2008 SEASON IN THE PACIFIC LEAGUE

Climax Series
2nd stage: Lions vs Fighters
Ryan Glynn started for the Fighters in the first game against the Lions at the Seibu Dome on Oct 17. He was clobbered by the Lions especially Hiroyuki Nakajima who homered twice. Hideaki Wakui who started for the Lions gave up only a run in 6 innings. In the end the Lions won 10 to 3. With this win the Lions automatically has 2 wins. On Oct 18, Yu Darvish started for the Fighters. He shut out the Lions. And with the support of an RBI by Hichori Morimoto and a 2 run homer by Makoto Kaneko, the Fighters won 2 to 0. On Oct 19, the Fighters Terrmel Sledge slammed a 3 run home run. The Fighters beat the Lions 7 to 4. After a break the next day, the series continues at the Sapporo Dome. On Oct 21, The Lions Hiroyuki Nakajima hit in a run. Toru Hosokawa homered. Kazuhisa Ishii who started improved by the inning. The Lions beat the Fighters 9 to 4. On Oct 22, the Lions Hideaki Wakui shut out the Fighters hurling over the distance. The Lions clinched the 2nd stage to advance to the Japan Series.

1st stage: Buffaloes vs Fighters
The series kicked off on Oct 11 at the Kyocera Dome. The Fighters starter, Yu Darvish pitched well. He struck out 14. The Fighers won 4 to 1. Then on Oct 12, the Fighters won again. It's 7 to 2 and with the win advanced to the 2nd stage of the series.

October
The Golden Eagles Hisashi Iwakuma achieved a feat on Oct 5 winning his 21st game this season. It's the first time since 1985 that a pitcher won so many games. On Oct 7, Sadaharu Oh coached his final game with the Hawks. The Hawks however lost 0 to 1 to the Golden Eagles in the 12th inning. The Hawks finished the league last.

The Buffaloes played is last game of the season at the Osaka Dome on Oct 1. That game was turned into superstar Kazuhiro Kiyohara's retirement ceremony. He was presented flowers by the Hawks Sadaharu Oh. Attending the game were his friends, Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners and Masumi Kuwata who retired earlier this year. On Oct 2, the Golden Eagles lost to the Marines and was down to 6th place in the league.

League standing at the end of the season.
1.Seibu Lions
2.Orix Buffaloes
3.Nippon Ham Fighters
4.Chiba Lotte Marines
5.Rakuten Golden Eagles
6.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks

September
On Sept 26, the Lions lost to the Fighters, but as the league's runner up, the Buffaloes lost, the Lions clinched the league pennant.It's at the Sapporo Dome. This is the Lions 21st pennant victory and the first in 4 years. At this point, other 2 teams that will advance to the Climax Series have not been determined. On Sept 28, the Marines rose to 3rd place to replace the Fighters clinching its 4th win in a row. But on Sept 29, the Fighters beat the Marines to gain 3rd place. In that game Yu Darvish hurled over the distance and earned his 16th win. And the Buffaloes secured 2nd place.

On Sept 22, the Golden Eagles Hisashi Iwakuma clinched his 20th win. His team beat the Lions which only needs another win to become this season's league champion. The next day the Golden Eagles won again on Jose Fernandez's grand slam. That day a shocking news to the baseball world. Sadaharu Oh announced he was leaving his post with the Hawks at the end of the season. He called a news conference just a day before the team's last home game.

The typhoon and storms have called off or shorten games. The Marines won 1 of 2 games from Sept 19. The Lions clinced 2 games from the Hawks from Sept 20.The Buffaloes and the Fighters won a game each.

On Sept 16, the Golden Eagles Hisashi Iwakuma hurled over the distance and earned a league leading 19th win, defeating the Fighters.The Goldens Eagles won the next 2 games too. The Lions won the first 2 games over the Marines, but lost on Sept 18 even though Takuya Nakamura blasted a 3 run homer. The Hawks was only able to win on Sept 17 against the Buffaloes.

From Sept 13, the Lions played 3 games against the Golden Eagles of which the Lions won 2 with Takuya Nakamura continuing to slam home runs. The Fighters won all 3 games against the Buffaloes. The Marines beat the Hawks in all 3 games.

From Sept 9 the Lions lost 2 games against the Fighters. On Sept 11, Akira Eto's home run helped the Lions win. The Buffaloes continue to do will. On Sept 11, Tuffy Rhodes had 2 homers and Alex Cabrera one. It won all 3 games over the Marines. On Sept 9 the Golden Eagles Hisashi Iwakuma won his 18th game by defeating the Hawks. The Hawks won the next day but lost on Sept 11, in which Masahiro Tanaka won his 7th game.

Although the Buffaloes winning streak ended at 7 against the Lions on Sept 6, it won on the next day to keep 2nd place. The Hawks are not doing well, losing on Sept 6 and 7 to the Marines. The Golden Eagles won 2 games against the Fighters from Sept 5.

The Lions from Sept 2 lost 2 games to the Marines. The Buffaloes beat the Golden Eagles in all 3 games and improved its standing to 2nd place. On Sept 2, the Fighters Yu Darvish who did not pitch well in the Beijing Olympic Games was back in shape and his team beat the Hawks. The next day the Hawks won, but on Sept 4, the Fighters clinched the game.

League standing as of September 30.
1.Seibu Lions
2.Orix Buffaloes
3.Nippon Ham Fighters
4.Chiba Lotte Marines
5.Rakuten Golden Eagles
6.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks

August
The Lions and the Hawks tied in all 3 games from Aug 29. The Buffaloes Alex Cabrera's hit well in all 3 games against the Fighters that his team won all 3. A shocking game for the Golden Eagles on Aug 30. The popular Masahiro Tanaka started but he gave up a grandslam to Saburo and his team lost to the Marines. It lost again the next day to 2 homers by Jose Ortiz.

The Olympians were back with their teams on Aug 26. The Lions Hiroyuki Nakajima was back a hit in a run. Still the Golden Eagles won and Hisashi Iwakuma secured his 17th win. The next day the Lions Takuya Nakamura blasted 2 homers to beat the Golden Eagles. The Lions won again the next day. On Aug 28, the Marines Naoyuki Shimizu shut out the Fighters. National team catcher Tomoya Satozaki homered in that game.

On Aug 25,the Buffaloes Alex Cabrera blasted a 2 run homer. He was followed by Tuffy Rhodes who homered. The team beat the Fighters. That day, the Lions beat the Fighters.

On Aug 19, the Lions exploded with homers by Craig Brazell and Taketoshi Goto to defeat the Hawks. The Lions lost the next but won on Aug 21. The Golden Eagles Jose Fernandez had a 3 run homer on Aug 19 and beat the Buffaloes. The next day the Buffaloes Alex Cabrera homered a 3 run to beat the Golden Eagles.

On Aug 16, the Lions Hiram Bocachica slammed a 3 run home run and his team won this game and the next game against the Buffaloes. But lost on Aug 18. The Fighters won against the Hawks on Aug 16 and lost the next day. On Aug 18 the Fighters won on Brian Sweeney's shut out win. On Aug 16, Hisashi Iwakuma won his 16th game in the Golden Eagles 2 to 0 win against the Marines. His team lost on Aug 18.

On Aug 13, with Rick Short's homer the Golden Eagles defeated the Lions. The Lions won the next game, while the Golden Eagles won on Aug 15 with Fernando Seguignol's 3 run home run. Seguignol just joing the Golden Eagles. On Aug 13 the Buffaloes Tuffy Rhodes contributed with a 2 run homer to beat the Fighters. The team won on Aug 15 too on Alex Cabrera's RBI double. Sadaharu Oh could not lead the Hawks on Aug 14 as he was unwell. It's the first time he was absent since he had a stomach cancer surgery. His team lost to the Marines during his absense. But the next day he was already back and his team won.

On Aug 10, the Lions Takeya Nakamura grandslammed and his team beat the Fighters. So did he homer the next day for his team's win. The Lions also won on Aug 12. The Golden Eagles Takeshi Yamasaki blasted a 3 run home run and his teammate starter Hisashi Iwakuma earned his 15th win on Aug 10 to defeat the Hawks. But the Hawks won the next game. The Buffaloes Shogo Yamamoto shut out the Marines on Aug 10. The Buffaloes lost the next 2 games.

On Aug 3, Kazuhiro Kiyohara was back after 2 years recovering from an injury. He was received by Buffaloes fans with a big applause, but failed to contribute in the game against the Hawks. The next day, Kiyohara had a base hit, but his team lost again. His team won on Aug 5. On Aug 3 the Golden Eagles blasted with homers by Teppei and Takeshi Yamasaki to beat the Fighters, but lost the next 2 games. On Aug 4, the Lions Boca Chica blasted with a 3 run then a grand slam, to help his team win 16 to 2 over the Marines.

League standing as of August 31.
1.Seibu Lions
2.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
3.Orix Buffaloes
4.Nippon Ham Fighters
5.Chiba Lotte Marines
6.Rakuten Golden Eagles

July
From Jul 28, the Lions won 1 game and lost 1 against the Buffaloes. The Hawks lost 2 games to the Fighters. The Marines on Jul 28 Shoitsu Omatsu blasted with a 3 run home run, and beat the Golden Eagles in this and also the game the next day.

The Lions lost to the Fighters on Jul 25, but won the next 2 games. The Hawks clinched all 3 games against the Marines, rising to 2nd place. It was the 5th loss in a row for the Golden Eagles on Jul 26, but the next day Hisashi Iwakuma started and won the game against the Buffaloes.

The Lions beat the Golden Eagles in all 3 games from Jul 21. The Hawks with a homer by Nobuhiko Matsunaka won on Jul 21, but lost the next 2 games to the Buffaloes. The Fighters Hichori Morimoto's look -a-like dolls entertained the fans before the game on Jul 22. His team also beat the Marines that day. But the next day and the day after the Fighters lost.

From Jul 18, the Lions beat the Marines in 2 straight games, but lost on Jul 20. That day, the Golden Eagles Hisashi Iwakuma clinched his 13th win defeating the Hawks. The Buffaloes tied with a league record of 4 2-base hits in a row and beat the Fighters 4 to 1.

On Jul 15, the Fighters and the Golden Eagles tied. The next day the Golden Eagles managed to win at last but lost on Jul 17 to Yu Darvish's great pitch. On Jul 16, the Hawks clinched its 3rd win in a row by defeating the Lions. The Marines recorded its 7th win in a row on Jul 16, but that winning streak was halted the next day against the Buffaloes.

The Fighters Yu Darvish hurled over the distance for his 10th win on Jul 11 by beating the Hawks. The next day the Fighter won on Terrmel Sledge's grand slam, but lost on Jul 13 to the Hawks Tsuyoshi Wada's good pitch. The Lions blasted with homers to bet the Buffaloes on Jul 11. It won also the next day but lost on Jul 13. The Golden Eagles lost all 3 games to the Marines.

From Jul 8, the Marines beat the Fighters in 2 straight games. The Buffaloes beat the Golden Eagles on Jul 8, tied the next day, and won again on Jul 10 with great contribution by Alex Cabrera. The Hawks beat the Lions on Jul 8.

The Hawk recorded its 7th loss in a row on July 5, but stopped the losing streak the next day by barely defeating the Marines. The Lions beat the Golden Eagles on July 5, but lost the day after. The Fighters and the Buffaloes won a game each from Jul 5.

The Lions Craig Brazell had a 2 run homer, GG Sato a 3 run on July 1 to defeat the Fighters. The Lions won again the next day, but lost to Yu Darvish on July 3. The Hawks lost all 3 games to the Buffaloes from July 3. The Golden Eagles starter Hiroshi Katayama for the first time hurled a shut out game on July 2. It's against the Marines. The next day though the Marines won.

June
On June 27, the teams were back playing for their respective leagues. The Fighter Yu Darvish did not show great pitching, but he earned his 8th win in a 4 to 3 game against the Buffaloes.On June 29, the Fighters Masaru Takeda was back after 2 months absence and won his 2nd game. On June 27, the Lions Craig Brazell slammed a 2 run homer to help his team beat the Marines. The next day Brazell homered again, but the Marines won instead. Then the day after Taketoshi Goto homered twice for the Lions, and his team won 9 to 5. On June 27, the Hawks Yuichi Honda gave his team a win over the Golden Eagles with a game winning hit. The next day, the Golden Eagles won the next 2 games and celebrated Katsuya Nomura's 73rd birthday.

League standing as of June 30.
1.Seibu Lions
2.Nippon Ham Fighters
3.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
4.Rakuten Golden Eagles
5.Orix Buffaloes
6.Chiba Lotte Marines

May
On May 16, the Golden Eagles Hisashi Iwakuma clinched his 6th win, by defeating the Lions. But the Lions won the next 2 games. The Fighters extended its winning streak to 3 on May 16, it was halted the next day by the Hawks, then won in the 3rd game. By the way, former Fighters, ex-Mets Tsuyoshi Shinjo performed a ceremonious pitch, facing Hichori Morimoto. The Buffaloes defeated the Marines in the first and last games.

The Lions on May 13 lost to the Hawks, but won the next 2 games. The Fighters lost to rising star the Marines Yuki Karakawa on May 13. But the next 2 games, the Fighters clinched in the final inning. From May 13, the Golden Eagles lost 2 games against the Buffaloes with one game called a no-game due to the rain.

The Marines on May 9 took his 5th loss in a row as Hisashi Iwakuma of the Golden Eagles pitched well. The Lions won again, defeating the Buffaloes. On May 10, in the only game played in the league, the Hawks Toshiya Sugiuchi shut out the Fighters. The next day the Fighters stopped is consecutive game defeat at 5 beating the Hakws 4 to 3.

The Lions on May 5 won on Toru Hosokawa's grand slam against the Fighters. The Lions won again the next day and the day after beating Yu Darvish. On May 6 the Hawks clinched its 5th win in a row in a game against the Golden Eagles with a 3 run home run by Nobuhiko Matsunaka. But it lost as the Golden Eagles Jose Fernandez hit a game winning RBI.

The Hawks Toshiya Sugiuchi earned his 2nd win on May 2 in the game against the Buffaloes. The Marines Julio Zuleta blasted a 3 run homer on May 3 and helped rookie Yuki Karakawa earn his 2nd win. It's in the game against the Lions The Golden Eagles on May 3 took its 3rd loss in a row. But the next day it won on Masahiro Tanaka's good pitching.

The Lions, on May 1 defeated the Hawks on Yoshihito Ishii's game winning RBI. The Fighters Atsunori Inaba slammed a 3 run home run to give his team it's 3rd win in a row in the game against the Marines.

League standing as of May 31.
1.Seibu Lions
2.Nippon Ham Fighters
3.Rakuten Golden Eagles
4.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
5.Orix Buffaloes
6.Chiba Lotte Marines

April
The Fighters won on Apr 29 and the next game too against the Marines, which includes Yu Darvish's 5th win of the season. The Buffaloes losing streak stopped at 4 games on Apr 29. But lost again the next day as the Golden Eagles continue to be in good shape.

From Apr 25 the Lions won all 3 games against the Buffaloes. The Golden Eagles did the same against the Fighters, surging to 2nd place on Apr 27. The Hawks stopped its consecutive game loss at 4 on Apr 27, defeating the Marines with Nobuhiko Matsunaka's 2 run homer.

On Apr 22, the Hawks Jeremy Powell's pitch which brushed against the Golden Eagles Takeshi Yamasaki put fire on the Golden Eagles. The team won 4 to 3. The next day, Yamasaki slammed his 7th homer and Satoshi Nagai shut out the Fighters. That day, the Buffaloes Shogo Yamamoto shut out the Fighters.On Apr 24, the Fighters won in the 10th inning on Tomoyuki Oda's game winning home run.

On Apr 17,the Golden Eagles Hisashi Iwakuma struck out 10 and that ended his team's losing streak of 8 for games played away from home ground. It beat the Marines 11 to 2. On Apr 18, the Fighters Yu Darvish hurled over a distance to help his team defeat the Hawks 3 to 1 and also halt his team's losing streak at 3. On Apr 19, the Buffaloes's Tuffy Rhodes blasted with 2 homers, helping his team win 9 to 3 over the Marines. The next day, the Hawks Tsuyoshi Wada won his first game of the season in a 4 to 2 game over the Fighters.

The Golden Eagles won on Apr 11 and the next day on Masahiro Tanaka's shut out victory over the Buffaloes. The Fighters clinched its 6th straight win on Apr 11 but the streak ended the next day. The Hawks, with Hiroki Kokubo's 3 run home run defeated the Lions.

The Lions winning streak of 6 stopped on Apr 9 when it lost to the Marines. But on Apr 10 it clobbered the Marines 15 to 5. The Hawks losing streak was halted at 3 with its win on Apr 10 with Nobuhiko Matsunaka's first home run. The Golden Eagles lost all 3 games to the Fighters after Apr 8.

From Apr 4, the Golden Eagles began a losing streak giving up all 3 games to the Lions. Alex Cabrera, a newcomer to the Buffaloes at last homered on Apr 5, and so did Tuffy Rhodes to beat the Fighters. That day, the Hawks rookie Shota Ohba struck out 16 against the Marines and with this win returned to first place. But the Hawks lost the next day.

On Apr 1 with Jose Fernandez's 3 run homer the Golden Eagles beat the Marines 7 to 4. The next day, the Golden Eagles broke its consecutive win record with it's 6th victory, and extended it on Apr 3. It's with 39-year old Takeshi Yamasaki's 2 homers. On Apr 1, Osamu Hamanaka who came from the Tigers slammed a grand slam to help the Buffaloes win 10 to 6 over the Lions. But the Buffaloes lost the next 2 games. On Apr 1 the Fighters defeated the Hawks 6 to 0. It lost the next day, and on Apr 3, with Yu Darvish starting won.

League standing as of April 30
1.Seibu Lions
2.Rakuten Golden Eagles
3.Nippon Ham Fighters
4.Chiba Lotte Marines
5.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
6.Orix Buffaloes

March
On Mar 29 the Golden Eagles Masahiro Tanaka hurled over the distance and won his first game, 7 to 2 against the Fighters. The next day his team won again. On Mar 29. Kazuhisa Ishii won his 2nd game already with the Lions 10 to 4 win over the Hawks. The Lions also won again the next day.

In the only game on Mar 24, the Hawks clinched the game from the Marines in the 12th inning. The Hawks winning streak from the opener ended on Mar 26 at 5, as the Marines Tsuyoshi Nishioka slammed a 2 run home run for his team's 5 to 4 win. The Golden Eagles won it's first gae of the season that day with homers by Jose Fernandez, Takeshi Yamasaki, and Satoshi Nagai shutting out the Buffaloes in a 11 to 0 game. The next day Hisashi Iwakuma won a shut out game for the first time in 5 years.

On Mar 22, the teams played their 2nd game of the season. Kazuhisa Ishii started as a member of the Lions. He shut out the Buffales in 7 innings and his team won 6 to 0. The Marines Yoshihisa Naruse hurled over the distance for his team's 3 to 2 win over the Fighters. The Golden Eagles Masahiro Tanaka struck out 10. But his team lost in the end 4 to 5 to the Hawks. The next day, the Hawks super rookie Shota Ohba won a shut out game. The Buffaloes won this time. The Marines submarine Shunsuke Watanabe pitched well to help his team win 4 to 1.

The league season opened on Mar 20, the earliest ever. All games on Mar 20 were very close. It was a no-run game for the Fighters and the Marines until the 6th inning, when an accident occurred. The Marines starter Hiroyuki Kobayashi complained of a pulled muscle with bases full. He was taken over by 42 year old Satoru Komiyama. A runner came home on a grounded ball. Meanwhile, the Fighters starter Yu Darvish shut out the Marines over the distance. It ended a 1 to 0 game. The Buffaloes Greg LaRocca helped his team defeat the Lions with 2 RBI hits in a 2 to 1 game. The Hawks Hiroshi Shibahara blasted a 3 run homerun to dramatically end the game and give his team a 4 to 3 win over the Golden Eagles.

League standing as of March 31
1.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
2.Chiba Lotte Marines
3.Rakuten Golden Eagles
4.Seibu Lions
4.Orix Buffaloes
6.Nippon Ham Fighters


LAST SEASON CHAMPION: NIPPON HAM FIGHTERS(As a result of playoffs)

Final league standing of 2007
1.Nippon Ham Fighters
2.Chiba Lotte Marines
3.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
4.Rakuten Golden Eagles
5.Seibu Lions
6.Orix Buffaloes



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