Tampa-Bay-Rays

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“450” caption=“They may not be able to get the president to toss the first pitch out in Japan, but I don’t think they mind.”][/caption] 8 April 2010 NPB Hiroshima Carp (4) at Yakult Swallows (0). Another fine start for Kenta Maeda who is proving to be their best pitcher. Also their first shut out of an opposing team. The Carp rise to 3-8-0 and actually have some hope of getting out of last for once if they can take their upcoming series against the Baystars. ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“I guess it gets right to the point…”] [/caption] Despite their motto for the year, visible in the picture above, the Carp have not managed many wins this season. 7 April 2010 NPB Hiroshima Carp (1) at Yakult Swallows (7). The Carp fall to 2-8-0 in last. Go Carp! Rakuten Eagles (6) at Nippon Ham Fighters (3). The Eagles continue to hammer the Fighters. Nice work guys. 5-8-0 in 5th, two wins back from 4th. ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Everyone loves a walk-off win. Go Rays!”] [/caption] I think the date in my Scores That Matter titles are getting confusing now that they’re applying to the day before’s games. They are gone as of today. 6 April NPB Hiroshima Carp (3) at Yakult Swallows (2). The 7-game losing streak is snapped, bringing the Carp to 2-7-0, but still in last. Rakuten Eagles (3) at Nippon-Ham Fighters (1). Nippon-Ham is having a really tough time. Not what you’d expect from last year’s Pacific League Champions. The Eagles are 4-8-0 and are still in fifth. ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“160 games in for some teams.”] [/caption] Words cannot describe how great it is to FINALLY have the 2010 season underway for both leagues! Since we had an MLB-only post last week, we’ll start with the NPB. [caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“300” caption=“Sorry Min”] [/caption] What an unfortunate week it’s been for me to root for the Carp and the Eagles. Both teams put together three wins over the last week, which is pretty shameful. ...

Another year, another season! 2010 looks to be another good one. The Marlins don’t look like they’re about to run away with their division, but the Rays have a fighting chance this year. I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s back up and go through this division by division like we do every year. AL East After a (glorious) season where the Yankees didn’t make it to the playoffs for once, the Bronx Bombers came back with a vengeance and took it all. The Yanks may have lost Damon and Matsui, but they’re still in a strong position in the AL East and look poised to make the playoffs in the division. Players are getting older on that team and the pitching isn’t as strong as they’d like, but, barring some kind of major injury, I stand by that prediction. ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“They’re off to a poor start, but hopefully they’ll start to bounce back soon”][/caption] This is a new idea I had to help me better track the records of the teams that I follow. Check it out weekdays if you care about the Marlins, Rays, Carp, Golden Eagles, Nationals, or Orioles. Since Japanese games are played 13 hours ahead and that can get pretty confusing, I’ll just post the scores on the day they happened in GMT -5 ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Josh Johnson warming up in Nationals Park on 4 August 2009”][/caption] It’s gonna be a short one this week. Spring Training continues down in Florida and Arizona as teams are making cuts to their rosters, sending players down to the minor leagues or releasing them as they see fit. Most team rosters are starting to take shape and both Stephen Strasburg and Aroldis Chapman have pitched (quite beautifully) a couple of games each. ...

Stephen Strasburg finally made his Major League debut in spring training yesterday and he was everything that the Nationals could have hoped he would be in two innings. After receiving 15 M$ before ever throwing a pitch, you’d certainly hope he was amazing, but will he make the starting rotation? His first two innings had two strikeouts, two hits, and no earned runs, making him somewhat of an oddity on a Nationals pitching staff that averages an over 10.00 ERA so far in spring training. Strasburg’s fastball was in the 96-98 MPH range over the 27 pitches he threw, with a few changeups around 91 and a wicked 81 MPH breaking ball. The man seems like he can pitch so far, but we’ll have to see how he does over the rest of spring training. ...

It’s time for Wednesday Morning Quarterback, your weekly sports round-up. Just like that we’re fully back to our regularly scheduled programming. I’ve gotta say, I missed this, but I’m also glad that I wasn’t here to write about Tampa Bay’s 11-game losing streak or the elimination of both Florida teams from playoff contention. You were spared my regular season woes (and the sobbing that would go with it), but now you’ve gotta endure my complaining about postseason results. ...

Folks, from here on out, the SITB (that’s Super Ichiban Travel Blog for the uninitiated) will be shifted to a Tuesday/Thursday(/maybe Saturday) schedule (there are really only nine or so posts left, including this one) so that the blog can return to its regularly scheduled programming on MWF. The MLB playoffs have started and here I am still talking about my time in Japan. I need to be covering this! You’ll recall that I wrote daily posts about the playoffs last year. Neither the Marlins nor the Rays made it this year, but that won’t necessarily keep me from adding in extra coverage as I see fit. ...