Power Pros Forum

August 24, 2014

Today, we’re playing the Fighters!

Kyoto Knights (76-32-4) - 2
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (59-48-5) – 3
F/11

Knights. 0|0|0|1|0|0|0|0|0|0|1 2|11|0
Fighters 0|0|0|0|0|0|1|0|0|0|2x 3|9|0

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (2-5, SB)
2. Touya Egawa – LF (2-5, SB, HR [11], 1 RBI [50])
3. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (0-5)
4. Masato Kurihara – 1B (3-5, PO, 1 RBI [107])
5. Taiga Kura – SS (1-5, 2 DP, 2B)
6. Akitaka Shimozono – RF (1-4)
7. Daisuke Fukuchi – 3B (0-4)
8. Hideo Nomoto – 2B (0-4, K)
9. Rikiya Terauchi – C (2-4)

Pitcher(s):
Kiyoshi Atori (10 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 K)
Sakutarou Makida (0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER)

Fighters:

Lineup:
1. Kensuke Tanaka – 2B (3-5, 2 2B, 1 RBI [46])
2. Kei Nakamura – C (1-4, HR [3], 1 RBI [12])
3. Yoshio Itoi – CF (0-4, DP)
4. Eiichi Koyano – 3B (0-4)
5. Atsunori Inaba – LF (1-4, K)
6. Makoto Kaneko – SS (0-4, K)
7. Micah Hoffpauir – DH (2-4)
8. Sho Nakata – 1B (1-4, K, DP, 2B)
9. Dai-Kang Yang – RF (1-4, K, 1 RBI [23])

Pitcher(s):
Bobby Keppel (8 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)
Naoki Miyanishi (2 IP, 0 R, 1 K)
Ryo Sakakibara (1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)

MVP:
Kensuke Tanaka: He hit a walkoff double in the 11th inning

WP: Ryo Sakakibara (3-3)
LP: Sakutarou Makida (0-3)
S: --

Kyoto Knightly
August 25, 2014
Makida Blows It

– Kensuke Tanaka

Sapporo Dome, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo – I thought we would win. I really thought we would win. But instead, we lost. We gave it an excellent effort, but in the end, we got beat. WE had the lead going into the bottom of the 11th (thanks to a Egawa homerun in the 4th, and a Kurihara RBI in the 11th), Makida was coming in. It was in the bag. Or so it seemed. Makida got into trouble quick, letting up a leadoff single to Hoffpauir, and then a double to Nakata, then an RBI single to Yang, and then Tanaka came up. He was trouble all game, he was the first one to record a hit in the 4th, with a double. He hit another double in this at-bat. An RBI double. To end the game. “I don’t know why, but nothing was working for me today.” Makida (uncharacteristically calm) said.

It was a great game though! Egawa started the offense with a big homerun to left to lead-off the 4th inning. Atori had a perfect game going for 3 innings, until Tanaka got a double on a mistake pitch. Rookie catcher Nakamura had a clutch, 7th inning homerun to tie it up for the Fighters. Kurihara got his NPB leading 107th RBI with a little dribbler back to the pitcher. And Tanaka hit a walk-off. Pretty much everything you can ask for!

- Takaharu Sonada

August 25, 2014

11:41

I was in Kensou’s office, when Kurihara knocked on the door.
“Come on in, Kurihara.” I said
He walked in, and sat down
“What do you need, Kurihara?” Kensou asked
“Well, sir, my brother is playing in the finals of his last Koshien today, and he would really like me to go down and watch him. So, uh… Would it be alright if I were to go down there and see his game?”
“Yeah, I think that’s perfectly alright! Go support your brother.” I said
“I agree, head on down there, you’re brother would really be happy to see you, I’m sure.” Kensou said
“Thank you sirs! I should be back before the game tonight, if you don’t feel I should start, I completely understand.”
“Alright, see you, Kurihara.” Kensou said
“Bye, Kurihara.” I added

Kurihara rushed out of the locker room and made his way to Koshien Stadium, somewhere I used to be very familiar with… Back in the day…

2:23

I flipped on the TV to Kurihara’s brother’s game, and he was on deck. The camera showed Kurihara in the stands, saying “And even NPB All-Star Kurihara came to support his brother!” Apparently Kurihara’s brother, Sora, is an incredibly well-rounded player like his brother, the Kurihara we all know and love, Masato! Sora is second in Andromeda High’s all time homerun record, behind only his brother. I’ve heard rumors about him before, he’s being looked at by the Eagles, just like Masato was before he was thrown into our draft (luckily!).

The batter before him got on with a single, and he came up to the plate and got ready. First pitch, a pitch high and inside, and he hits one to dead center that went 148 meters, which is the equivalent of about 486 feet! In high school he hit a 486 foot homerun! Kurihara’s longest homerun in high school was 490 feet, so it seems that incredible power runs in the family! Kurihara rounded the bases with his 2nd homerun of the game, and his 5th RBI, and it was only the 7th inning whene he did this!

Andromeda ended up winning the championship 7-0! Sora, the captain, was mobbed at the mound, as this would be his last game in high school. He shed a tear, and then looked up at Masato, they just nodded at each other and both flashed a big smile. The Kurihara brothers led Andromeda high school to a Koshien championship 2 years in a row!

5:21

Kurihara headed back into the locker room, with everyone commenting on his brother’s win.
“Dude! Your brother’s homerun was ridiculous! What was it, like, 150 meters?” Kura said
“Kurihara! You’re brother is very good! Just like you are, you know?!” Makida added
A whole slew of congratulations went to Kurihara’s brother, and he responded with “Yeah, it was pretty great. He ended up going 4-5 with 3 homeruns and 5 RBIs, pretty good, if I say so myself!”

I walked up to him
“Kurihara, congratulations to your brother! Leading the team to a repeat is an amazing accomplishment! How does he feel?”
“He feels great! He’s happy that he was able to lead his team to the Koshien, and win it all. He said to me when he enrolled to Toksei that he ‘wouldn’t be upstaged’ by me. And I would say that he wasn’t!”
“Wait, what do you mean Toksei?”
“He transferred to Andromeda this year, he didn’t like the team over at Toksei that much, so my father, who is a huge baseball enthusiast, enlisted him into the school I went to.”
“I see, I see. So, with his massive amounts of success this season, do you think he’s being looked at by any teams?”
“Yeah, he said the Eagles, the Fighters, and the BayStars are looking at him. He’s not too interested in the BayStars, nor is he too keen on the idea of being a backup to Joe Chavez on the Eagles, so he said that the Fighters are pretty much his only option.”
“Hm… So we’ll be seeing a lot of him next year, if he is to be drafted by the Fighters.”
“Guess so.”
“Well, Kurihara, congrats to your brother, and good luck in tonight’s game.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“See you later.”
“Bye.”

I looked through Sora’s stats, boy, he’s good

Sora Kurihara – 1B
AGE, 2ND POSTION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
17, N/A, R/R, 4, C, A, B, D, C, C
Bio: Kurihara’s brother is the great Masato, he has a lot to live up to, but he has serious potential. A fantastic hitter, a great runner, and a pretty good fielder. Pretty much all you can ask for.
Personality: Very humble, and strives to be better than his brother, Masato

Why can't you draft him?

He already has his older brother.

This

I've got his older brother, Masato, who is also a first baseman, and he's better as well.

Does Jack Allen speak Japanese, or does everybody speak English? Jack is the main character right?

It is told in Jack's point of view.

Yes, Jack speaks some Japanese, which is why he can understand what's going on, and what everyone is saying. It just happens to be translated into English

He is the main character, since

September 6, 2014

Kurihara is just 7 homeruns away from breaking the single-season homerun record. We’re playing the Buffaloes today, and maybe he’ll be able to get closer to it!

ORIX Buffaloes (62-56-5) - 0
Kyoto Knights (81-35-4) – 4

Buffaloes 0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0 0|4|0
Knights.. 2|0|2|0|0|0|0|0|x 4|10|0

Buffaloes:

Lineup:
1. Tomotaka Sakaguchi – CF (0-4)
2. Makoto Moriyama – RF (0-4)
3. Takahiro Okada – DH (1-3)
4. Roy Leon - 3B (0-3, DP)
5. Aarom Baldiris - 2B (0-3)
6. Hirotoshi Kitagawa - 1B (1-3)
7. Mitsutaka Gotoh – SS (1-3)
8. Takeshi Hidaka – C (1-3, DP, 2B)
9. Francisco Caraballo – LF (0-3)

Pitcher(s):
Yuki Nishi (5 IP, 4 R, 4 ER)
Satoshi Komatsu (2 IP, 0 R)
Matoki Higa (1 IP, 0 R)

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (1-4, DP, HR [14], 1 RBI [66])
2. Touya Egawa – RF (2-4)
3. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (0-3, BB)
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (2-4, 2 HR [50, 51], 3 RBI [116, 117, 118])
5. Taiga Kura – SS (1-3, 2B)
6. Goro Shigeno – LF (1-3)
7. Akitaka Shimozono – C (1-3)
8. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (1-3, 2 DP)
9. Hideo Nomoto - 2B (1-3, DP, 2B)

Pitcher(s):
Ataru Hiyama (9 IP, 0 R)

MVP(s):
Ataru Hiyama: He threw a complete game shutout letting up only 4 hits
Masato Kurihara: He was responsible for 3 of the 4 runs, hitting 2 homeruns (including his 50th!)

WP: Ataru Hiyama (12-6)
LP: Yuki Nishi (5-8)
S: --

Kyoto Knightly
September 7, 2014
Hiyama Throws A Shutout – While Kurihara Hits 2
- Hiyama and Kurihara

Blue Stadium, Sakyō-ku – What a game last night. Kurihara reached a milestone, and Hiyama threw a complete game shutout, letting out only 4 hits.

Let’s start off with Kurihara. In the 1st inning, with Egawa on first, he hit a blast to the opposite field, and it hit the staircase (almost hitting a fan who made a swift dodge) for his 50th homerun of the season! 50! The big five-oh! Kurihara’s almost guaranteed (knock on wood) to win the homerun race, the RBI race, and maybe even the batting average race, as he’s only .04 behind the leader! He is a contender for a triple crown, the most prestigious award in baseball. When told about this possibility, he had this remark, “I didn’t even know I was contending for the lead in batting average. I’ll have to continue to give it my all.”

Hiyama threw a complete game shutout, letting up only 4 hits in the game to gain his 12 win of the season. “I really had my stuff today! My slider was working real well, along with my 2-seamer. I didn’t have any strikeouts, but I got plenty of groundouts instead.” He said after the game.

- Takaharu Sonada

Since when was Bobby Keppel a starter?

Kurihara Counter

HR: 51

RECORD: 55

Go Kurihara!!!

He can do it!! We have faith!!

I thought the record was 56...?

Only 5 more!!!





Nope, 55, he'll have the record if he gets 56.

How many games left? How many in a season in Nippon total?