OK time for another Pro Yakyu News rant for after-the-fact criticism for the sake of criticism .
Yoshiaki Kanemura knows a hell of a lot about baseball and how it’s played, but he also just likes to take the piss and criticize things that really aren’t any big deal. One of the spear carriers for playing baseball the Japanese way, he’s the one who attacked Alex Ramirez for batting Yoshitomo Tsutsugo second, calling it “an insult to Japanese baseball.”
On Friday, his pet peeve was outfield positioning in the Fighters-Lions game. With two outs and runners on the corners, a fly to medium-deep left from No. 9 hitter Ryo Ishikawa fell near the line just out of reach of Cory Spangenberg for an RBI single.
Spangenberg had been playing at normal depth and probably wouldn’t have got it if he had been playing shallower, but Kanemura had a spaz.
“He’s playing too deep! The outfield defense coach must be seeing that and grinding his teeth!”
When the Lions had two on and out in the fifth in a 1-1 game, left fielder Haruki Nishikawa was playing at normal depth but just failed to haul in a drive to the track off the bat of Takeya Nakamura.
“He’s playing too shallow! What’s he doing? I can’t believe it.”
In a sense, Kanemura was right, in retrospect, Spangenberg WAS playing too deep, and Nishikawa WAS playing too deep. But that’s the kind of criticism Katsuya Nomura talked about when he turned pro.
As a young catcher, he needed to get a power hitter out, called for a curve, and it resulted in a big hit. His coach, he said, shouted at him, “You idiot! Don’t call for a curve against a power hitter.” With that in mind a few days later he called for a fastball. The coach, enraged, hit him across the head and said, “How stupid are you? Never call for a fastball against a power hitter!”
Nomura said, “I was still a teenager, but I quickly realized that a lot of the coaches didn’t know what they were talking about.”
The Hiroshima Carp’s three-game series at Hiroshima’s Mazda Stadium starting Friday has been postponed due to the effects of the coronavirus, NPB announced.
The Central League team announced Friday night that five new players, including regular veterans Hisayoshi Chono and Seiya Suzuki, had tested positive as well as one coach and one other member of the team’s staff. Three players tested positive Sunday and did not travel with the club to Tokyo for the two-game series against the Yomiuri Giants.
Eagles 11, Marines 6
At Chiba’s Zozo Marine Stadium, the Pacific League-leading Rakuten Eagles blew open a close game with a five-run fifth inning, capped by Hiroaki Shimauchi’s sixth home run, a three-run shot off Lotte starter Ayumu Ishikawa (2-2), who gave up six runs over five innings.
With a six-run lead to work with, former Marine Hideaki Wakui (5-2) allowed four runs in the sixth, three coming on Brandon Laird’s ninth home run. Laird walked but also contributed to the Eagles’ fifth-inning rally.
With the leadoff man on and a 1-0 lead, the Eagles sacrificed to play for the next run, but Laird failed to charge on the bunt, turning it into an infield single and help power the big inning.
Takero Okajima opened the scoring in the fourth, when he tripled home Hideto Asamura in the wind and rain. Asamura singled in the first two runs in the fifth, while Okajima singled in the first of two runs in the seventh after Lotte made it a 6-4 game.
Former Marines captain Daichi Suzuki reached base five times, scored three runs and put an exclamation point on the win with a two-run homer, his first of the season.
Lions 7, Fighters 1
At MetLife Dome, Seibu’s Kona Takahashi (5-0) scattered six hits and three walks to allow one run over seven innings, and the Lions broke a 1-1 tie with a five-run fifth, when they chased rookie lefty Hiromi Ito (1-4), who got the kind of run support he’s become accustomed to.
Takeya Nakamura doubled in two runs to break the tie, while Wu Nien-ting singled in one more and Cory Spangenberg doubled in another. Hotaka Yamakawa hit his fourth home run for the Lions.
Two of the games’ big plays occurred in left field, where, according to one analyst, both Cory Spangenberg and Haruki Nishikawa, didn’t know where to play.— This article is paid content. If you are unable to see it, please consider subscribing to unlock more insight, news and all the other content on the site.
BayStars 5, Swallows 3
At Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium, DeNA’s Taiki Sekine, who as expected has been relegated to dish-washing or some other glorious duties but remains one of my favorite BayStars due to his superb track record on the farm, sparked a ninth-inning rally with a two-out pinch-hit single off Yakult closer Taichi Ishiyama (0-3).
Masayuki Kuwahara singled and both scored on a Yamato Maeda double. Former closer Yasuaki Yamasaki (3-1) earned the win after allowing the Swallows to tie it in the eighth, while incumbent closer Kazuki Mishima retired the meat of Yakult’s order in the ninth to earn his sixth save.
Rick van den Hurk made his Central League debut and had his first hit in Japan, while allowing three runs in four innings. New DeNA import Fernando Romero also had a rough go of it, allowing two runs, one earned, in three innings. Tyler Austin doubled twice, scoring DeNA’s first run and driving in the second, and Edwin Escobar pitched a scoreless seventh against the middle of the order to protect a 3-2 lead.
Dragons 1, Giants 1
At Nagoya‘s Vantelin Dome, Chunichi banged out eight hits and drew five walks but stranded 11 runners, twice leaving the bases loaded and allowing Yomiuri to walk away with a tie.
With captain Hayato Sakamoto out with a broken hand, Taishi Hirooka slid into his spot to start at shortstop – although not head-first one supposes. The infielder, acquired in the preseason trade from the Yakult Swallows that sent underappreciated lefty Kazuto Taguchi to Jingu Stadium, homered off Yudai Ono in the fifth. Seishu Hatake went 6-1/3 innings for Yomiuri, leaving after Akira Neo doubled and scored on a Yohei Oshima triple.
