Lions win Series with Game 7 rout

Japan Series leaders

Japanese Pro Yakyu 2004

NIPPON ICHI! Seibu Lions win the 2004 Japan Series in seven games (Photo Source: Sports Hochi)

Japan Series photo coverage by Sponichi Annex

JapanBall.com/Kyodo -- Takashi Ishii was superb on the mound again and Alex Cabrera broke the hearts of fans in Nagoya with a monstrous homer in a five-run, third-inning onslaught Monday as the Seibu Lions clinched their first Japan Series title in 12 years with a 7-2 victory over the Chunichi Dragons in Game 7.
It was the ninth time Seibu, led by first-year manager Tsutomu Ito, won the best-of-seven series between the Central and Pacific League champions. The Lions last won the title of the No. 1 team in Japanese baseball in 1992.
Ishii (2-0), the Series' MVP, pitched a three-hitter over six scoreless innings.
The right-hander caught the Dragons off balance with the same quality pitches he showed in Game 1 when he threw seven shutout innings in a 2-0 victory at the same ballpark.
October 25: Full Story
Related: Daily Yomiuri recap of Game Seven
Also: Ishii comes around just at the right time

Wada powers Seibu over Chunichi

Kazuhiro Wada carries a 3-2 high and away slider from lefty Masahiro Yamamoto over the left-center field wall on Sunday, October 24 (Photo Source: Sports Hochi)

JapanBall.com/Kyodo -- Kazuhiro Wada homered in consecutive at-bats as the Seibu Lions beat the Chunichi Dragons 4-2 in an exciting see-saw affair Sunday to force a deciding Game 7 in the Japan Series.
"It's finally beginning to feel like a Japan Series. The credit should go to Matsuzaka today. He did more than expected," Seibu manager Tsutomu Ito said. "All I ask of the players tomorrow is to play a good game."
Takashi Ishii is likely to get the call to start for Seibu while Domingo Guzman could take the mound for Chunichi.
October 24: Full Story
Related: Game Six recap by Daily Yomiuri
Also: Wada's heroics

Dragons ace changes game plan, improves on Game 1 performance
By Sergei Borisov -- Chunichi Dragons right-hander Kenshin Kawakami fell victim to zero run support in Game One, dropping a 2-0 decision despite a rather impressive line:

  IP  H  R ER BB SO  2B 3B HR   ERA   OBA
 7.0  6  2  1  1  7   1  1  1  1.29  .222

Kenshin Kawakami (Photo Source: Sponichi Annex)

Seibu righty batters hit .227 against him (5-for-22), but slugged .500 (11-for-22) thanks to three long hits. If we remove the strikeouts, the Lions' batters averaged .313 with .688 SLG when putting balls into play. All the hits came off fastballs, as well as six of his seven strikeouts.
Kawakami went with the heat 67% of time (71% when finding the zone), challenged Seibu batters, but struggled to keep his pitches low.
Unlike Game 4 winner Daisuke Yamai, Kawakami doesn't throw sliders. So he turned to cutters in his second start of the Series.
By-the-way, the folks at DataStadium (datastadium.co.jp), the ones who provide live pitch-by-pitch data feed for Yahoo! and Nifty game coverage, refer to the New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera's out pitch as a "high-speed slider", which, at least in Kawakami's case, is a better term than "cut fastball".
The Dragons' ace throws his cutter 5-10 km/h slower than regular straight and tailing fastballs. His Game 5 line:

  IP  H  R ER BB SO  2B 3B HR   ERA   OBA
 8.0  5  1  1  0  7   2  0  0  1.13  .179

Lions' sluggers Jose Fernandez (left) and Alex Cabrera look dejected in the Seibu dugout midway through Game 5 (Photo Source: Sponichi Annex)

This time, Seibu righties hit 3-for-21 (.143), managing the only extra base when Kazuhiro Wada hit a 2-1 low forkball for an 8th-inning double. Without strikeouts, the Lions posted .214 BA and .286 SLG in 14 at-bats.
They went 0-for-6 on fastballs, including three wiffs, as they didn't get anything good to hit.
Kawakami threw fastballs just 38% of time (35% when in the zone), while going with cutters at 40% (45%) rate. It took the Lions way too long to adjust, before they managed a couple hits off the dreaded pitch later in the game.
Trailing the Series 3-2, the Tokorozawa crew now needs to win two in a row. If Chunichi manager Hiromitsu Ochiai elects to stick with his rotation, the Pacific League champions have good chances against veteran southpaw Masahiro Yamamoto and righty fireballer Domingo Guzman, who threw just 6% of anything resembling a slider in his Game 3 no-decision.
But the Dragons have their bullpen rested and ready. Seems like the Seibu Lions have to beat Shinya Okamoto (41% fastball, 46% sliders/cutters) one more time if they want to claim the Nippon Ichi title for the first time in 12 years.
October 23

Kawakami comes up big in Game 5

Sawamura Award winner Kenshin Kawakami limited the host Lions to just one run in his second start of the Japan Series on Friday, Oct. 22 (Photo Source: Nikkan Sports)

By Jim Allen, Daily Yomiuri -- Kenshin Kawakami's second coming was a rousing success.
The right-hander allowed a run in eight innings as the Chunichi Dragons beat the Seibu Lions 6-1 Friday to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Japan Series.
Kazuyoshi Tatsunami homered and drove in two runs and Kazuki Inoue also had two RBIs as the Dragons moved one win away from their first Japan Series title since 1954.
October 22: Full Story
Japan Times: Dragons edge ahead of Lions

Kawakami helps Dragons take 3-2 Series' lead
JapanBall.com/Kyodo -- Kenshin Kawakami took a perfect game into the sixth inning in a solid eight-inning outing Friday, lifting the Chunichi Dragons past the Seibu Lions 6-1 in Game 5 of the Japan Series.
The Dragons effectively put the game out of reach in the top of the ninth on a two-run homer by Kazuyoshi Tatsunami and a solo shot by Alex Ochoa, both off reliever Chikara Onodera.
"We're trying hard to analyze the Seibu lineup and our players, including the pitchers, have been able to adjust well. It's wonderful," Chunichi manager Hiromitsu Ochiai said.
October 22: Full Story

Japan Series beat
By Darron Hargreaves, Asahi Shimbun -- The only reason 26-year-old Daisuke Yamai is even in the rotation is because he defeated teammate Shoji Nagamine in a game of rock-scissors-paper before the series started.
Yes, that's how crafty Dragons manager Hiromitsu Ochiai made his decision. A sudden-death janken playoff.
October 22: Full Story

Chunichi, Seibu all square in Japan Series

Seibu starter Chang Chih-chia leaves a 1-0 forkball up for Kazuki Inoue, who pulls it over the wall in right-center to give Chunichi a commanding 5-0 lead on Thursday, Oct. 21 (Photo Source: Nikkan Sports)

JapanBall.com/Kyodo -- Omar Linares, Alex Ochoa and Kazuki Inoue all homered Thursday as the Chunichi Dragons defeated the Seibu Lions 8-2 in Game 4 of the Japan Series to tie the best-of-seven matchup at two games apiece.
In a game pushed back from Wednesday due to a typhoon, surprise starter Daisuke Yamai threw six shutout innings, helping the Dragons even the series for the second time and the series will now return to Nagoya Dome at least for Game 6 on Sunday.
"Yesterday's rain was timely for me to refresh my brain and our players showed their desire for victory much more than I expected in this game," Chunichi manager Hiromitsu Ochiai said.
October 21: Full Story

Surprise starter Yamai fires Dragons to win
By Jim Allen, Daily Yomiuri -- After implying ace Kenshin Kawakami would be his starter, Chunichi manager Hiromitsu Ochiai pulled another fast one and sent Daisuke Yamai to the mound.
October 21: Full Story

Yamai's slider tames Lions
By Sergei Borisov -- Daisuke Yamai, a right-hander who made only four starts in the regular season, scattered five hits and two walks over six scoreless frames as Chunichi defeated host Seibu 8-2 in Game 4.
The Lions' predominantly right-handed lineup scored 16 runs in Games Two and Three and there was a speculation that Dragons planned to start ace Kenshin Kawakami on short rest to salvage the series.
Throughout the first three games, Lions' RH batters have been sitting on fastballs almost on any count, ready to crash hard stuff inside no matter what happened a pitch before. When able to put a fastball into play, they hit .486 with a .622 isolated power (!!), thus averaging more than one total base per every non-strikeout at-bat. The Dragons badly needed to throw the Lion sluggers off their fastball-hitting ways.

Daisuke Yamai

Yamai followed a pattern demonstrated by Daiei Hawks' RHPs Nagisa Arakaki and Shinji Kurano in the PL Championship series against Seibu - find the strike zone with low and away sliders, then throw them even lower to make Lions chase.
In the first three innings, Yamai put 14 sliders, one curve and only three fastballs into the zone. Of the latter, only one wasn't perfectly placed - a 1-1 fastball up and in yielded a ground ball single up the middle by Hiroyuki Nakajima.
Yamai began losing control of his slider somewhere in the 4th, throwing a few ones way high. He had to throw a few fastballs for strikes, but placed them well and kept going with the bender half of the time.
Overall, the Lions' righties went 1-for-14 with four strikeouts on Yamai's sliders.
Through four games, Seibu right-handers hit only .158 on sliders, missing with 32% of their swings. Major weakness, right? But of the 96 pitches with lateral break they faced from opponent RHPs, 48 were thrown in Game 4 by Yamai alone.
The Lions have nothing lost in this series yet, unless ... the Dragons have another righty slider-meister ready.
October 21

Tanishige hopes rain washes away Japan Series worries
Japan Times -- October 20: Full Story

Typhoon forces schedule change
JapanBall.com/Kyodo -- Heavy rains caused by an approaching typhoon expected to arrive in the evening washed away Game 4 of the Japan Series between the Chunichi Dragons and the Seibu Lions scheduled for Wednesday.
Organizers said they decided to postpone the game which was scheduled to begin at 6:20 p.m. at Seibu Dome until Thursday and will push subsequent games back a day to ensure the safety of the fans.
It is the first time a Japan Series game at a domed stadium has been canceled. Seibu Dome's roof was constructed in 1999.
October 20: Full Story

Cabrera's slam gives Seibu 2-1 lead

Alex Cabrera sends a low fastball from tiring ace reliever Shinya Okamoto 492 feet and completely out of the ballpark in the 7th inning on Tuesday, Oct. 19 (Photo Source: Sports Hochi)

JapanBall.com/Kyodo -- Alex Cabrera hit a tiebreaking outside-the-park grand slam and had a record-tying six RBIs Tuesday as the Seibu Lions beat the Chunichi Dragons 10-8 in a seesaw battle in Game 3 of the Japan Series.
Cabrera turned the game around with one swing as he blasted a Shinya Okamoto fastball over the left-field stands with two out in the seventh inning after Tomoaki Sato tied the game at 6-all with a two-run double down the right-field line.
October 19: Full Story

Kawakami takes Sawamura Award
By Jim Allen, Daily Yomiuri -- Kenshin Kawakami has yet to get a win in the Japan Series, but he claimed an even more elusive prize Monday when he was named the recipient of this season's Sawamura Award.
October 18: Full Story   Also: Kawakami named best starter

Ochiai's bullpen key to tied-up Japan Series
By Jim Allen, Daily Yomiuri -- Hiromitsu Ochiai may be a rookie manager, but you wouldn't be able to tell that from the way he used his bullpen to help the Chunichi Dragons to their 11-6 victory over the Seibu Lions Sunday in Game 2 of the Japan Series at Nagoya Dome.
October 18: Full Story

Dragons rally past Lions 11-6 in Game 2

Chunichi veterans Kazuyoshi Tatsunami (left) and Motonobu Tanishige led the Dragons' five-run outburst versus Seibu ace Daisuke Matsuzaka in the 7th inning on Sunday, Oct. 17 (Photo Source: Nikkan Sports)

JapanBall.com/Kyodo -- Kazuyoshi Tatsunami hit a three-run homer and Motonobu Tanishige delivered a tie-breaking single as the Chunichi Dragons rallied to beat the Seibu Lions 11-6 to even the series at a game apiece in the Japan Series on Sunday.
"We were fortunate that Matsuzaka was on the mound. I doubt any other Lions pitcher can be stubborn like he was on the mound tonight. His fighting spirit cost them a game," Chunichi manager Hiromitsu Ochiai said after winning his first Japan Series game as manager.
October 17: Full Story
Related: Dragon RH batters went 7-for-8 - including five line drives - with less then two strikes, mostly on what is normally considered a pitcher's pitches given the count. Only one of the hits went for extra bases.
Lions' righties, on the other hand, looked for inside stuff in similar situation, going 6-for-16 with three doubles and two home runs.
Symbols and notation

Dragons opt for lifeless ball
By Jim Allen, Daily Yomiuri -- The Seibu Lions got a new ball to play with this weekend. Instead of the lively Mizuno ball used in 92 percent of PL games, the Chunichi Dragons switched to a less lively one made by Sunup in June and is using that ball in its Japan Series home games.
October 16: Full Story

Controversial call in fifth inning causes 49-minute disruption as Seibu blanks Chunichi

Tsutomu Ito (center) and Hiromitsu Ochiai during a 49-minute argument that eventually gave the Dragons their only runner in scoring position (Photo Source: Nikkan Sports)

By Jim Allen, Daily Yomiuri -- Lions right-hander Takashi Ishii shut out the Central League champion Dragons for seven innings, overcoming a long delay when home plate umpire Atsushi Kittaka blew a call and couldn't manage the resulting chaos, taking 49 minutes to get both teams back on the field in the bottom of the fifth inning.
"I think my preparation was very good," said Ishii. "I was pitching way, way over my head tonight. I would have been happy to last five innings."
October 16: Full Story
Related: Lions' righty starter Takashi Ishii limited Dragons' RH batters to just one hit in 20 at-bats.
Symbols and notation

Wada homers as Lions take Game 1

Kazuhiro Wada launched an 0-1 inside fastball down the left-field line for a 4th-inning solo homer as Seibu blanked Chunichi 2-0 in Japan Series opener on Saturday, Oct. 16 (Photo Source: Nikkan Sports)

JapanBall.com/Kyodo -- Kazuhiro Wada homered and Takashi Ishii pitched seven shutout innings Saturday as the Seibu Lions blanked the Chunichi Dragons 2-0 in the Japan Series opener marred by a bizarre umpire error.
Wada homered off Kenshin Kawakami in the fourth inning and Seibu made it 2-0 in the fifth on a two-out error by Chunichi right fielder Hidenori Kuramoto at Nagoya Dome, while Ishii and the Seibu bullpen held the Dragons to two hits.
"A lot of things happened to the game but I'm relieved that we won the opener," Seibu manager Tsutomu Ito said. "Ishii showed what's required in such a big game and Wada's homer proved the key."
October 16: Full Story

Ochoa: Relaxed managing style key for Chunichi
JapanBall.com/Kyodo -- Chunichi Dragons outfielder Alex Ochoa gives manager Hiromitsu Ochiai a thumbs up when it comes to his relaxed style of coaching.
October 16: Full Story

Lions, Dragons look to reverse losing trends in Japan championship
By Jim Allen, Daily Yomiuri -- Over the course of the next nine days, the Japan Series frustrations of either the Seibu Lions or Chunichi Dragons will end.
October 15: Full Story

Seibu Lions look to have slight edge
By Wayne Graczyk, Japan Times -- A position-by-position look at who's who for both teams and who holds the edge in each department.
Prediction: Seibu to defeat Chunichi in six games.
October 15: Full Story   Related: Japan Series previews from Daily Yomiuri and Kim Han Il and Dave Wiggins of Asahi Shimbun

Ito looks at playoffs as boost in Japan Series
JapanBall.com/Kyodo -- Seibu Lions manager Tsutomu Ito is hoping his team's success in the Pacific League playoffs will pay big dividends in the Japan Series beginning Saturday against the Chunichi Dragons at Nagoya Dome.
October 15: Full Story

Ochiai carefree on eve of Japan Series
JapanBall.com/Kyodo -- Chunichi Dragons manager Hiromitsu Ochiai is not making any hard predictions for the Japan Series.
"I don't even feel anything yet and won't until it begins," Ochiai said. "I haven't even analyzed the (Seibu Lions) team, how they play or the data on them."
October 15: Full Story   Related: Chunichi's Fukudome, Noguchi to miss Japan Series

Ochiai, Ito ready for unorthodox clash in Japan Series
JapanBall.com/Kyodo -- October 15: Full Story