Power Pros Forum

But I've SEEN the thing. In real life. And damn is it awesome.

Exactly!


It really is a beautiful TV

June 14, 2015

We're playing the Hawks today, they're only a game behind us in the standings, this is going to be an important game!

Also, Matsunaga's finally back!

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (42-21-2) - 2
Kyoto Knights (44-19-2) – 3

Hawks. 1|0|0|0|0|0|1|0|0 2|9|0
Knights 0|0|0|0|1|0|0|1|1x 3|10|0

Hawks:

Lineup:
1. Munenori Kawasaki – SS (1-4, 2B)
2. Yuichi Honda - 2B (0-4)
3. Seiichi Uchikawa – RF (1-3, SF, 1 RBI [52])
4. Alex Cabrera - 1B (1-4, 2B)
5. Hitoshi Tamura – CF (1-4, HR [6], 1 RBI [43])
6. Li Ng – C (1-4)
7. Nobuhiro Matsuda - 3B (2-3)
8. Hiroki Kokubo – DH (1-3, DP)
9. Jose Ortiz – LF (1-3, 2 DP)

Pitcher(s):
Toshiya Sugiuchi (7 2/3 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 K)
Kenji Ohtonari (1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (1-4)
2. Koyato Oda - 2B (0-4)
3. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (1-4, K, 2B, 1 RBI [50])
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (0-4)
5. Taiga Kura – SS (0-3, HBP)
6. Goro Shigeno – LF (2-4, 2B)
7. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (2-4, K, SB)
8. Akitaka Shimozono – RF (1-4, DP, 1 RBI [33])
9. Rikiya Terauchi – C (3-3, 2B, 1 RBI [8])

Pitcher(s):
Hiroshi Shima (8 IP, 2 R, 2 ER)
Ikumi Koyma (1 IP, 0 R)

MVP:
Akitaka Shimozono: He hit a walkoff single in the bottom of the 9th!

WP: Ikumi Koyama (2-1)
LP: Kenji Ohtonari (4-4)
S: --

Kyoto Knightly
June 15, 2015
Knights Win In A Walkoff Epic
– Akitaka Shimozono

Blue Stadium, Sakyō-ku, Kyoto – Shimozono, “The Cannon.” This kid is showing everyone that if you set your mind to something, it is entirely possible. He was told that he wouldn’t make it, or he would just be a benchwarmer. In fact, Shimozono was originally planned to be the Knights backup catcher to Terauchi, who is just now getting his starts in. Shimozono has the best average on the team, at .350. And remember folks, he was never expected to crack .280 in his career.

Last night, Shimozono hit a nice line drive to right, in the bottom of the 9th, with 1 out, and Shigeno on third. The ball hits the ground, Uchikawa throws it home, but it isn’t in time and the Knights win! They win 3-2! Shimozono commented after the game, “It was my only hit in the game, I wasn’t able to pick up the ball with Sugiuchi, but luckily, Ohtonari gave me one to hit!” Manager Kensou Mori also spoke about his performance, “We just recently moved him into right full time, so I was expecting him to be out of sorts for a little bit, but he sure has proved otherwise, maintaining his fantastic average, and helping in key moments. Especially today, in a must-win game!"

Shimozono truly is someone to look up to.

- Takaharu Sonada

June 17, 2015

We're playing the Fighters today; we've got to win to regain the lead on the Hawks who have just tied it up with us!

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (30-35-3) - 1
Kyoto Knights (45-21-2) – 7

Fighters 0|0|0|0|0|0|1|0|0 1|9|0
Knights. 0|0|0|1|1|0|4|1|x 7|14|0

Fighters:

Lineup:
1. Yoshio Itoi – CF (2-4, 2B, 1 RBI [23])
2. Kensuke Tanaka - 2B (0-4)
3. Eiichi Koyano - 3B (2-4, 3B)
4. Sora Kurihara - 1B (0-4)
5. Kei Nakamura – C (2-4, K)
6. Atsunori Inaba – RF (1-4, K)
7. Aren – DH (0-4, 2 K)
8. Micah Hoffpauir – LF (1-4, 2B)
9. Makoto Kaneto – SS (1-3)

Pitcher(s):
Masaru Takeda (6 1/3 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 K, 1 BB)
Masaru Nakamura (1/3 IP, 3 R, 3 ER)
Keisuke Tanimoto (1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (1-4, BB, SB, PO, 1 RBI [22])
2. Koyato Oda - 2B (3-4, PO)
3. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (3-4, 1 HR [21], 3 RBI [52, 53, 54])
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (2-4, 2 HR [42, 43], 2 RBI [90, 91])
5. Taiga Kura – SS (1-4)
6. Goro Shigeno – LF (0-4, K)
7. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (2-4, HR [10], 1 RBI [34])
8. Akitaka Shimozono – RF (1-3)
- Ryouya Miyaki – INJ REP (0-1)
9. Rikiya Terauchi – C (1-3, SAC)

Pitcher(s):
Ataru Hiyama (9 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 K)

MVP(s):
Ataru Hiyama: He threw a complete game, letting up only 1 run
Masato Kurihara: He hit 2 homeruns with 2 RBI

WP: Ataru Hiyama (8-3)
LP: Masaru Takeda (3-7)
S: --

Kyoto Knightly
June 18, 2015
Knights Win!

- Hiyama and Kurihara

Blue Stadium, Sakyō-ku, Kyoto – In an uneventful game, other than the fact that Shimozono will be out for an entire month with a sprained wrist, the Knights beat the Fighters 7-1, and retook 1st place!

On the Shimozono front, it took place in the top half of the 8th, and a long fly ball was hit to right, Shimozono mistimed his jump, and slammed, full speed, into the wall, spraining his wrist in the process. “Yeah, it was bad. I really mistimed it. Oh well! I’ll be back in a month!” He said.

- Takaharu Sonada

June 23, 2015

Today, we're playing the third place Buffaloes!

ORIX Buffaloes (41-28-4) - 0
Kyoto Knights (50-21-2) – 3

Buffaloes 0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0 0|4|0
Knights… 3|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0 3|12|0

Buffaloes:

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

Pitcher(s):
Chihiro Kaneko (8 IP, 3 R, 3 ER)

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (2-4, FC, 2B, SB)
2. Koyato Oda – SS (2-4, 2B)
3. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (1-4, DP)
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (3-4, 2 2B, 1 RBI [93])
5. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (1-4, DP, 2 RBI [39, 40])
6. Rikiya Terauchi – C (1-4)
7. Ryouya Miyaki – RF (0-3)
8. Touya Egawa – LF (0-3)
9. Hideo Nomoto - 2B (2-3)

Pitcher(s):
Kazuya Fujita (9 IP, 0 R, 5 K)

MVP(s):
Kazuya Fujita: He threw a complete game shutout, letting up only 4 hits, and striking out 5
Masato Kurihara: He hit 2 doubles, a single, and had an RBI

WP: Kazuya Fujita (11-1)
LP: Chihiro Kaneko (5-4)
S: --

Kyoto Knightly
June 24, 2015
50 Wins, and Another Fujita Victory!
– Fujita and Kurihara

Blue Stadium, Sakyō-ku, Kyoto – Fujita had yet another great game, throwing a complete game shutout, letting up only 4 hits, and striking out 5 in the process. So far, this rookie Fujita has turned out to be the best pitcher on the Knights. He leads the league in wins, and is second only to Darvish in ERA.

This game was a very quick one, being only 1 hour and 51 minutes in total thanks to Fujita and Kaneko’s great pitching. Kaneko was handed the loss, but he pitched well nonetheless. He only let up 3 runs, and all of them came in the 1st, by no means a poor performance for the Buffaloes ace.

The Knights did well today, even though they’re missing Shimozono and now Kura, who is going to be out for 4 more days, due to some arm soreness.

- Takaharu Sonada

June 25, 2015

As I was going out to buy my groceries, I received a call from Preston, who I haven't talked to in a while.
"Hello?" I said
"Hey, Jack! I've got 2 players for you to come and look at."
"Alright, I'll be right down."
I hung up, and changed directions, to go to the offices in the stadium.
When I got there, I met Preston at the door.
"Hey Jack, come on in."
"So, who do you want to show me?"
"Alright, well, I was watching these two for a little while now, and I sure am impressed."
"Who are they?"
"The first one I want to show you is Mitsunobu Shibahara, a power hitting outfielder/first baseman. His stats are:

Mitsunobu Shibahara - 1B
AGE, 2ND POSTION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
19, OF, S/L, 3, B, A, D, D, D, C
Bio: Shibahara's a great hitter, both contact wise and power wise. But, his fielding is lackluster. He would really fit well batting fifth, following Kanazawa and Kurihara.
Personality: Kind"

"Hm... He sounds like he would be a good addition, but who would he replace?"
"Shigeno, he's really struggling."
"I see, I see, who's the other one?"
"Okay, he's also pretty great, Yoshiro Ushida, a second baseman/outfielder. His stats are:

Yoshiro Ushida - 2B
AGE, 2ND POSTION, B/T, TRJ, CON, POW, RUN, ARM, FLD, E RES
19, OF, S/R, 3, A, D, A (94!), C, C, C
Bio: He's a lot like Oda in his style of play, only his abilities are a bit better.
Personality: He's quiet, but always gives his all"

"He's great too! Would he be replacing Oda?" I asked
"No, he would go to the outfield to replace Shigeno."
"Okay, okay. Cool. Well, I'll call Ryan, Bryan, and Todd."

So, dish, PPJ, mac, [tm], who should I get?

I'd say Ushida.

I like Ushida more as well.

It's looking like Ushida will be my choice!

Ushida.

June 26, 2015

With everyone getting back to me (except Todd), and saying Ushida, I decided to call Preston.

13:42
"Hello?" He said
"Well, Preston, looks like it's going to be Ushida."
"Excellent, I'll have him call you!"
"No, no, give me his number, I'll call him myself."
"Very well then Jack, here, his number is......"
He gave me his number, and I hung up to call him.

The phone rang a solid 7 times before he finally picked up
"H-hello?" He said
"Hello, Yoshiro?"
"Y-yes... Who is this?"
"This is Jack Allen, from the Kyoto Knights."
"......Seriously?!"
"Yessir, seriously."
"Well, why are you calling me?"
"You free tonight?"
"Uh... I guess so..."
"Come down to the stadium, and I'll meet up with you."
"O-okay, sir!"
"Well, I'll see you at 17:00 sharp."
"I'll be there!"

16:53
As I went down to the main office to wait for Ushida, I noticed a car pull up, and a real lanky kid get out.
Ushida? I thought to myself
The car pulled off, and the kid waved as it did. I assumed that his mother or father dropped him off, not knowing what was happening.
I walked up to him.
"Ushida?"
"Jack Allen?"
"Ushida, come on in."
I led him into my office, where a glove, a bat, and a uniform outfitted with the number 15 and his name on it.
I watched his eyes as he saw these things, he damn nearly fainted.
"Sir... Why is this here?"
"Welcome to the team, Ushida!"
".........Thank you sir!"
"You're playing tonight at second, you'll be batting last."
"Th-thank you sir!"
"Get out there an practice, Oda will show you the ropes. You know who he is, right?"
"Of course! I'm a huge Knights fan!"
"Excellent! Good luck, Ushida!"
"Thank you sir!"
Ushida rushed out of the office, and ran down to the field. I saw him chat with Oda, and they got to practicing.

Number 15! Good choice.

June 26, 2015

We're playing the Lions tonight, and it's Ushida's first game!

Saitama Seibu Lions (31-41-1) - 1
Kyoto Knights (53-21-2) – 2

Lions... 0|1|0|0|0|0|0|0|0 1|9|0
Knights 2|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0 2|8|1

Lions:

Lineup:
1. Yasayuki Kataoka - 2B (0-5, ROE, 3 K)
2. Satoya Takasaki – CF (1-3, SAC, 2B)
3. Hiroyuki Nakajima – SS (2-4, 2B)
4. Takeya Nakamura - 3B (1-4, 2 K, HR [23], 1 RBI [79])
5. Jose Fernandez – DH (0-4, K)
6. Takumi Kuriyama – RF (1-4, 2B)
7. Ryo Sakata – LF (1-4)
8. Tatsuyuki Uemoto – C (0-3, K)
- Hisashi Takayama – PH (1-1)
9. Hiroshi Hirao - 1B (1-4)

Pitcher(s):
Hideaki Wakui (8 IP, 2 R, 2 ER)

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (1-3, SAC)
2. Koyato Oda – SS (0-4)
3. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (1-3, HR [24], 2 RBI [59, 60])
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (2-3)
5. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (1-3, 2 DP)
6. Goro Shigeno – LF (0-3, DP)
7. Rikiya Terauchi – C (0-3)
8. Ryouya Miyaki – RF (2-3)
9. Yoshiro Ushida - 2B (1-3)

Pitcher(s):
Kiyoshi Atori (8 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 6 K)
Sakutarou Makida (1 IP, 0 R, 1 K)

MVP(s):
Kiyoshi Atori: He threw 8 innings, letting up only 1 run, and striking out 6
Takuya Kanazawa: His homerun in the 1st accounted for the only runs the Knights had

WP: Kiyoshi Atori (6-4)
LP: Hideaki Wakui (4-6)
S: Sakutarou Makida (13)

Kyoto Knightly
June 27, 2015
Knights Win A Tight One

– Atori and Kanazawa

Blue Stadium, Sakyō-ku, Kyoto – Last night’s game was quite the thriller, ending with the Knights victorious with a final score of 2-1. Also, last night’s game was the newest addition to the team, Ushida’s first game. He got a nice single to right in his first at-bat, and also, in the bottom 5th, he made an incredible play in the field, running behind the bag, and then making a jump throw to throw out Hisao at first to end the inning! It seems as if Ushida will really be a strong addition to the infield, if he even is going to be staying there, since Kura’s back from his stint being out. Maybe he’ll be going to the outfield? Who knows.

- Takaharu Sonada

June 30, 2015

Today, we're playing the Eagles, should be good!

Rakuten Golden Eagles (31-40-5) - 1
Kyoto Knights (56-21-2) – 7

Eagles. 0|0|0|0|0|1|0|0|0 1|7|1
Knights 0|0|4|0|0|2|0|1|x 7|10|1

Eagles:

Lineup:
1. Ryo Hijirisawa – CF (0-4, ROE, SB)
2. Kensuke Uchimura - 2B (3-4, 2B)
3. Teppei Tsuchiya – RF (0-3, SF, 1 RBI [27])
4. Joe Chavez - 1B (0-4)
5. Motohiro Shima – C (1-4, K)
6. Takemori – DH (0-4)
7. Akinori Iwamura - 3B (0-4)
8. Akihisa Makida – LF (2-4, 2B)
9. Kazuo Matsui – SS (1-3, K)

Pitcher(s):
Tsuyoshi Kawagishi (4 IP, 4 R, 2 ER)
Koji Aoyama (1 2/3 IP, 2 R, 2 ER)
Kenji Tomura (2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER)

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Tsuyoshi Matsunaga – CF (1-3, 2 PO, BB)
2. Koyato Oda - 2B (0-4, ROE)
3. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (1-4, HR [27], 2 RBI [67, 68])
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (2-4, 2B, HR [44], 1 RBI [98])
5. Taiga Kura – SS (2-4, HR [14], 2 RBI [56, 57])
6. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (0-4, DP)
7. Yoshiro Ushida – LF (3-3, 2B, HR [1], 1 RBI [2])
8. Rikiya Terauchi – C (0-3)
9. Ryouya Miyaki – RF (1-3, HR [1], 1 RBI [4])

Pitcher(s):
Hiroshi Shima (9 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 K)

MVP(s):
Hiroshi Shima: He threw a complete game, and let up only 1 run (which was unearned!)
Yoshiro Ushida: His homerun in the 3rd gave the Knights their lead!

WP: Hiroshi Shima (7-2)
LP: Tsuyoshi Kawagishi (1-4)
S: --

Kyoto Knightly
July 1, 2015
Knights Beat Eagles!

– Shima and Ushida

Blue Stadium, Sakyō-ku, Kyoto – So, the Knights won again, further increasing their lead against the Hawks to 8 games! And it was in fact, quite an easy game for the Knights. The newbie, Ushida, really showed his stuff in last night’s game. On a rainy night, young Ushida hit his first career homerun. He was batting from the left side, and hit a low fastball that was a rocket that went over the wall, right next to the right field foul pole.
“I’ve always dreamed of hitting a homerun up here in the NPB. It was incredible!” Ushida said. Ushida also hit a double and a single in the game! So congratulations to Ushida!

Along with Ushida, Miyaki, in his sophomore season, hit his first career homerun to left! In the same inning, the 3rd. “It was odd that Ushida and I both hit our firs homeruns in the same inning, but nonetheless, I still am happy that I finally got it!” he said.

Also, Shima threw a complete game, and let up only an unearned run while striking out 2. “I did well, though I did let up a run. But it was unearned.” He said afterwards.

Finally, the players of June were announced this morning, Kusahiko Shuai of the Samurais won pitcher of the month for the Central League, with a 0.62 ERA, and going 4-0. Kanazawa won player of the month (for the Pacific League), batting .361, hitting 13 homeruns, and 31 RBI. And Fujita won pitcher of the month (for the Pacific League), with a stellar 0.51 ERA and also going 4-0!

- Takaharu Sonada

July 3, 2015

Today we're playing the Marines, should be good!

Chiba Lotte Marines (38-39-2) - 5
Kyoto Knights (58-22-2) – 10

Marines 1|1|0|0|0|1|1|1|0 5|13|0
Knights 4|0|2|0|1|3|0|0|x 10|21|0

Marines:

Lineup:
1. Akinobu Komatsu – CF (1-5)
2. Takashi Ogino – SS (3-5, K)
3. Toshiaki Imae - 3B (1-5, 2 K, 2B, 1 RBI [66])
4. Jun Shunta – C (1-5, K, 2B)
5. Tadahito Iguchi - 2B (1-4, 1 RBI [41])
6. Kazuya Fukuura - 1B (1-4, 2B)
7. Shoitsu Ohmatsu – DH (3-4, 2B HR [6], 2 RBI [38, 39])
8. Takuya Takahama – LF (1-4, 2B, 1 RBI [10])
9. Yoshifumi Okada – RF (1-4)

Pitcher(s):
Yuki Karakawa (2+ IP, 6 R, 6 ER)
Atsuhiro Mitsuhara (3 2/3 IP, 4 R, 4 ER)
Micheal Nakamura (2 1/3 IP, 0 R)

Knights:

Lineup:
1. Yoshiro Ushida – CF (2-5, SB, 2B, FC)
2. Koyato Oda - 2B (1-5)
3. Takuya Kanazawa – DH (4-5, 2B, 2 HR [30, 31], 4 RBI [72, 73, 74, 75])
4. Masato Kurihara - 1B (4-5, 3 HR [46, 47, 48], 5 RBI [100, 101, 102, 103, 104])
5. Taiga Kura – SS (3-5)
6. Daisuke Fukuchi - 3B (2-5, FC)
7. Goro Shigeno – LF (2-4, 2B, DP)
8. Rikiya Terauchi – C (2-4, 1 RBI [15])
9. Ryouya Miyaki – RF (1-4, DP)

Pitcher(s):
Tsukiya Yamato (9 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 K)

MVP:
Masato Kurihara: His 2-run go ahead homerun in the 1st gave the Knights their lead; he also got 2 more homeruns and 5 RBI

WP: Tsukiya Yamato (10-4)
LP: Yuki Karakawa (5-5)
S: --

Kyoto Knightly
July 4, 2015
Kanazawa and Kurihara Lead Knights to Victory!
– Kanazawa’s Homerun Swing

– Masato Kurihara

Blue Stadium, Sakyō-ku, Kyoto – Well, The Knights beat their opponents, the Marines, by a score of 10-5. And 9 of those 10 runs came thanks to the two best hitters in the league, Kurihara and Kanazawa. Kurihara went 4-5, with a single, 3 homeruns, and 5 RBI, and with those RBI he became the first player in the NPB to get all the way up to 100! Congratulations to him! And Kanazawa went 4-5 as well, with a double, 2 homeruns, and 4 RBI. One of those homeruns hit by Kanazawa went a stunning 158 meters (518 FEET)! Goodness! Both of them did absolutely fantastic, and have proved to be the most lethal one-two punch in the league, hands down. Kanazawa has a stellar 31 homeruns already, 3rd in the league, behind Roy Leon of the Buffaloes (who has 36 homeruns), and our own Kurihara, who leads the NPB by far with a whopping 48 homeruns!

Amazing!

Also, there are rumors going around that some of the players released from the Tigers may be making a comeback next season. Could this possibly be true?

- Takaharu Sonada