College

Tokyo Big 6 All-Star Game

by Gen on Aug.28, 2010 @ 11:56 pm, under College

Two teams made up of players from the six teams in the Tokyo Big 6 played each other in an All-Star Game at Botchan Stadium in Ehime on Saturday.  This was the league first ever All-Star Game using current players.

Team Botchan (first base side) was made up of players from Keio, Rikkio, and Hosei while Team Madonna (third base side) was made up of players from Waseda, Meiji, and Tokyo.

123456789RHE
Madonna0000000011101
Botchan10000030x491

Over 13,000 people were at the game.

You can get more information about the players on the roster from each team at the official Tokyo Big 6 All-Star Game page.

Some more information:

Yuya Fukui (Waseda) started the game for Team Madonna and gave up a run on 2 hits over three innings of work.

Yuki Saito (Waseda) was the only player that did not see any playing time during the game (he tossed a complete game on the 26th).

Soichiro Tanaka (Rikkio) hit a 2-run homer in the game.

Tatsuya Oishi (Waseda) and Fukui both his 150 km/h. Oishi entered the game in the 4th and retired the side in order.


Takayuki Fujii opts for the Industrial League

by Gen on Aug.24, 2010 @ 12:37 pm, under College, Industrial

Doshisha righty Takayuki Fujii appears to have decided to forgo the draft and join Industrial League Nihon Seimei.  With the draft fairly deep with pitchers this year, Fujii may have decided to wait it out while polishing up on his skills with Nihon Seimei.


Kokugakuin announces new manager

by Gen on Aug.13, 2010 @ 1:28 am, under College

Kokugakuin announced on Thursday that 34-year-old Yasutaka Toriyama (鳥山泰孝) was named manager of the university baseball team, backdated to the 11th.

Toriyama takes over for Toshiaki Takeda and was formerly the manager for the Shutoku High School (Tokyo) baseball team.


WUBC: Cuba 4 – USA 03 (8/7/2010)

by Gen on Aug.08, 2010 @ 7:57 pm, under College

Here are my photos from the Gold / Silver Medal game that featured Cuba and the USA.


WUBC: Japan 9 – Korea 0 (8/7/2010)

by Gen on Aug.08, 2010 @ 7:03 pm, under College

Here are my photos from the Bronze Medal game that featured Japan and Korea.


WUBC: Final Day – Cuba wins the Gold, US the Silver, and Japan the Bronze

by Gen on Aug.07, 2010 @ 4:55 pm, under College

Korea vs Japan @ Jingu Stadium (Attendance: 3500)

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Korea0000000000
Japan21060000x9

Box scores

Japan - Batting

ABHRBISOBB
[8]Ishimine(10)52110
[6]4Watanabe(3)41100
[5]Suzuki(5)32211
[9]Ito(9)41211
[3]Inoue(2)11001
7Araki(6)10001
[7]Hasegawa(24)42300
R3Taki(26)11000
[D]Fushimi(27)21011
HDMatsumoto(8)20000
[4]Okazaki(7)21000
6Abe(4)21000
[2]Koike(22)41000
Total3514945

Japan - Pitching

IPNPBFHSOBBER
Fujioka5721611000
Nomura11130200
Nakaushiro11330100
Kagami11242100
Oishi12141100
Total91293041500

Korea - Batting

ABHRBISOBB
[8]KO JONG WOOK(53)41020
[6]SHIN BON KI(56)30010
HPARK TAE KYUN(23)10000
[D]SEO SANG WOO(16)20020
HDKU BON WOOK(10)20000
[3]KIM YONG HO(33)31000
[7]LEE TAE GYUN(1)31010
[2]YOON YEO WOON(27)30030
[9]LEE JIN WOOK(31)31020
[5]KO YOUNG WOO(6)30020
[4]JUNG YOUN TAE(25)20010
HPARK JEONG GEUM(39)10010
Total3040150

Korea - Pitching

IPNPBFHSOBBER
NA SUNG BUM1 2/34894213
YOON MYUNG JUNE24084025
NO SUNG HO0 0/31311011
LIM CHI YOUNG4 1/382175210
Total81833514459

=====

USA vs Cuba @ Jingu Stadium (Attendance: 4000)

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USA00000001023
Cuba0000000103x4

Box scores

Cuba - Batting

ABHRBISOBB
[8]Martin(22)31002
[4]Cerce(8)41000
[D]Olivera(12)62000
[7]A.Despaigne(54)52410
[9]Cespedes(51)40010
[3]Abreu(79)40010
[5]Diaz(6)43000
[2]Morejon(45)43000
RLunar(66)00000
2Alberro(15)00000
[6]Borroto(35)31000
Total3713432

Cuba - Pitching

IPNPBFHSOBBER
Gonzalez9 2/31513481421
Garcia0 1/3210000
Total101533581421

HR: A.Despaigne (3, none on in the 8th; 4, 2 on in the 10th)
2B: Morejon

USA - Batting

ABHRBISOBB
[4]Maggi(15)31120
[6]Fontana(5)40030
[8]Bradley(23)40000
[D]3Wright(6)42011
[7]Springer(14)51120
[3]1N.Ramirez(30)53110
[5]Esposito(27)50030
[9]Mahtook(8)31010
[2]Rodriguez(16)10001
H2O'Brien(9)10010
Total3583142

USA - Pitching

IPNPBFHSOBBER
Cole7922810210
Ramirez1 0/32752111
N.Ramirez1 1/3901001
Total91283313322

HR: Maggi (1)

SB: Mahtook

=====

Final Standings

Team
1Cuba (Gold)
2USA (Silver)
3Japan (Bronze)
4Korea
5Canada
6Chinese Taipei
7China
8Sri Lanka

Awards

AwardPlayer
MVPAlfredo Despaigne Rodriguez (CUB)
Leading HitterJose Dariel Abreu Correa (CUB)
Best ERAMatt Barnes (USA)
Best WPCTYadier Pedroso Gonzalez (CUB)
Most RBIYoennis Cespedes Milanes (CUB)
Most HRJose Dariel Abreu Correa (CUB)
Most SBMikie Mahtook (USA)
Most RLeonys Martin Tapanes (CUB)
Outstanding DefenseAndrew Maggi (USA)

All-Star Team

PosPlayer
SPMiguel Alfredo Gonzalez Puebla (CUB)
RPTatsuya Oishi (JPN)
CFrank Camilo Morejon (CUB)
1BJose Dariel Abreu Correa (CUB)
2BChad Marshall (CAN)
3BWei Chih Chen (TPE)
SSYorbis Borroto Jauregui (CUB)
OFYoennis Cespedes Milanes (CUB)
OFMikie Mahtook (USA)
OFShota Ishimine (JPN)
DHRyan Wright (USA)

=====

Some notes from the two games

The Bronze medal game wasn't really all that interesting.  Going into the game, I figured Japan would probably win, but not quite at such a large margin.  If anything, that was the surprise.

The USA - Cuba game was a whole other story.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, except for an inkling that Cuba would win.

Both Gerrit Cole and Yadier Gonzalez tossed great games.  And when Cole came out, I thought Gonzalez would as well, since it was obvious he was beginning to lose some of his stuff.  But Cuba kept him in there.  And in the end, it almost looked as if it might have sunk Cuba's ship, but Alfredo Despaigne came through in a big way with a 3-run bomb in the bottom of the 10th.

When that ball came off Despaigne's bat, the crowd at the stadium just went wild.

Now, if there's one person you have to feel sorry for in all of this, it's Nick Ramirez.  I'm not really sure how much experience he has as a pitcher, but when the US brought him in the 9th inning with the bases loaded and no out, I was a bit confused.  But he got out of the jam with a double play and a fly out to center and suddenly Bill Kinneberg is the man of the hour.

So, assuming Ramirez doesn't have much experience as a pitcher, you figure he's just about used up all his luck for the night.  And yet he's back out there in the bottom of the 10th.  Did he US not have any more pitchers available to go?  Or were they hoping that after seeing Cole and Noe Ramirez all night that Cuba would have a tough time adjusting to Ramirez's junk?

In either case, the poor guy was devastated after the homer.  He stood on the mound in disbelief (and I'm guessing disgust) for a good few seconds before finally walking towards the dugout.  And even after that, he just looked awful.

That all said, it was a great end to a tournament.

A couple of minor notes:

I think Cole broke 2-3 bats over his 7 inning outing.  He also hit 155km/h on the stadium radar a number of times and it seemed he was consistently around the 150km/h range with his fastball.

At one point, the Cuba fans and the US fans started a chant competition.

Nolan Fontana (at least I think it was him) tried to trick Cuba by hiding the ball in his glove after heading towards the mound for a brief meeting with the pitcher (can't remember which inning any more, but it was towards the end I think).  The second base ump caught on and quickly asked Fontana to return the ball to the pitcher.

A few of scouts were sitting in front of me.  One of them seemed to have their eye on George Springer.

I missed it, but Antonio Castro threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Finals game; Sadaharu Oh stood in the batter's box.

Pictures from both games will come a little later.


WUBC: Day 8 Results

by Gen on Aug.06, 2010 @ 7:32 pm, under College

The results from Day 7:

Chinese Taipei vs Canada @ Jingu Stadium (Attendance: 50)

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Canada205110400215
Chinese Taipei312000421114

Box score

Chinese Taipei - Batting

ABHRBISOBB
[4]LIN WEI TING(64)62010
[6]YANG HSIEN HSIEN(11)52011
[9]HUNG CHEN YU(99)72100
[3]HUANG CHIH PEI(66)63111
[D]YANG KUAN WEI(23)53511
[8]LAN YIN LUN(8)52111
[7]HUANG YI KUN(42)30112
[2]WANG CHUN CHIEH(14)30030
HTENG CHIH WEI(61)10100
2CHOU SHENG HSUN(13)10000
[5]CHEN WEI CHIH(5)53320
Total471713116

Chinese Taipei - Pitching

IPNPBFHSOBBER
TSENG TSUNG HSUAN348179106
CHEN KUAN YU0 1/31332101
LIAO WEN-YANG3 2/373164611
LIN CHEN HUA344114300
Total1017847191118

HR: YANG KUAN WEI (2, two on in the 1st; one on in the 3rd), CHEN WEI CHIH (1, one on in the 7th)
2B: HUNG CHEN YU, CHEN WEI CHIH

SB: HUANG CHIH PEI, HUANG YI KUN

Canada - Batting

ABHRBISOBB
[4]Marshall(7)63010
[9]Carruthers(5)63010
[8]Wallace(11)52030
[5]Ellis(25)54510
[D]Flemming(24)52420
[2]Welch(21)52010
2Densem(9)10010
[3]Regan(26)41001
[7]Dunsmore(23)30100
H7Lendvoy(3)20000
[6]Bell(30)52310
Total471913111

Canada - Pitching

IPNPBFHSOBBER
McDonald2 0/340147305
Castillo4 0/384153643
Walkling1 0/31963103
Hetherington11742110
Reynolds23482010
Total10194471711611

HR: Bell (1, none on in the 5th)
3B: Bell
2B: Flemming, Carruthers, Ellis

SB: Wallace

=====

Sri Lanka vs China @ Utsumi-Shimaoka Ballpark (Attendance: 120)

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Sri Lanka00000000-0
China01210222x-10

Box score

China - Batting

ABHRBISOBB
[4]CHAO LI(29)51110
[6]XIAOCHEN ZHANG(28)32102
[3]CHUNHUA DONG(19)41101
[2]GUOCHEN HAO(2)40100
[5]QIANBIN ZHANG(6)20101
[9]ZHENGYAN XIA(50)42000
[7]YANG LU(4)30000
[D]YU CHENG(12)21111
[8]XIANG CHEN(52)41200
Total318825

China - Pitching

IPNPBFHSOBBER
SHI DONG8119285820
Total8119285820

Sri Lanka - Batting

ABHRBISOBB
[7]Withanage(26)41000
[6]Lasantha(89)40040
[3]Niroshan(23)42000
[2]Bhanuka(10)30011
[D]Neranjan(25)30010
R9P.Gayan(69)00000
[9]8Jeewaka(77)40000
[8]1Sahan(3)20001
[5]Indika(17)21010
[4]Don(27)10010
HSamarasinghege(32)11000
4Hiththatiya(18)00000
Total285082

Sri Lanka - Pitching

IPNPBFHSOBBER
Prasad796277237
Sahan0 2/32841021
Total7 2/3124318258

=====

Day 9 Schedule:

Korea at Japan - Meiji Jingu Stadium - 12:00 (for the Bronze)

USA at Cuba - Meiji Jingu Stadium - 18:00 (for Gold / Silver)

Final Standings

Team
1TBD tomorrow
2TBD tomorrow
3TBD tomorrow
4TBD tomorrow
5Canada
6Chinese Taipei
7China
8Sri Lanka

WUBC: USA 4 – Japan 2

by Gen on Aug.06, 2010 @ 12:41 pm, under College

I once again decided to go to the game at the very last minute and ended up getting to the stadium at around 6:30, so I missed out on all the offense (namely Springer's grand slam in the 1st inning).

As usual, I had my camera with me.  Unfortunately, I had an off-night -- I wasn't able to snap as many good images and for some reason, I really struggled with the lighting.  Odd because I didn't have the same problem the night before.  The only two things that changed between last night and the night before were the section I was sitting and a different zoom lens.  But it wasn't as if I was sitting in an entirely different location, or that the zoom lens I was using was hugely different from the one I used the night before.

In any case, I managed to filter out about 50 pictures that I thought were half-way decent.  Since I don't have time to lay them out, I've posted them in slideshow format.

A couple of news headlines from the game:

Shigeo Nagashima was at the game last night.  Nagashima was impressed with Tatsuya Oishi's outing and also said that Yuki Saito pitched well, outside of the first inning (in particular the one pitch that ended up over the fence for a grand slam).

Incidentally, Saito was a no-show at the post-game press conferenceTamotsu Enomoto asked reporters to give Saito a break for his absence.


Kokugakuin’s Takeda stepping down as manager

by Gen on Aug.06, 2010 @ 12:19 pm, under College

With the Fall league right around the corner, Toshiaki Takeda has apparently decided to step down as manager of the Kokugakuin University baseball team.  Takeda first got his start managing the Tohoku High School baseball team in 1968.  From there he went on to manage at Sendai Ikuei and took a post at Kokugakuin in 1996.


japan…

by gwynarp on Aug.05, 2010 @ 8:27 pm, under College

is down to its last three outs.

top 9, us 4 - japan 2.


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