Japanese baseball doctrine demands managers play the outfield shallow with two outs and a critical potential run on second base – in order to give the outfielders a chance to throw out the runner on any ball that gets through the infield.
Japanese pitchers are taught to pitch low in the zone and hitters are trained to hit the ball on the ground, but they don’t always.
On Tuesday, however, two PL teams playing their outfields shallow, with two outs and a runner on second, failed to catch a flyball third out in the top of the ninth. At Sapporo Dome it turned to a 3-2 Hanshin Tigers win. At Kyocera Dome, the Giants got an RBI triple out of a line drive hit to straightaway center.
Continue reading Shallow thinking →
A day after former Yakult Swallows closer Tony Barnette announced his retirement, the Central League club announced on Thursday he would begin working for the club in an advisory capacity.
The Hochi Shimbun reported Barnette will join the Swallows spring training camp in Urasoe, Okinawa Prefecture, from Feb. 6 to Feb. 19. The 36-year-old Barnette twice led the CL in saves during his time in Japan from 2010 to 2015.
Barnette is the second former player hired in a role to help enrich the Swallows’ overseas efforts following last year’s agreement with former Yakult outfielder Aaron Guiel.
My interviews with Barnette and pitching coach Tomohito Ito, whom he credited with helping him achieve success in Japan, is available HERE for jballallen.com subscribers.
writing & research on Japanese baseball
