1997 Japan Series

This page consists of box scores and commentary. If you want to see an excellent play by play description, go to Michael Westbay's page.

  • Preview and Games One through Four
  • Game Five Box Score
  • Game Five Comments
  • Series Stats
  • Series Overview

    Game Five Box Score

    October 22, 6:36 PM Jingu Kyujo att:33,056
    
    Lions    0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    0
    Swallows 0  2  0  1  0  0  0  0  x    3
    
    HR: None
    
    W: Kazuhisa Ishii (2-0)   S: Takatsu (1-0-1)
    L: Fumiya Nishiguchi (0-2)
    
                  AB R  H RBI 2B 3B HR SH SF SB CS  W HB  K GDP
    SS Matsui      4 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  - 
    CF Otomo       2 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  
    h  Tanabe      1 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -
    p  Denny       0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
    p  Hashimoto   0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  
    h  Kawada      1 0  1  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
    p  Mori S      0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  
    LF Takagi T    4 0  1  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -   
    3B Suzuki Ken  2 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  2  -  -  -
    1B Martinez    4 0  1  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  1   
    r  Wada        0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
    RF Sasaki      4 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
    C  Ito         3 0  1  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  -
    2B Takagi H    2 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
    h  Pemberton   0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  -  -
    r/cf Shimizu   0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
    h  Kanemura    1 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
    P  Nishiguchi  0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  -  -
    h/cf/2b Harai  2 0  1  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -
    h  Otsuka      1 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
       Lions      31 0  5  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  4  1  5  1
    
                  AB R  H RBI 2B 3B HR SH SF SB CS  W HB  K GDP 
    CF Manaka      4 0  1  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
    2B Dobashi     4 0  1  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
    LF Hosey       4 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
    p  Ito T       0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - 
    3b Baba        0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
    C  Furuta      4 1  2  0   1  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -        
    RF Inaba       4 2  2  0   1  1  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
    3B Ikeyama     3 0  1  3   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  2  -
    p  Takatsu     0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - 
    1B Tatum       3 0  1  0   -  -  -  -  -  1  -  -  -  -  -
    SS Miyamoto    3 0  1  0   2  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  2  -
    P  Bross       1 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  - 
    h  Hata        1 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - 
    p  Yamamoto    0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - 
    p  Ishii K     0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - 
    h  Kobayakawa  0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - 
    h  Ono         1 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
    lf Sato S      0 0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
       Swallows   32 3  9  3   4  1  0  0  0  1  0  0  0  5  0
    
                   IP   BF  PC  H  K  W HB  R ER
    R  Nishiguchi   5   21  77  6  2  0  0  3  3
    R  Denny        1.1  5  23  1  2  0  0  0  0
    L  Hashimoto    0.2  4  14  2  0  0  0  0  0
    R  Mori S       1    3  10  0  1  0  0  0  0
    
                   IP   BF  PC  H  K  W HB  R ER
    R  Bross        4   14  60  2  2  2  0  0  0
    L  Yamamoto     1    3  13  0  0  0  0  0  0
    L  Ishii K      2   10  33  1  3  2  1  0  0
    R  Ito T        1    4  19  1  0  0  0  0  0
    R  Takatsu      1    5  15  1  0  0  0  0  0
    
    Error: Tatum (High throw to 2B on force play. Batter and runner safe. One out in 9th)
    
    Base Running Out: Ito (Lions)-(Out 9-6 trying to stretch a single into a double. Two outs in second.)
    
    Passed Ball: Furuta. (Runner advanced 1B to 2B. On first pitch to Suzuki with two outs in 8th)
    
    LOB: Lions 9, Swallows 6
    

    Game Five Comments


    Game five pitted Lions' ace Fumiya Nishiguchi, who pitched a complete game 1-0 loss in game one, against giant right hander Terry Bross. Bross had won both of his two starts against the BlueWave in the 1995 Series, but was making his first appearance in this series against the Lions. The Swallows smacked Nishiguchi around in the second and fourth innings to take a 3-0 lead.

    Bross was frequently ineffective during the regular season but he cruised through the first four innings. In the bottom of the fouth, Bross was lifted for pinch-hitter Shinji Hata with runners on second and third with two outs. After the game, Swallows' manager Katsuya Nomura explained that although Bross had pitched superbly, Nomura had a chance to score again and didn't want to press his luck with Bross. Hata popped up to third to end the inning. Lefty Tatsuki Yamamoto took 13 pitches to nail the Lions in the top of the fifth.

    After Nishiguchi shut down the Swallows in the bottom of the fifth, Swallows' ace Kazuhisa Ishii came out to pitch the top of the sixth. With Nishiguchi scheduled to leadoff the Lions' sixth, manager Osamu Higashio lifted him for a pinch hitter. The new batter, Kazuya Harai split the diamond with Ishii's first pitch for a leadoff single. Ishii settled down and struck out Kazuo Matsui and Norio Tanabe who pinch hit forthe left-handed hitting Otomo. Ishii ended the inning when he got Taisei Suzuki to ground a 2-3 pitch to short.

    New Lions' pitcher Denny Tomori allowed a leadoff double to Atsuya Furuta, but got the next three to escape a jam. Ken Suzuki led off the top of the seventh with a walk, and the second out of the inning advanced him to second. Ishii hit catcher Tsutomu Ito to fill second base and bring up the number-eight hitter Hiroyuki Takagi. Higashio sent in right-handed slugger Rudy Pemberton, a Dominican native the Lions had acquired at mid-season. Pemberton fouled off a first pitch strike and watched four pitches just out of the strike zone to the amazement of the TV analysts and the Swallows' bench. With two out and the bases loaded, Harai struck out and ended the inning.

    Denny struck out Shinya Miyamoto to start the bottom of the seventh. The Swallows pulled Ishi for a pinch hitter and the Lions pulled Denny in favor of lefty Hashimoto. Hashimoto got Yuji Ono to foul out to third but then ran into trouble. Manaka and Dobashi singled before Hashimoto was able to get Hosey to ground out.

    Swallows' relief ace came out to pitch the eighth and was not nearly as sharp as he had been the night before-which is like saying he's someone's not as good a painter as Rembrandt. The Swallows went down in order in the bottom of the eighth, and Nomura brought in Shingo Takatsu to finish the game. Nomura picked Takatsu, he said afterwards, because it seemed fitting.

    Takatsu was nearly perfect in the ninth, despite allowing two runners to rerach base. Domingo Martinez smacked a 1-2 pitch to the left of second where Swallows' shortstop Shinya Miyamoto nearly made a play. The play was scored an infield single. The next pitch was a sharp grounder to first base that looked like a 3-6-3 double play. The force was made at second and Miyamoto's relay was true, but Takatsu and Tatum were both at first base where one Takatsu touched the base and Tatum took the throw. Three pitches later Tsutomu Ito hit an identical double-play ball to Tatum who threw high to short, bringing the tieing run to the plate in the form of power-hitter Yoshiaki Kanemura. Kanemura lied weakly short and down to their last out, the Lions called on light-hitting outfielder Koji Otsuka to hit. Otsuka took two pitches and grounded sharply to second baseman Katsuyuki Dobashi to end the series.


    1997 Series Stats

    Game Location Vistors - Home Win      Time
      1  Seibu       1        0  Swallows 2:41
      2  Seibu       5        6  Lions    4:45
      3  Seibu       3        5  Swallows 3:25
      4  Seibu       1        7  Swallows 3:08
      5  Seibu       0        3  Swallows 2:50
    
    Runs Scored by Inning (N=number of innings)
    Inn. Swallows  Lions
    Inn. N  RS    N   RS
     1       0         5  
     2       4         3 
     3       7         1 
     4       2         0 
     5       0         0 
     6       1         0
     7       2         0
     8       5         0
     9    2  0    5    0 
    10    1  0    0.1  1 
    Tot. 43 21   45.1 10
                    
    Batting
    Swallows      AB  R  H RBI 2B 3B HR SH SF SB CS  W HB  K GDP  AVG.  OBP.  SLUG
    Inaba         20  4 10  1   1  1  -  1  -  -  -  1  -  1  -  .500  .524  .650
    Hata           6  1  3  1   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  2  -  .500  .571  .500
    Sato S         2  1  1  1   -  -  1  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  .500  .500 2.000
    Dobashi       21  3  9  2   3  -  -  -  -  -  1  1  -  3  1  .429  .455  .571
    Manaka        21  2  7  2   1  -  -  2  -  -  -  -  -  2  -  .333  .333  .381
    Furuta        19  3  6  3   2  -  1  -  -  -  -  -  2  1  2  .316  .381  .579      
    Miyamoto      16  2  5  0   2  -  -  2  -  -  -  1  -  2  -  .313  .353  .438
    Ikeyama       16  1  5  4   -  -  -  -  1  1  -  1  -  3  -  .313  .333  .313
    Hosey         20  0  4  3   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  3  -  .200  .238  .200
    Tatum         16  1  2  1   -  -  1  -  -  1  -  -  -  2  1  .125  .125  .313
    Kobayakawa     7  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  3  1  .000  .000  .000
    Tsuji          2  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  .000  .000  .000
    Ono            1  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  -  -  .000  .500  .000
    Baba           1  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  .000  .000  .000
    Jo             0  1  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  .000  .000  .000
    Yamamoto       0  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  .200  .238  .200
    Ishii K        0  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  .200  .238  .200
    
    Takatsu        1  0  1  1   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - 1.000 1.000 1.000
    Kawasaki       2  1  1  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  .500  .500  .500
    Yoshii         1  1  1  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  .000  .000  .000
    Bross          1  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  .000  .000  .000
    
    Swallows' Totals
    Hitters      168 19 51 18   9  1  3  5  1  2  1  7  2 23  5  .304  .355  .423
    Pitchers       5  2  3  1   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  .600  .600  .600
    Team         173 21 54 19   9  1  3  5  1  2  1  7  2 24  5  .312  .344  .428
    
    Lions         AB  R  H RBI 2B 3B HR SH SF SB CS  W HB  K GDP  AVG.  OBP.  SLUG
    Kawada         8  1  4  2   -  -  1  1  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  .500  .524  .650
    Takagi Hiroyki 9  1  4  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  1  2  -  1  -  .444  .545  .444
    Tanabe         3  0  1  1   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  .333  .333  .333
    Suzuki Ken    16  2  5  1   2  -  -  -  -  -  -  5  -  4  -  .313  .476  .438
    Matsui        22  1  6  1   -  -  -  -  -  1  -  -  -  6  -  .273  .273  .273
    Otomo         15  1  3  1   -  -  -  2  -  1  1  1  1  4  1  .200  .294  .200      
    Ito           16  0  3  1   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  3  1  1  -  .188  .350  .188
    Martinez      16  1  3  1   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  6  1  .188  .235  .188
    Takagi Taisei 17  0  3  1   -  -  -  -  1  -  -  3  -  6  -  .176  .286  .176
    Sasaki        18  2  3  1   -  -  -  -  -  1  -  -  -  4  2  .167  .167  .167
    Harai          6  0  1  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  1  1  -  3  -  .167  .286  .167
    Kanemura       3  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  1  -  .000  .250  .000
    Yamada         3  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  .000  .000  .000
    Otsuka         2  1  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  1  -  .000  .333  .000
    Narahara       2  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  .000  .000  .000
    Pemberton      0  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  -  -  .000 1.000  .000
    Shimizu        0  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  .000  .000  .000
    Wada           0  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  .000  .000  .000
    
    Ishii Takashi  1  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  .000  .000  .000
    Nishiguchi     0  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  -  -  .000 1.000  .000
    Shintani       0  0  0  0   -  -  -  1  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  .000  .000  .000
    Bross          1  0  0  0   -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  1  -  .000  .000  .000
    
    Lions' Totals
    Hitters      155 10 36  0   2  -  1  3  1  3  3 19  2 41  4  .232  .322  .265
    Pitchers       2  0  0  0   -  -  -  1  -  -  -  1  -  1  -  .000  .333  .000
    Team         157 10 36 10   2  -  1  4  1  3  3 20  2 42  4  .229  .322  .261
    
    
    Swallows' Pitchers
                   G W L S  IP  BF AB  PC  H HR  K  W HB WP  R ER   ERA OPAvg
    L  Ishii K     2 2 0 0 11   42 35 149  4  0 15  5  1  0  0  0  0.00  .114
    L  Yamamoto    3 0 0 0  6   21 18  94  2  0  8  3  0  0  0  0  0.00  .111
    R  Takatsu     3 1 0 1  5.2 25 23  95  6  0  4  2  0  0  0  0  0.00  .261
    R  Bross       1 0 0 0  4   14 12  60  2  0  2  2  0  0  0  0  0.00  .167
    L  Kato        3 0 0 0  3   14 11  57  2  0  1  2  1  0  0  0  0.00  .182
    R  Ito T       3 0 0 0  3   11 11  44  2  0  2  0  0  0  0  0  0.00  .182
    R  Hirota      3 0 0 0  2    6  6  19  1  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0.00  .167
    R  Kawasaki    1 1 0 0  5.1 22 18  90  4  0  5  3  0  1  1  1  1.69  .222
    R  Yoshii      1 0 0 0  4   18 14  64  7  0  3  2  0  1  3  3  6.75  .500
    R  Tabata      1 0 0 0  1    8  8  40  5  1  1  0  0  0  5  3 27.00  .625
    L  Yamabe      1 0 1 0  0.1  3  1   6  1  0  0 (1) 0  0  1  1 27.00 1.000
    
    Lions' Pitchers
                   G W L S  IP  BF AB  PC  H HR  K  W HB WP  R ER   ERA OPAvg
    R  Denny       4 0 0 0  4.2 18 14  71  2  0  3  3  0  0  0  0  0.00  .143
    R  Mori S      3 1 0 0  3.2 21 13  94  2  0  4  0  0  1  0  0  0.00  .154
    R  Ishii Tkhro 1 0 0 0  2   12 10  44  4  0  0  0  1  0  3  0  0.00  .400
    L  Sugiyama    3 0 0 0  1.2  6  6  24  0  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0.00  .000
    L  Hashimoto   3 0 0 0  1.2 10  9  38  4  0  0  1  0  1  0  0  0.00  .444
    R  Shiozaki    2 0 0 0  3.2 22 20  68  8  0  1  1  1  0  3  1  2.45  .400
    R  Nishiguchi  2 0 2 0 14   54 51 126 13  1  9  0  0  0  4  4  2.57  .255
    R  Ishii Tkshi 3 0 0 0  5.2 25 22 104  8  0  4  2  0  0  4  3  4.76  .364
    R  Shintani    1 0 1 0  4   17 17  50  6  0  2  0  0  0  3  3  6.75  .353
    R  Watanabe H  1 0 1 0  1    6  6  20  4  1  0  0  0  0  2  2 18.00  .667
    L  Givens      1 0 0 0  1    5  4  14  3  1  0  0  0  0  2  2 18.00  .750
    
    
    Fielding
    The Lions put 157 balls in play and the Swallows turned 120 of those balls into outs for a defensive success rate of .764. The Swallows converted four ground balls into double plays.
    
    The Swallows put 184 balls in play and the Lions turned 114 of those balls into outs for a defensive success rate of .659. The Swallows converted five ground balls into double plays.
    
    Each team removed four base runners other than on stolen base attempts or ground ball double plays. The Swallows allowed Lions' runners to advance 6 extra bases on errors, wild pitches and passed balls. Swallows' runners advanmced 5 bases on such plays.
    


    1997 Series Overview

    Several things are clear from the series. 1) Compared to the Swallows, the Lions did not hit the ball very hard. The Lions had three extra-base hits and one of these was a pop-up that bounced between Dwayne Hosey and Shinya Miyamoto and was ruled a double. 2) At the same time, the Swallows pitchers walked a lot of batters. These two points would lead us to think that the Swallows got the Lions to swing at a lot of pitches out side the strike zone. Only third baseman Ken Suzuki, the Lions' most disciplined hitter, seemed able to take advantage of the Swallows' pitching pattern.

    3) The Lions' running game had very little to do with the outcome of the series.The Swallows were just as good at taking extra bases. 4) The Lions' bullpen was not nearly as deep as the Swallows'. When manager Higashio needed a right-handed middle reliever in game three, he had no one to turn to except Hisanobu Watanabe. The Lions would have been better off just using Takehiro Hashimoto who, despite being a side-arm lefty, has been far more effective in the past two seasons than Watanabe.


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