September 27 Shige closed his team's final game of the season played against the Oakland Athletics. The Angels were leading 4 to 2. Still he played the role of the closure in the 9th inning. There were 2 outs with a runner on 1st base, The final batter popped up the ball, and that gave Shige his 5th save. His other records for the season are 8 wins 3 losses.
September 16 The Angels had a 6 to 5 lead over the Texas Rangers when Shige came on to pitch. This was in the 2nd innings with runners on 2nd and 3rd, and 2 outs. He finished that inning all right, but he was homered in the 3rd and 4th innings. He pitched 2 1/3 innings in the game the Angels eventually lost 7 to 6.
September 14 The 2 scoreless innings Shige pitched against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays awarded him his 8th win of the season. Relief ace Troy Percival finished the 9th inning. The Angels won 4 to 2.
September 5 In the 9th inning, Shige faced 3 batters of the Kansas City Royals. He got each one of them out and cinched his 4th save of the season. The Angels won 3 to 0.
September 4 The Angels were ahead 3 to 2 when Shige was appointed to the mound in the 8th inning with a Kansas City Royals' runner on 2nd. Shige hurled 2 outs. Then he lost a run with which the Royals tied the game. The pitchers who followed Shige lost more runs. In the end, the Angels gave up the game 3 to 5.
August 30 Good for Shige! He picked up his 7th win from the Boston Red Sox. He took over from the starter in the 5th inning after 2 outs and finished the 8th. It was a perfect relay. His team won 8 to 6.
August 27 In the last of the 5 game series against the Yankees, Shige was given the chance to pitch. He was the 5th pitcher for the Angels. He hurled 4 long innings from the 8th inning with with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 3rd. The game entered extra inning. He was replaced in the 11th inning where the Yankees ended the game with a run for a 6 to 5 victory.
August 26 Shige hurled in the 9th inning against the New York Yankees with already runners on base. He gave up a single to Derek Jeter. One came home to give the Yankees a 7 to 6 victory. The loss went to the pitcher who left the runners on base, and not Shige. This was Shige's 51st game appearance this season. He broke the Japanese record which he himself set last year of the most games pitched in a season.
August 24 It's Shige's 100th game in the U.S. Major Leagues. He played his commemorative game against the New York Yankees. Shige was the 3rd to pitch and lost a run. It didn't count against him though. The Angels defeated the Yankees 7 to 3.
August 19 Shige was a part of the shut out relay of pitchers against the Detroit Tigers. He took care of 3 batters in the 8th inning. The Angels won 2-0 and kept its lead in the American League West.
August 17 The Angels were ahead 7 to 2 when Shige came to pitch in the 8th inning. He hurled 2 innings and lost no base hits to the Chicago White Sox. Neither teams scored any further.
August 14 Immediately the next day, Shige was called to relief again. He hurled 2 innings this time, and gave up a run. The Angels won 7 to 5, but it did not affect Shige's record.
August 13 Shige faced just one batter of the Toronto Blue Jays. Canseco grounded the ball, and the Angels failed to take him out with it. The Angels were still leading at that point, but the hit put Toronto Blue Jays players on 1st and 3rd bases. The Blue Jays, after Shige left the mound, succeeded in reversing the game 4 to 3, and Shige took the loss for his team. It's his 3rd this season.
August 4 The score was a 4 to 4 tie when Shige took over the game in the 8th inning. He shut out that inning. In the bottom of that inning, the Angels batted in 3 runs. Shige was given the win over the Cleveland Indians. It's his 6th this season.
July 31 Shige was appointed to pitch with the team leading 2 to 1 over the Boston Red Sox in the 8th inning. 2 were on base with 2 outs. He, this time, was homered and lost 3 runs. He did not take the loss though for the game which finished 2 to 7.
July 27 It appears the Angels are entrusting Shige to relief to secure a win. He pitched from the 6th inning and finished the game against the Kansas City Royals. Not only did he not give up a run, he earned his 2nd save of the season. The Angels won 6 to 1.
July 22 A great relief by Shige over the Minnesota Twins. He pitched with a runner on second in the 8th inning with game tied 3 to 3. He walked the next batter on purpose and safely finished the inning with a double play. The Angels scored after that and Shige was given a win. It's his 5th this season.
July 18 Shige is proving to be quite something. In the 6th inning, he took over when the Baltimore Orioles came close to the Angels by 2 runs. He hurled a scoreless 2 1/3 innings. The Angels won 8 to 2.
July 15 From the 5th inning, Shige's turn to pitch came. He hurled 3 1/3 scoreless innings, and the Angels won 4 to 2 over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Shige marked the season's 4th victory.
July 12 It's been a while since we've heard about Shige. He pitched from the 7th inning against the Seattle Mariners with his team leading 7 to 4. Shige gave up a homer during the 1 2/3 innings that he pitched. The Angels won 8 to 5.
June 23 Shige was called to pitch right after the Angels took over the lead from the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was in the 8th inning with no outs and runners on 1st and 2nd bases. He did lose a run from a sacrificed hit and a ground ball, but it wasn't counted on his record. Shige had to leave the mound when he lost a base hit in the 9th inning with one out. Still, the Angels won 6 to 4.
June 21 The Angels led the game played between the Texas Rangers when Shige took over from the 7th inning. He hurled 2 innings and lost 1 run. His team won 10 to 7.
June 15 Shige took over from the 7th inning with runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs and settled that inning. He took 2 outs in the 8th inning and was off the mound. His team, kept the lead and won 8 to 5.
June 14 Shige faced 5 players of the Texas Rangers. He took over from the starting pitcher. He did not give up any base hits. Neither did he earn a win nor a loss.
June 11 This time, the Angels were in front of the Arizona Diamondbacks 9 to 5 when Shige came to pitch. That's in the 8th inning again. He pitched to 5 Diamondbacks and lost a base hit and walked 2. He left the rest up to the next pitcher at 2 outs and bases loaded. The Angels were, at any rate, able to keep the lead and won 10 to 5.
June 10 The Angels were behind the Arizona Diamondbacks 2 to 9 when Shige was appointed to pitch. This was in the 8th inning. He was doubled, then walked a Diamondback, and lost a run due to a base hit. The Angels in the end lost 2 to 10.
June 4 Shige marked his first ever save in the U.S. Major Leagues. Shige was given the chance to win his first such credit from the 8th inning. The Angels were at that point leading the Seattle Mariners 5 to 2. There were runners on first and second bases with noone out. He sailed through this and the final inning smoothly. The Angels won 6 to 2, and Shige helped the team clinch its 5th straight win, or 3.5 games behind the Texas Rangers.
June 1 The one inning in which he pitched gave Shige the season's 3rd win. His turn came in the 8th inning when the Angels were tied with the Kansas City Royals 3 to 3. He popped up all 3 batters. Then in the 9th inning, the Angels batted in 3 runs. The game was a 6 to 3 for the Angels.
May 23 This time, Shige lost 2 runs in 2 1/2 innings to the Minnesota Twins. The Angels were already behind when Shige took over the mound in the 3rd inning, so Shige did not have to take responsible the team's 5 to 9 loss.
May 19 The Oakland Athletics caught up with the Angels who initially had a 3 to 0 lead. Shige had to face a situation where all bases were loaded with 2 outs in the 9th inning. The game was a draw at that point. He was able to overcome the crisis. Shige finished the top of the 10th inning smoothly too. Then, in the bottom of that inning the Angels batted in a game winning run for a 4 to 3 victory. Shige collected his 2nd win of the season against 1 loss.
May 15 Shige came up to relief the starting pitcher of the game against the Toronto Blue Jays, He hurled 4 2/3 innings--that's already from the 2nd inning with the Angels behind 0 to 7. Shige was homered a single during those innings. The game ended 1 to 9.
May 13 Shige contributed to the game against the Chicago White Sox. His turn came in the 6th inning with the Angels leading 6 to 3. He pitched until the 8th inning and lost no runs on 2 hits. The Angels clinched the game 8 to 3.
May 9 The Detroit Tigers were way ahead 0 to 5 when Shige came on as the 2nd pitcher to relief the Angels in the 6th inning. He overcame the inning where runners were on 2nd and 3rd bases. However in the 8th inning, he was homered by former Tokyo Giants Jeff Manto. The Angels lost 3 to 7.
May 6 The Angels were taking the lead 5 to 3 when Shige was up to relief the team in the 7th inning. He gave up a homer that inning, then doubled in the 8th. The runner that he left came home during a blooper, and Shige was taken responsible for Mets lost of 5 to 6 to the Toronto Blue Jays. Shige is with one loss and one win.
May 5 Shige pitched the 6th inning to safety--keeping the scores at 5 to 5. In the bottom of that inning, the Angels batted in 2 runs to take the lead. However, in the 7th inning, the Toronto Blue Jays attacked Shige with consecutive base hits. One came home and Shige was dismissed from the mound with a runner on base and noone out. The Angels came back with more runs, but the result of the game was a 11 to 13 loss.
May 2 Shige marked his 1st win this season. He was the 2nd pitcher in this game against the White Sox and hurled 4 innings successfully. While he pitched well, his teammates blasted 5 runs in during the 6th inning. The game gave the Angels a 7 to 1 win.
April 29 The Angels were tied 3 to 3 with the Boston Red Sox when Shige came up to pitch in the 6th inning. At that point there was a runner on second. The Red Sox got the bases loaded and Shige was taken off the mound. The consequence of the game was a 4 to 8 loss for the Angels.
April 19 Shige was able to demonstrate in Anaheim that he had fully recovered. He pitched 2 2/3 innings against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays losing only a base hit. He was even able to strike out 2 batters. The Angels were unable to hit in any runs, therefore, the game itself came out a 6-0.
April 15 An accident occurred. Bernie Williams of the New York Yankees smacked Shige's 2nd pitch, and the liner hit the Japanese pitcher's right wrist. So Shige hurled only 2 pitches before leaving the mound. Fortunately, the injury was not serious. The Angels, however lost 3 to 6.
April 5 Shige was the 2nd pitcher on the mound for the Angels. The Angels were behind 0 to 5 at that point. Shige made the situation worse. He lost 2 homeruns to the Cleveland Indians, or in all 4 RBIs in 3 innings. The game came out to be 0 to 11.
PRE 1998 SEASON NEWS
Exhibition game against the Athletics
Shige was given the chance to pitch in an exhibition game for the
first time this season on Feb. 27. He would have had faced
former Daiei Hawks, Hiromi Matsunaga who is trying out for a place with the Athletics,
if he had allowed one Athletics player on base in the 9th inning.
Shige, however, finished that inning with just 3 batters.
He did lose 2 RBIs though in the 8th.
Michiyo's Note: It was learned that Shige will be granted a permit in May to live in the U.S.
permanently. If so, he will become the first Japanese pro baseball player to earn
permanent residency in the U.S.