Tigers Countdown

The next few days will prove crucial to the Tigers season. After 136 games, the Tigers stood half a game behind the Yakult Swallows and a place in the post-season Climax Series. Then today- they lost 7-1 in Tokyo, meaning they are one and a half games behind. Only a few games remain, and the next two days they are against the Swallows. As I’m starting my new course it’ll be hard to blog them up- but I’ll be there in spirit!

Remaining Games This Season:

Vs Yakult Swallows (Away), 2 games
Vs Yakult Swallows (Home), 1 game
Vs Chunichi Dragons (Home), 1 game
Vs Hiroshima Crap (Away), 1 game
Vs Yakult Swallows (Away), 2 games

Restaurant: Ryo, 84 Brewer Street

Me and a tomodachi are determined to take on London’s best (budget) Japanese restaurants, and find the very very best. This started with a trip to Tokyo Diner about two weeks ago- I had the katsudon, my friend had the katsu curry, and there was some umeshu and sake sloshing around too.

Next up was Ryo, a restaurant on Brewer Street near Piccadilly. Brewer Street is a strange place- halfway down it changes from being packed full of Japanese restuarants to packed full of sex shops. Still, the Japanese restaurants provide ample choice for the hungry diner. Another friend had recommended TARO, but this time we went for Ryo, partly because there were Japanese people inside, and partly because it was very competitively priced.

Overall, it was an acceptable, but not outstanding meal. You order standing when you enter, giving you little time to ponder over the menu- this was ok for us, but not so good if you’re new to Japanese cooking. The service is brisk, the decor basic- on the table next to us was a Japanese salaryman slurping down his ramen while reading the Evening Standard- and I got the feeling this is as close to an informal Japanese cafe as you’ll get. One review compared it to an izakaya- it is not that, with a short menu. I had katsu curry, and my friend gyoza with rice. Both were accopanied by miso soup that was spot on, and though the gyoza was nice, my katsu was a bit on the small side. I wouldn’t mind this in a Korean/Japanese station restaurant- I’ve had many substandard katsu’s in my time, but when your forking out £7.50 – cheap by London standards but still more than a pub meal- for katsu curry, you expect a bit more. Overall it was acceptable food in an extremely informal setting. I’m not against this- and highbrow dining will not be on our menu in London- but when you can get similarly priced food in seemingly nicer settings all down the street, it is a downside.

Overall: budget, filling Japanese food in an informal setting.

Paul Theroux- First Few Chapters

Tight For The Tigers

There’s been a hiatus from blogging about the Tigers in the last few days, partly because the games have been kicking off earlier than 6pm in Nippon (meaning a special, early morning commitment would be required to watch them here in the UK). The short of it is that things don’t look good. We lost the Hiroshima series 2-1, and are now losing in the Yokohama- yes the Yokohama Baystars series- 2-0. This leaves the table looking like this:

1. Evil Yomiuri M3
2. Chunichi Dragons 9
3. Hanshin Tigers 14.5
4. Hiroshima Carp 0.5
5. Yakult Swallows 1
6. Yokohama Baystars 12

Brief explanation- the M3 for Yomiuri means that they have a Magic Number of 3- if they win 3 more games, the title is theres. Chunichi’s 9 means they are 9 games behind Yomiuri- if Chunichi won there next 5 and Yomiuri lost all of theres, Chunichi would go into first. Hanshin are 14.5 behind Chunichi, but the real panic is that battle for third spot (the top three teams go into the playoffs). As you can see, the Carp are 0.5 games behind Hanshin, and the Swallows are 1.0 games behind the Carp, or 1.5 games behind Hanshin. Its very, very tight- I thought after the Yomiuri sen that we’d have it in the bag, but doubt has crept in due to repeated failures against the Carp and the Baystars. Worse still is that our next series is away to Chunichi.

Next Four Games…

Wed 23- Yokohama (A) – 6am BST

Fri 25 – Chunichi (A) – at the bloggable time of 10am (BST)
Sat 26 – Chunichi (A) – 7am BST
Sun 27 – Chunichi (A) – 6am BST

Books Round-Up (You Gotta Have Wa / The Meaning of Ichiro)

Can We Sweep The Giants?

Yomiuri Giants vs Hanshin Tigers Game 3 (Tokyo Dome)

17th September 2009

That’s the question on everyone’s lips going into this third and final confrontation with the Evil Tokyo Giants. After two heroic, outstanding performances and victories- yesterday’s being quite possibly the best offensive and relief performances of the season- our hopes are high. Today’s starter is Kubo, who is 7-7 with an EPA of 3.56. I hope to see Asai again, after his brilliant play yesterday. Kanoh is clearly our number one catcher now too, though I expect Yanoh will return. The Hanshin flag flies high in this picture- but can we do the unthinkable and win a three game series in Tokyo, replacing all the doubts., confusion and insecurity of the past season with confidence going into the post-season? Let’s find out…

Another Epic Battle…

Evil Yomiuri vs Hanshin, Game 2 (Tokyo Dome)

16th September 2009

A fantastic victory yesterday, with everything working as it should. The match really got my spirits up about a Tigers side that are actually looking pretty sharp for the first time this season, despite missing two of our starters (Akahoshi and Brazell). Today is game two, and our SP is Iwata. Let’s have a look at some SP stats for our lead off guys this season:

Shimoyanagi is 8-8 with a 3.44 EPA

Andoh is 8-9 with 3.53

Nohmi is 10-8 with 2.61

Kubo is 7-7 with a 3.56

Iwata is 5-3 with 2.37

As can be seen, Iwata is really our best performing starter, despite coming back into the team late in the season (he’s played 11 games, pitching 79 innings), and he’s won his last three starts. The Giants are using Tohno, who is 2.94 with a 7-7 record. It promises to be another tight game…

Heroic Eleventh Innings Victory for the Tigers!

Evil Yomiuri vs Hanshin, Game 1 (Tokyo Dome)

15th September 2009

Kyojin are the only Japanese team I hate, and my feelings for them were only confirmed by reading Whitings’ You Gotta Have Wa, exposing them as it did in all their establishment, conservative, machine-like “glory”. Anyway, today we take them on at Tokyo Dome, having been moved up to 3rd place in the league as much (if not more) by successive Swallows’ failures than by our own successes (although we did manage to beat Yokohama 2-1 on sunday).

Chance To Third- Missed

Hanshin Tigers 2 Yokohama Baystars 4 (Koshien)

12th September 2009

So- if we win today, we go up to third! Yakult lost to Chunichi in the early bat-off 4-2, meaning a win or a draw against the Baystars would get us up into the playoff places. On a side note, I’ve just finished reading Robert Whiting’s You Gotta Have Wa. Its an interesting read, fully exposing the craziness of Japanese ways (thats not a complete review, I know). I’m moving straight onto The Meaning of Ichiro, and I hope to have some more eloquent thoughts down on paper (or screen) in the near future.

A Steve Update

It doesn’t look much like this anymore though. Yes, from Seoul, South Korea to Hanoi, Vietnam, Koh Tao, Thailand, back to South Korea, a transfer in Germany, Birmingham, Scotland, back to Birmingham, and finally, last week, I got the chance to visit London, my home for the next year. As an update for those who just stalk me on the internet, rather than know me in person, I’ll be living with my aunt for a few months while I get sorted, and then find my own place- I settled in well, and got myself a part-time job tutoring to help support my extravagant living costs while in the Laandon. I also checked out the lovely campus of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), set in the leaft Russell Square, bought some jumpers in UNIQLO (yes, UNIQLO is everywhere!), and went to a Japanese DJ night in Old Street after a Japanese tasty meal of Katsudon and some umeshu and nihonshu. There’ll be plenty more chances for that sort of thing when I’m back in London for good in a week or two, but for now I’ve returned to the Second City. One other thing- I can’t wait to start taking photos of London, trying to capture aspects of your own country is a more challenging proposition than taking pictures of another country.

Ja ne.