There were two events that I thought would make a good "Card Of The Week" topic this week but since I couldn't decide between them, I decided to do both of them.
On Thursday the Hanshin Tigers clinched the Central League pennant with a win over the Giants. Manager Akinobu Okada's team won their first pennant since 2005 when they were managed by...Akinobu Okada. The Central League didn't start doing playoffs until 2007 so the Tigers also clinched a spot in the Nippon Series that year by winning the pennant. Here's Okada's card from the 2005 BBM Nippon Series set (#26) - that's Bobby Valentine, manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines on the right side of the photo. The Marines swept the Tigers that year 4-0:
Yesterday, Chusei Mannami of the Fighters led off the bottom of the first inning against the Hawks with a solo home run. The Hawks tied the game with a run in the fifth inning and the game remained knotted at 1 until the bottom of the ninth. With one on and one out, Mannami stepped to the plate and did this:
3 comments:
Wow, Mannami hit a "bomb". He has a very compact swing. The excitement from the little boy was incredible.
Scott
Minami is so much fun to watch. This page has taught me (along with Ryan who you mention) a lot about Japanese baseball and I appreciate it! I stopped watching MLB this year as the rule changes make me feel bad for the guys who had to steal at 90 feet.
Japan is my new place to watch baseball
I wish I had known of this when Minami was active.
And to be clear, I’m talking of the woman! Whoops! But, my love of Japanese baseball grows!
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