It’s time for the final stage of this year’s Pacific League and Central League playoffs, which I’ve decided–since they represent the climax of nothing but are mere warmups for the Japan Series, which is the actual climax–should from now on be known as the CL and PL Foreplay Series.
I spelled this out in Monday’s newsletter, but remember the four times when the PL came warmed up for the Japan Series with its post-regular season contests. In those four Japan Series, the CL won a total of four games, three in 2004 and one in 2006 with sweeps in 2005 and 2020. The 2004 Chunichi Dragons of course took it to seven games but petered out in Games 6 and 7 at home.
Perhaps the CL could get an erectile dysfunction medicine as its postseason sponsor after its team went limp all those times.
Irony No. 1
The first irony is that the PL playoffs actually represented a climax of sorts since that was how the pennant was determined, the 2004 Lions and 2005 Lotte Marines winning the PL title after the Daiei Hawks finished with the best regular-season record.
Irony No. 2
I also wrote somewhere as well that the Giants now have a chance to become the first sub-.500 team to reach the Japan Series, which is doubly ironic. In 2003, when the PL announced its plan for playoffs, Tsuneo Watanabe, the notorious windbag and former Giants owner, said that Yomiuri should boycott the Japan Series if the other league sent a sub-.500 team to Japan’s pro baseball championship.
The rules
Each best-of-seven series is both games long, with the home teams, the CL’s Yakult Swallows, and PL’s Orix Buffaloes each beginning with a one-win advantage. Games this year will end after nine innings.
A tie is NOT the same as a win, but the visiting team will need a majority of wins to move past the Foreplay. The home team will advance if the series ends if both teams have the same number of wins.
Starting pitchers and other news
Buffaloes vs Marines: Kyocera Dome (Osaka) 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18-5, 1.39) vs Ayumu Ishikawa (6-3, 3.38)
Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Tuesday was named the PL’s pitcher of the month for October and November, marking the fourth straight period he’s been tabbed as the circuit’s top hurler. Yamamoto, who’ll make his postseason debut against Ayumu Ishikawa, is the second pitcher to do this and the second to win four-plus awards in a season.
The other guy to do it was Masahiro Tanaka, who won five straight in 2013, the year he went 24-0. Tanaka’s first season back in Japan ended unceremoniously on Sunday without him throwing a pitch in the PLFS first stage.
Swallows vs Giants: Jingu Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Yasunobu Okugawa (9-4, 3.26) vs Shun Yamaguchi (2-8, 3.56)
The Giants are apparently ready to go with three starting pitchers, Shun Yamaguchi, Tomoyuki Sugano and C.C. Mercedes. Although as noted on the JBW podcast, manager Tatsunori Hara has had an extremely short leash for starting pitchers the past few months who are not blood relatives of his, so it would be a surprise to see either Yamaguchi or Mercedes get past the fourth inning.
The Swallows will go with the guy who has been their best pitcher, rookie Yasunobu Okugawa.
