 29, the Hawks loss to the Marines 4 to 10. Meanwhile, the Buffaloes won with Norihiro Nakamura's 2 run homer 8 to 3 over the Fighters. The Lions beat the BlueWave 7 to 3. The next day, the Hawks won, the Buffaloes lost, and the Lions won. On Aug 30, the Hawks lost while the Buffaloes, with Tuffy Rhodes 43rd homer confirmed it still had a chance to win the pennant. The Lions won again 4 to 0.
Standing as of August 31
1.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
2.Kintetsu Buffaloes
3.Seibu Lions
4.Nippon Ham Fighters
5.Chiba Lotte Marines
6.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
July
On July 1, the Buffaloes lost 9 to 14 to the Hawks and fell to 2nd place again.
On this day, the Hawks Arito Matsumura marked a cycle hit.
On July 4, the Hawks did not play. The Lions with Alex Cabrera's 2 run homer beat the Buffaloes 5 to 3. Both teams tied for 2nd place. The next day the Lions clinched the game again with Cabrera's home run. It was 2 to 1. The Hawks pitcher Katsumi Saito marked a league leading 11th win in a game his team won 4 to 3 over the Marines. On July 6, the Buffalos beat the Lions on Tuffy Rhodes's 25th home run, 3 to 2 and the 2 teams again tied for 2nd.
Tuffy Rhodes homered again on July 7 to tie with the leader and his team beat the Marines 7 to 5. Meanwhile the Lions lost 1 to 5 to the Fighters, thus the Buffaloes being on its on at 2nd. That day, the Hawks' Nagisa Arakaki won his 5th game in an 8 to 2 victory over the BlueWave. The home run competition is becoming unpredictable. On July 8, for the Buffaloes, Tuffy Rhodes slammed a 3 run. The Buffaloes won 8 to 1. But the Lions Alex Cabrera blasted 2 homers to take the lead once again. His team also won 6 to 5. On July 9, the Hawks could not hit Mac Suzuki and lost 2 to 4 to the BlueWave. The Buffaloes lost too 0 to 5.
The Hawks kept its lead defeating the Lions 3 to 0 on July 11, while the Buffaloes sticked by winning 9 to 5 on Tuffy Rhodes 28th home run. The next day both top teams won again. Tuffy Rhodes went ahead of the Lions Alex Cabrera with 2 homers. On July 12, the Hawks won against the Lions 14 to 3 thanks to Nagisa Arakaki's good performance. But there was bad news for the Lions. Daisuke Matsuzaka lost 7 runs in the 1st inning and got off the mound. It was learned he's complained of a right elbow pain and will not play in the all star games. The Buffaloes lost 5 to 6 to the Fighters despite Norihiro Nakamura's 16th home run.
The first set of games were played after the all star break on July 18. All of the top 3 teams lost. The next day the Hawks managed to clinch the game in the 10th inning over the Marines 4 to 2. The Buffaloes lost again, this time 3 to 4 to the BlueWave and the Lions lost too 2 to 4 to the Fighters. On July 20, the Marines' with Jose Fernandez's 3 run homer defeated the Hawks 7 to 4. The Buffaloes this time won 2 to 1. The Lions lost 1 to 3 to the Fighters.
The Hawks on July 21 exploded with Tadahito Iguchi's grand slam, and Kenji Jojima's 2 run homer. Rookie Tsuyoshi Wada hurled over the distance, striking out 14 in a 9 to 1 win over the Fighters. The Buffaloes lost to the Marines in the end 2 to 3 against the Marines. It marked its 3rd loss in a row on July 22 despite Tuffy Rhodes 31st home run to lead the league. The Hawks meanwhile beat the Fighters 6 to 0. Katsumi Saito earned his 13th win. But on July 23, the Fighters, with Michihiro Ogasawara's grand slam beat the Hawks 11 to 3.
The Hawks was back on track on July 25, beating the BlueWave 7 to 4. The Buffaloes lost to the Lions 6 to 12. On July 26, the Hawks Nobuhiko Matsunaka grand slammed. Nagisa Arakaki struck out 10 and hurled over the distance. The Hawks won 15 to 1. The Buffaloes this time beat the Lions 8 to 3. The Hawks performed wonders the next day. In just the first inning, it hit in 11 runs. In the end, the team recorded 32 hits--a Japan record, and scored 26 RBIs--a league record. Kenji Jojima alone achieved a tie record with the most number of hits per game or 6.h
The top 2 teams faced eachother on July 28. It was a see-saw game. In the end, the Buffaloes clinched the game 9 to 8 from the Hawks. The Lions meanwhile won that day on Alex Cabrera's 3 run home run and the next day while the top two teams did not play. On July 30, the Hawks won this time 4 to 3 over the Buffaloes. The Lions Daisuke Matsuzaka earned his 11th win in a 8 to 3 game over the Marines.
Standing as of July 31
1.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
1.Kintetsu Buffaloes
3.Seibu Lions
4.Nippon Ham Fighters
5.Chiba Lotte Marines
6.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
June
On June 2, the Hawks lost in a 12 inning game to the BlueWave 2 to 3. But the Buffaloes lost too, 1 to 5 to the Fighters,
unable to narrow the gap with the top team.
On June 3, the Buffaloes Tuffy Rhodes blasted 2 home runs to take his team to a 6 to 2 win.
The Hawks lost again 5 to 7. on Yoshitomo Tani's home run.
Finally on June 4, the Hawks won 5 to 4. The Buffaloes won too 3 to 1.
The Buffaloes managed to win the game on June 7 on Koichi Isobe's home run over the Lions 7 to 6. The Hawks meanwhile lost in the 11th inning to the Fighters 10 to 11. The Buffaloes took over first place. The next day, the Hawks won on Nagisa Arakaki's shut out victory of 3 to 0, but the Buffaloes won again. Thus their standing didn't change.
On June 9, the Lions managed to win with the help of Alex Cabrera's home run 7 to 3 over the Hawks. The Buffaloes lost 1 to 2 over the Marines. But on June 10 the Hawks won on good pitching by rookie Tsuyoshi Wada, 8 to 2, while the Buffaloes lost again, this time to Mac Suzuki's pitch 0 to 4, thus the Hawks returned to first place.
On June 14, the Hawks beat the Buffaloes 3 to 2. Kazumi Saito clinched his 8th win to tie with the top pitchers. The Hawks won again the next day 9 to 2, and Hayato Terahara clinched his 6th win.
On June 16, the Lions' beat the Fighter 5 to 1, and Daisuke Matsuzaka led the league earning his 9th win. It won again the next day. But the top 2 contenders for the pennant won that day too. The Hawks Kenji Jojima, Noriyoshi Omichi, Pedro Valdes homered one after another, and more hits gave the team a 21 to 11 win over the BlueWave. The Buffaloes beat the Marines 7 to 3. On June 18, the Hawks faced defeat in the 9th inning walking the BlueWave with bases loaded. It's 4 to 5.
On June 20, Norihiro Nakamura was back and he homered a double. The Buffaloes won 9 to 3 over the Fighters. THe next day, the Buffaloes lost and it lost again the following day 0 to 1, and the Lions replaced the team for 2nd place winning 2 to 0 against the BlueWave. In this game Daisuke Matsuzaka earned his 10th win while Alex Cabrera blasted his 19th home run of the season.
The Hawks had lots of careless plays and lost to the Fighters on June 23, 1 to 6. The Lions lost despite Alex Cabrera's gigantic home run, 2 to 9 to the Marines. This loss placed Lions 3rd while the Buffaloes which won 17 to 2 to the BlueWave on Tuffy Rhodes 23rd homer, a grand slam, returned to 2nd. On June 24, the Hawks beat the Fighters 4 to 0. The Lions Alex Cabrera had 2 homers, helping his team win 6 to 5 over the Marines. The Lions tie for 2nd place with the Buffaloes. On June 25, the Hawks lost 3 to 5. The Buffaloes had an extraordinary game with 2 homers by Norihiro Nakamura and one by Tuffy Rhodes. It defeated the BlueWave 18 to 6. The Lions won too, 9 to 1. Alex Cabrera homered again.
The Hawks blasted on June 27. Tadahito Iguchi grand slammed. And Rookie Tsuyoshi Wada earned his 8th win in a 13 to 3 game over the Lions. The Hawks won again the next day 13 to 1 but lost on June 29 in a 11th inning game to Alex Cabrera's 24th home run. It was 10 to 11.
The Hawks' catcher Kenji Jojima slammed his 17th home run on June 30, but in the end his team lost to the Buffaloes 2 to 5. The Buffaloes with his win tied for first with the Buffaloes.
Standing as of June 30
1.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
1.Kintetsu Buffaloes
3.Seibu Lions
4.Nippon Ham Fighters
5.Chiba Lotte Marines
6.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
May
The Hawks for 2 days in a row from May 2 beat the Marines in the final inning.
The Lions' picking up pace. On May 5, with Daisuke Matsuzaka's 13 strike out pitch won its 5th game in a row, in a game its clinched from the Fighters 7 to 2. The frontrunner the Hawks lost 1 to 3 to the BlueWave that day. The Lions won again on May 6, 7 to 2 over the Fighters. The Hawks won too, with 2 home runs by Tadahito Iguchi to keep the top place.
The Hawks played a tough game against the Fighters on May 9 which ended in the 12th inning a tie. It won again the next day 4 to 1, but lost on May 11, 1 to 5. That day, the Lions' Daisuke Matsuzaka shut out over the distance, the Marines in a 4 to 0 game. The Buffaloes Tuffy Rhode slammed his 12th homer, and his team beat the BlueWave 7 to 2.
The top 2 team faced eachother from May 12. The Buffaloes won 7 to 3 with Tuffy Rhodes's 13th home run and 2 homers by Norihiro Nakamura. It replaced the Hawks for first place. Then the next day, Norihiro Nakamura homered again and helped his team win 3 to 0. The Hawks on Mar 14 was awesome. It was losing, but in the 9th inning hit in 5 runs to clinch the game 9 to 8. Catched and new clean up, Kenji Jojima alone hit in 5 runs.
The Hawks' Hayato Terahara clinched his 4th win in a game his team beat the Lions 6 to 1. The Buffaloes meanwhile lost to the Marines 0 to 4 and the 3 teams,the Lions, Hawks and Buffaloes tied for first place on May 16. The next day, the Hawks clinched the game from the Lions' in the 10th inning with Kenji Jojima's RBI and became the sole leader. The Buffaloes Tuffy Rhodes blasted his 14th homer to lead the league, but his team lost to the Marines 4 to 7. But on May 18, Rhodes' 15th homer contributed to his team's 8 to 1 win. The Hawks on the day beat the Lions 2 to 1. On May 19, Nagisa Arakaki earned his 4th win in a game the Hawks clinched 9 to 4 from the Fighters to keep first place. By the way, the BlueWave's former US Major league player Mac Suzuki played relief pitcher for the first time and won his first save in a 8 to 7 game against the Marines.
Tuffy Rhodes was awesome on May 20. He blasted 2 homers and his team beat the Lions 14 to 3. The Hawks on the day won 12 to 4 over the Fighters to celebrate skipper Sadaharu Oh's birthday. The top 2 teams extended their winning streaks the next day. The Hawks winning 6 to 4, and the Bufflaoes winning 11 to 3.
The Lions Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up 7 runs, but still clinched his 6th win in a 7 to 8 game defeating the top team, the Hawks on May 23. The Buffaloes' Hisashi Iwakuma meanwhile won his 7th game without the presence of Tuffy Rhodes, 7 to 1 against the BlueWave. And it won again on May 24 without Norihiro Nakamura either. The Hawks managed to win that day on Nobuhiko Matsunaka's 5 RBIs. It was in a 9 to 4 game. On May 25, the Buffaloes won 10 to 6 over the BlueWave, while the Hawks lost to the Lions 1 to 7. As a result, the top 2 teams shared first place.
The top two team faced eachother from May 26. In the first game, the Hawks in the 9th inning clinched the game with Arihito Muramatsu's 3 run homer 7 to 5. The Fighters scored 2 digit RBIs in 4 straight games. In this game it beat the Lions 10 to 1. The Fighter continued to be in good shape the next day winning 3 to 2. And the Hawks beat the Buffaloes 6 to 2. On May 28 the Buffaloes clinched the game it was losing 6 to 4. Mac Suzuki who started for the first time with a Japanese pro baseball team lost the game 5 to 2 to the Marines. He was reported in tears after the game.
The Hawks Hayato Terahara earned his 5th win in a 3 to 1 game over the Marines on May 31. The Buffaloes Hisashi Iwakuma exceeded him clinching his 8th win in a 6 to 3 game of the Lions.
Standing as of May 31
1.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
2.Kintetsu Buffaloes
3.Seibu Lions
4.Nippon Ham Fighters
5.Chiba Lotte Marines
6.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
April
The BlueWave won its first game of the season on Apr 1. Yoshitomo Tani homered and defeated the Lions 3 to 2.
Another Hawks'rookie Tsuyoshi Wada started. But he took the loss for the 3 to 5 game against the Buffaloes.
The Buffaloes 5 game winning streak ended the next day. It lost 2 to 4 to the Hawks.
Tadahito Iguchi slammed a 2 run homer.
Masato Yoshii started for the BlueWave for the 2nd time already this season. He pitched longer this time. It's
7 innings. But he lost the game to the Lions 4 to 6.
The Lions' Daisuke Matsuzaka was out of the game in the 3rd inning after he felt pain behind his knee. In the 7th inning, Norihiro Nakamura blasted a 2 run homer. The Buffaloes defeated the Lions 5 to 1. The Hawks' Kenji Jojima homers and more runs followed to give the Hawks a 5 to 1 win over the Fighters. The Buffaloes won again on Apr 5, 10 to 2. On that day, the Hawks' Kenji Jojima was terrific at bat, including a huge home run, which helped his team win 6 to 4. On Apr 6, however, the Hawks. For the Fighters, its the team's first win at their franchise, Tokyo Dome 7 to 5. Both Tuffy Rhodes, and Norihiro Nakamura homered for the Buffaloes, appearing from past data to assure fans of a win. But the Buffaloes lost to the Lions' 6 to 10,
The Marines won its 3rd game in a row beating the Buffaloes 11 to 3 on Apr 7. The Hawks rookie Nagisa Arakaki started for the 2nd time on Apr 8. He managed to hurl over the distance, but lost the game 4 to 6 against the Lions. The Fighters and the Blue Wave played until the 12th inning but as a rule had to end the game there at 4 to 4. The Fighters failed to win at the Sapporo Dome again the next day in a 3 to 5 game. The Hawks other star rookie, Tsuyoshi Wada clinched his first win and catcher Kenji Jojima gave great support with 2 home runs. It was a 8 to 0 over the Lions. The Marines winning streak ended losing to the Buffaloes 3 to 7.
The Buffaloes lost the Fighters 2 to 6 on Apr 12, but kept the top position. Other 4 teams tie for 2nd. The next day, the Marines won, perhaps, stimulated by a price tagged onto a win. With Derrick May's 3 run homer, it beat the Lions 4 to 3.
Alex Cabrera was back, and homered. Catcher Tsutomu Ito grand slammed on Apr 14. The Lions beat the Buffaloes 13 to 1. The BlueWave finished with Yoshitomo Tani's game winning run 4 to 3 over the Fighters. The Hawks shut out the Marines 6 to 0. An even better news for the Hawks was on Apr 15. Super rookie Nagisa Arakaki hurled over the distance, giving up only one run, and won. The Buffaloes Norihiro Nakamura slammed his 4th homerun to defeat the Lions 2 to 0. The next day Alex Cabrera homered his second, and Tuffy Rhodes his 5th. The game, however, was won again by the Buffaloes 12 to 6. Another super rookie Tsuyoshi Wada of the Hawks struck out 11 and had a shut out win in a 2 to 0 game.
The top 2 teams faced eachother from Apr 18. The Hawks Kenji Jojima blasted 2 homers. Last year's rookie Hayato Terahara hurled over the distance for a 4 to 2 win over the Buffaloes. Jojima homered again the next day, but his team lost 1 to 6. The Hawks in a dramatic 9th inning win clinched the game on Apr 20, 3 to 2 and tied for first place with the Buffaloes.
The Hawks'Toshiya Sugiuchi was just about to win a shut out game. But he gave up a 3 run homer to the Fighter's pinch hitter losing 2 to 3 on Apr 21. The Lions' Daisuke Matsuzaka hurled over the distance and won his 2nd game in a 6 to 1 game over the BlueWave.
On Apr 22, the Marines slammed the Buffaloes 10 to 0. The Hawks' Nagisa Arakaki won his 2nd game in a 12 to 2 game against the Fighters. Another rookie Tsuyoshi Wada collected his 3rd win in a 4 to 3 game the next day. The shock was, the BlueWave fired skipper Hiromichi Ishige. His team finished last in 2002, and is currently at the bottom. His replacement is Leon Lee.
The Buffaloes faced its 4th loss in a row on Apr 25, 1 to 4 against the Fighters, despite Norihiro Nakamura's home run. Alex Cabrera blasted enormous home runs, in fact, two. The Lions beat the Marines 3 to 2. The Buffaloes rising star Hitoshi Iwakuma already earned his 5th win in a 7 to 1 game over the Fighters on Apr 26. The Hawks, however, remain on top beating the Blue Wave 7 to 3. It won its 4th game in a row the next day in a 7 to 5 game, and Hayato Terahara clinched his 3rd win.
On Apr 28, the BlueWave won for the first time under its new skipper Leon Lee. And the next day, it won again 13 to 6 over the Buffaloes. The Lions and the Hawks that day had its star pitchers face eachother. Its Daisuke Matsuzaka vs Nagisa Arakaki who were high school rivals. Matsuzaka proved luckier with his team winning 2 to 1. The Lions defeated the Hawks again on Apr 30, 8 to 4 with a home run contribution from Alex Cabrera.
Standing as of April 30
1.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
2.Kintetsu Buffaloes
3.Seibu Lions
4.Nippon Ham Fighters
5.Chiba Lotte Marines
6.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
March
The Lions'pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka on Mar 28 did not hurl so bad, but his team lost 1 to 4 to the Fighters.
Former MLB player Masato Yoshii started for the BlueWave.
He gave up 5 runs in 4 innings, and the Buffaloes clinched the game 7 to 3.
The Hawks' Pedro Valdes slammed a 2 run homer, and Bryant Nelson batted in another 2 runs.
The team won 7 to 3 over the Marines. The next day, however, the Marines won 2 to 0.
The Lions won that day too 2 to 0 over the Hawks.
The Buffaloes' slugger Norihiro Nakamura had 3 hits including a home run, helping his team win
another game 8 to 3.
The Buffaloes won 2 more straight games. On Mar 31, it battered the Hawks'star rookie Nagisa Arakaki to win 5 to 2.
The BlueWave on the other hand as of the day remains winless.
LAST SEASON CHAMPION: SEIBU LIONS
Final league standing
1.Seibu Lions
2.Kintetsu Buffaloes
3.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
4.Chiba Lotte Marines
5.Nippon Ham Fighters
6.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
| 2002 PACIFIC LEAGUE TITLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| ERA | Masahiko Kaneda (BlueWave) | 2.495 |
| Most games won | Jeremy Powell (Buffaloes) | 17 |
| Most saves | Kiyoshi Toyoda (Lions) | 38 SP |
| Most strike outs | Jeremy Powell (Buffaloes) | 182 |
| Highest batting average | Michihiro Ogasawara (Fighters) | .340 |
| Most base hits | Kazuo Matsui (Lions) | 193 |
| Homerun | Alex Cabrera (Lions) | 55 |
| RBI | Tuffy Rhodes (Buffaloes) | 117 |
| Most on base | Alex Cabrera (Lions) | .467 |
| Stolen base | Yoshitomo Tani (BlueWave) | 41 |
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