Great numbers accomplished in the effort to win games are meaningful. But accomplishing them in order to help your team win the biggest prize, that's something else altogether.
To take nothing away from the dramatic 1998 battle between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, McGwire's Cards weren't going anywhere. Because the pennant was not at stake, there was no other pressure on McGwire to do anything but go for that remarkable record.
But for the Lions, Buffaloes and the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, every win counts, so the pressure is on, not to hit home runs but to win games. The chance that Rhodes and perhaps even Cabrera will break Sadaharu Oh's single season record of 55 just makes it all the sweeter.
The sight of watching teams employing game-losing tactics at the end of the season to rob a rival team's player of opportunities, is pettiness of a bureaucratic magnitude. The only thing worse than that nonsense is listening to some moron crowing about what a significant achievement titles and records secured in this fashion are.
When Giants pitchers, with the notable exception of Suguru Egawa, refused to throw anything resembling a strike to Randy Bass in 1985, it cheapened Oh's record by leaving in doubt whether Bass could have matched it without the Giants' gamesmanship.
For Rhodes, this season's home run race is a mixed blessing as it has taken a lot of the focus away from the pennant race. Winning the home run crown for a second-place team would seem to be a nice consolation, but if that's the way it winds up, it will be a bitter pill for Rhodes to take with him into the off season.
"That would kill me," said Rhodes recently. "We came into the season with one thing in mind--to win the pennant."
On the other hand, winning the home run title on top of the pennant
would be icing on the cake. The operative word here is "pennant," as it
should be.
!!!
Rhodes had quite a time during the Buffaloes' recently-completed Kanto trip. But the Buffaloes star, who still has a chance of walking away with the triple crown, had to improvise when his socks were nowhere to be found among the team's road equipment when the Buffs arrived for three games in Chiba last week.
Rather than going into the Baseball Encyclopedia as Karl "Sockless Tuffy" Rhodes, borrowed some socks from pitcher Hiroshi Takamura.
Although Tuffy sought out Takamura after dinger No. 49 and thanked him.
After going on a tear, Takamura will be lucky if he ever sees those socks
again. And as long as the Buffaloes keep winning, he certainly isn't going
to demand them back.
!!!
For the few, the proud and the brave who call themselves Buffaloes fans, these are high times. In past years when the Buffaloes played on the road, it seemed like they had more players in left field than horn-tooting, flag-waving fans in the stands.
But success has swelled their supporters ranks. Last Sunday at Tokyo Dome, the Osaka fans completely filled the left-field seats. And when their heroes started to roll, the fans unveiled their show-stopping rally cry that rivaled anything the wonderful fans of the Chiba Lotte Marines have to offer--and that's high praise.
The fans hold Buffaloes towels stretched between their hands, moving them about in unison and finish with a spin. The entire section of the bleachers becomes a blue and red mosaic that jumps and dances to the rhythm of the fans' chant.
Next time you go to a Buffaloes game, sit where you can see the Osaka
fans. It will knock your socks off. But don't worry, Takamura can probably
lend you a pair as well.
!!!
After suffering through a summer of discontent in Tokorozawa, the Seibu Lions are poised to enter the race. The pride has been hampered all season by an unpredictable offense, hot one week and stone cold the next.
The pitching staff, as a whole, has been good but the club depends heavily on veteran Fumiya Nishiguchi and third year firebrand Daisuke Matsuzaka. And when these two have bad starts in the same week, the whole team seems to lose its confidence.
On the other hand, when Matsuzaka throws a gem, like his four-hit shutout on Saturday, manager Osamu Higashio's bunch begin to look hungry and eager for the kill.
Matsuzaka, like almost all young hard throwers, is obsessed with his fastball. Granted, its a heck of a heater, but it makes him more predictable than he needs to be.
Reserve catcher Kazuhiro Wada, who caught Matsuzaka on Saturday, said the young right-hander is ready for the stretch.
Wada bases this on the observation that Matsuzaka has gotten used to throwing his cut fastball in a tight spot.
"When he needed a strike, he used to always think 'fastball,'" said Wada at Seibu Dome on Monday. "But recently, he's going more to his breaking pitches and his cut fastball.
"If he gets behind, he'll throw the cutter now. And if you're looking fastball, your swing will be off just a little.
"So batters can't be sure and they can't give it a full swing. There's some hesitation. And that's a big deal.
"It's going to make a difference the rest of the way."
Wada, too, has been making a difference at the plate. A recent hot spell with the bat has opened the door for more starting opportunities, a rarity on a team with the veteran catching pair of Tsutomu Ito and Satoshi Nakajima.
"It's really different starting as opposed to being in and out of the lineup all the time."
And have his results boosted the confidence of the coaches toward using him more.
"I wouldn't say that," said Wada.
Meaning they have short attention spans?
"That's about it."
Another Lion having a good second half at the plate is third baseman Scott McClain.
"I'd like to tell myself I've been making adjustments," said McClain. "But I think its more the pitchers just leaving more pitches over the plate. Maybe they're getting tired."
And no mention of the Lions would be complete without bringing up Hsu Min-chieh. The right-handed finesse pitcher worked over the Buffaloes on Monday to record his 11th victory as Wada, who admits a fondness for Buffalo fastballs, drove in the first run of the 4-0 Lions win.
Hsu, pronounced "shu" doesn't strike out many hitters, just 62 in 124
1/3 innings, but when he's on he gets mountains of easy outs with his best
pitch: a hsuto.
The Hot Corner appears each Thursday in The
Daily Yomiuri .