Power Pros Forum

I hope Kurihara gets more than 55! Also, while searching for the record, I found out that everyone thought Matsui was going to break the record so much that they gave him the number 55. The closest he got was 50.

Me too!

And hm, that's interesting. Too bad he didn't get it though.

July 21, 2014

Today is the first All-Star game. This year is going to be tight, we've got Yu Darvish starting, and Sanada's starting for the Central League. This is going to be a tough game! They’ve implemented a new rule, which is that in every All-Star game (no matter the home team) the DH rule is used. Which is why it’s being used today.

Pacific League – 15
Central League – 1

Pacific. 2|0|4|2|0|2|1|4|0 15|29|0
Central 0|0|0|0|1|0|0|0|0 1|6|1

Pacific:

Lineup:
1. Yoshio Itoi – CF (2-4)
- Alex Cabrera – PH (1-1)
- Akitaka Shimozono – DEF REP [RF] (1-1, 2B, 2 RBI)
2. Kensuke Tanaka - 2B (4-6, 2 2B, SB, 1 RBI)
3. Masato Kurihara – C (4-6, 2 2B, 2 RBI)
4. Joe Chavez - 1B (3-5, 2B, 1 RBI)
5. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (2-4, 2B, 1 RBI)
- Nobuhiro Matsuda – PR (0-1)
6. Hiroyuki Nakajima – SS [3B] (4-5, 2B, 2 RBI)
7. Takahiro Okada – RF (2-4, DP, 2 RBI)
- Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – DEF REP [RF] [CF] (1-1, 2B)
8. Takeya Nakamura - 3B (2-4, 3B, 1 RBI)
- Taiga Kura – DEF REP [SS] (1-1)
9. Hitoshi Tamura – LF (1-4, 2B, 2 RBI)
- Goro Shigeno – PH [LF] (1-1, 2B, 1 RBI)

Pitcher(s):
Yu Darvish (5 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 K)
Brian Falkenborg (1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 K)
Takahiro Mahara (1/3 IP, 0 R)
Sakutaou Makida (2 IP, 0 R, 2 K)

Central:

Lineup:
1. Norichika Aoki – CF (1-2, 2B)
- Ken Kamei – PH [3B] (0-1, BB)
2. Keiichi Hirano - 2B (1-2)
- Matt Murton – PH [CF] (0-2, K)
3. Kazuhiro Wada – LF (0-4, K)
4. Alex Ramirez – RF (1-3, K)
- Ryoji Aikawa – PH (0-1)
5. Michihiro Ogasawara – DH (1-2, K)
- Takeshi Toritani – PH (0-2)
6. Craig Brazell - 1B (0-2, 2 K)
- Hayato Sakamoto – PH [1B] (0-2, K)
7. Shinnosuke Abe – C (0-3)
8. Masahiko Morino – 3B (1-2, HR, 1 RBI)
- Ryota Wakiya – DEF REP [2B] (1-1)
9. Mikihiko Shimazaki – SS (0-2)
- Takahiro Arai – PH (0-1)

Pitcher(s):
Hirokazu Sanada (2 2/3 IP, 6 R, 6 ER)
Hiroyuki Kobayashi (1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)
Akifumi Takahashi (2 1/3 IP, 3 R, 3 ER)
Takuya Asao (2 IP, 4 R, 4 ER)
Tomoyuki Kubota 1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)

MVP:
Sakutarou Makida: He pitched the final two innings of the game

WP: Yu Darvish
LP: Hirokazu Sanada
S: --
HR: Masahiko Morino [5th inning]

Kyoto Knightly
July 22, 2014
What A Win For the Pacific!
– Sakutarou Makida

Nagoya Dome, Nagoya – Yikes. This was just downright embarrassing for the Central League. The Pacific League amassed a total of 15 runs, and 29 hits. 29 hits! Whereas the Central only score 1 run (coming off of a Morino homer) and had 6 hits, along with an error.

The Knights were a large part of the victory, getting 6 RBIs collectively. And Makida came in to close the game, even though it was great un-needed. He was awarded the MVP, for some reason. “I’m not sure why I was picked, but I’m happy nonetheless!” he said.

Kanazawa was the first to drive in a run in the offensive explosion of the Pacific League.

Well, there’s not much else to say, except for how great an offensive power the Pacific League teams are.

- Takaharu Sonada

July 22, 2014

Pacific League - 4
Central League - 5

Pacific. 0|0|0|0|4|0|0|0|0 4|9|0
Central 0|0|3|0|2|0|0|0|x 5|11|0

WP: Takuya Asao
LP: Ryo Sakakibara
S: Hitoki Iwase
HR: Alex Ramirez

July 23, 2014

Central League - 3
Pacific League - 4

Central 0|0|0|3|0|0|0|0|0 3|9|0
Pacific. 0|0|1|0|0|0|3|0|x 4|7|0

MVP: Joe Chavez, his 7th inning 3-run-come-from-behind-homerun put the Pacific League in the lead

WP: Brian Falkenborg
LP: Akifumi Takahashi
S: Keiji Ota
HR: Craig Brazell [4th inning]
Joe Chavez [7th inning]

The Pacific League took 2 out of 3, not bad if I do say so myself!

They play 3 AS games?

Yep, though it may just be because I added 2 teams.


I know they play 2, though. They might have changed it to 3 in the past year.

Does it determine homefield advantage?

Nope, they just play it for kicks over in Japan.

In the times of Babe Ruth in the twenties and thirties, MLB would play two All-Star games, one midseason and one after the season. It would make sense to have it like that today because one could determine homefield advantage and ccoaches could be more competitive, and the other one would be for fun and more laid back.

July 25, 2014

We're playing the Marines in our first game after the All-Star Break. We're also going for our 60th win!

Chiba Lotte Marines (36-49-7) - 2
Kyoto Knights (60-25-4) – 3

Marines 1|0|0|1|0|0|0|0|0|0. 2|7|0
Knights 0|0|0|0|0|0|0|2|0|1x 3|14|0
F/10

Marines:

Lineup:
1. Yoshifumi Okada - CF (1-4, DP)
2. Takashi Ogino – SS (1-3, SAC, 2B)
3. Tadahito Iguchi - 2B (0-4)
4. Kim Tae-Kyun - 1B (2-4, 2 RBI [26, 27])
5. Toshiaki Imae - 3B (0-4, K)
6. Kazuya Fukuura – DH (0-4)
7. Saburo Ohmura – RF (1-4)
8. Tomoya Satozki – C (0-4)
9. Shoitsu Ohmatsu – LF (1-3)

Pitcher(s):
Yoshihisa Naruse (8 IP, 2 R, 2 ER)
Tatsuya Uchi (1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Touya Egawa – CF [LF] (0-5, DP)
2. Akitaka Shimozono – RF (1-5)
3. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (1-5, 2B)
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (3-5, HR [39], 1 RBI [84])
5. Taiga Kura – SS (3-4, HR [13], 2 RBI [59, 60])
6. Goro Shigeno – LF (3-4, 2B)
- Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – INJ REP [CF] (0-0)
7. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (1-4, 2 DP)
8. Hideo Nomoto - 2B (1-3, SAC)
9. Rikiya Terauchi – C (1-4)

Pitcher(s):
Tsukiya Yamato (10 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 K)

MVP(s):
Tsukiya Yamato: He threw 10 (10!) innings letting up only 2 runs, along with getting a K
Masato Kurihara: He hit a walkoff solo homerun in the 10th!

WP: Tsukiya Yamato (12-2)
LP: Tatsuya Uchi (3-2)
S: --

Kyoto Knightly
July 26, 2014
Yamato Throws 10, While Kurihara Walks Off!

– Yamato and Kurihara

Blue Stadium in Sakyō-ku – What. A. Game. Extra innings. Yamato throwing 10 innings. And a walk-off by, none other than, Masato Kurihara. Let’s start off with how the game started, shall we? In the top of the 1st, the Marines had a runner on 3rd, and 2 outs. Kim Tae-Kyun comes up to the plate, and hits a blooper to Shigeno, it’s a tough catch. He makes a dive for it, but can’t come up with it as it bounces off of his glove, but manages to throw Kim out. 1-0. Then, in the 4th, Kim comes up again, and again gets an RBI single, 2-0. This would stay this way until the 8th inning. 2 quick outs from Shimozono and Kanazawa lead to Kurihara to come up to bat. He belts a single right back up the middle. Kura then comes up to bat. And, first pitch, he hits a dinky grounder foul. Next pitch though, would change the whole game. Kura got a hold of a fastball, and cranked it to the short wall in right-center. It barely clears it, and the score is tied 2-2! Shigeno then follows him with a double, and is taken out of the game for injuries, though it was only precautionary.

Nothing doing in the 9th.

In the 10th though, it was different. Once again, 2 quick outs from Shimozono and Kanazawa. Kurihara came up, and this time, he wouldn’t need Kura. He hit an absolute bomb to left. Hitting the office right behind the wall to end the game. Final score, 3-2. “It was fantastic, one of our best wins this year.” Manager Kensou Mori said after the game. “It was a battle all the way through, but we ultimately came out on top.”

“Man, it was awesome. I was almost floating around the bases.” Kurihara said after the game.

When asked about how throwing 10 innings felt, Yamato responded with: “It was nothing. I didn’t throw too many pitches, so it didn’t even seem like it was 10. I could’ve gone 2 more if I had to.”

- Takaharu Sonada

That would be much better. Home field advantage shouldn't rely on the All-Star game. It's silly.

I'm okay with it as long as the managers are being competitive. Then you could have another game where there's a representitive from every team and everyone gets a chance to play.

Agreed, agreed. But I think that whichever team has the better record should get home field advantage in the World Series.

Yes. Also, I should have said before, I'm starting the official countdown for Kurihara to get 55!

Current
39

Goal
At least 55

Countdown
17 more!

July 27, 2014

The Fighters have announced that they have called up young catcher, Kei Nakamura, from their 2nd string team. He excels in pretty much everything, and on the 2nd string team batted .331, with 8 homeruns, and 56 RBI. He is going to be inserted into the 2-slot in the lineup immediately.

Kei Nakamura - C #1
AGE, 2ND POSTION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
18, N/A, L/R, 3, C, C, B, B, B, C

Great. We're going to have to play against them tomorrow. We'll be part of this kid's first Big League game...

July 28, 2014

We're playing against the Fighters today, and their new catcher, Kei Nakamura...

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (46-41-5) - 1
Kyoto Knights (62-26-4) – 0

Fighters 0|0|0|0|0|1|0|0|0 1|6|0
Knights. 0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0 0|7|1

Fighters:

Lineup:
1. Kensuke Tanaka - 2B (1-4, DP, 2B)
2. Kei Nakamura – C (1-3, SF, 1 RBI [1])
3. Yoshio Itoi – CF (0-4, 2 K)
4. Eiichi Koyano - 3B (2-4, 2B)
5. Atsunori Inaba – LF (0-4)
6. Makoto Kaneko – SS (0-4, ROE)
7. Micah Hoffpauir – DH (0-3)
8. Sho Nakata - 1B (1-3)
9. Dai-Kang Yang - 2B (1-3, 2B)

Pitcher(s):
Yu Darvish (9 IP, 0 R, 1 K)

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (1-4, PO, K)
2. Touya Egawa – RF (0-4)
3. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (0-4)
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (2-3, SB)
5. Taiga Kura – SS (2-3, 2B)
6. Goro Shigeno – LF (1-3, DP)
7. Akitaka Shimozono – C (1-3, CS)
8. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (0-3)
9. Hideo Nomoto - 2B (0-3)

Pitcher(s):
Ataru Hiyama (9 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 K)

MVP(s):
Yu Darvish: He threw a complete game shutout, letting up only 7 hits.
Kei Nakamura: His first career RBI in the 6th proved to be the difference in the game

WP: Yu Darvish (12-4)
LP: Ataru Hiyama (8-4)
S: --

Kyoto Knightly
July 28, 2014
A Truly Great Game

– Nakamura and Darvish

Blue Stadium, Sakyō-ku – Yet another fantastic game was played in the twilight of yesterday. The Knights ended up losing this one though, by a score of 1-0. And that one run scored in the game was all thanks to the rookie, Kei Nakamura, who hit a sacrifice fly in the 6th. Oddly enough, with that sac fly, he got his first RBI before recording his first hit. I’ve never seen such a thing before. But regardless, he seems like a nice addition to the Fighters lineup.

The game could’ve been opened up many times, but every time, the situation was gotten out of. In the 4th, the Fighters almost got a run on a deep fly ball to center the Matsunaga made a nice jumping catch on. In the bottom half of that inning, Kurihara stole 2nd, and then Kura got a single to left, and Kurihara tried to score, but was thrown out, barely, to end the inning. In the 7th, the Knights threatened again, with guys on 2nd and 3rd with one out, and Shigeno coming up to bat. He hits a rocket right to Kaneko at short, and he proceeds to double up Kura at 2nd.

In the 8th inning, Nakamura recorded his first hit, a bloop single to left. Congratulations to him! After the game, he spoke about being nominated co-MVP with the great, Yu Darvish: “I’ve never felt this way in my life. I’ve never been so elated. Thank you, very much for this honor!”

It is quite an honor to win player of the game in your first career game.

- Takaharu Sonada