Japan Series

Last episode, we did our Full preview of the MPB postseason.

And now the Japan series matchup is set.

It's the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks for the third straight season in the Pacific League.

No surprise there.

We both predicted that they would beat the O'Meary Giants, but I'm not sure anyone would have predicted them upsetting the Hanshin Tigers, at least not in this dominant of fashion, right? They're still undefeated this postseason, so the ghost win did not matter at all.

They took care of the Tigers very easily, four games to one.

We'll get to the Japan series preview later in the episode, but first, Brandon, your thoughts on the MPB playoffs so far.

Shugomaki Shugomaki is a monster yeah dropped the clip I said he was swinging the bat as well as he swung basically since I've seen him and yeah he's been that good their defense has been really good too and their pitching has been solid I mean they were holding Hanshin down I understand that Hanshin didn't have Sato and Marisha especially for some of some of that series but man they were they were shutting the door and honestly before that just watching kind of like Rydell Martinez struggle at the back end of games and and we've seen that a couple of times and and uh both of these series uh in the Central League just watching guys struggle and even you know in the Pacific League watching guys struggle at the back end in the bullpen is it's very interesting to see uh I guess the power of the long ball kind of play a big factor.

Teruaki Sato wins the NPB Triple Crown, aka, he is very good.

So, what was his road, or what's his road to the MLB, right? In 2021, he debuted for the Hanshin Tigers, 24 home runs, wins the Japan Series, Central League MVP, I can read, plays for Japan at the World Baseball Classic, Heyman links him to four clubs, we'll get into those later, and then he wins the NPB Triple Crown.

So, he is a very good player.

Right? Sato is similar to Murakami, who had a very good year, is a left-handed slugger with game-changing pop.

But that was that season, so many great memories.

made a lot of good friendships there we ended up winning the japan they called the uh uh japan series championship which is equivalent to like the world series there in japan yeah i would say that otani basically led us led us the way there but that was what was that like

winning that oh is it like winning the world like i think it's equivalent winning the world series

series but i would imagine it's something similar because those stadiums were packed i mean 40 000 plus people chanting the whole game it felt like a soccer match at a baseball game um very passionate fan base and then to to win it on the road we played um the hiroshima carp yeah we beat him at their place what a terrible name the carp i know the carp we beat him at their goals some interesting names for

Saved all my jerseys.

They're up in a bin somewhere.

I have a couple of them framed, especially my Japan Series championship jerseys.

Saved that one.

Per the Travel Japan website, "...here there are two conferences, the Central League and the Pacific League, and both of them have their own league playoffs.

The league champions then play each other in the annual Nippon Series." Fans of these teams wear scarves, faithfully attend games, and just like American enthusiasts, breathlessly track their favorite players' stats.

When Randy Bass headed to Japan after his time in the American Major Leagues, he was joining what the International Herald Tribune described as, quote, Japan's oldest baseball franchise.

And he was heading to a city where loyal fans regularly filled a stadium built to hold around 50,000.

The team is based in Osaka and has an incredibly loyal and committed fan base.

As one businessman who'd driven several hours to watch a game told the International Herald Tribune, we're all crazy for the Tigers.

According to the Tribune, the Tigers had only once made it to the Ultimate Championship, the Nippon Series, before Randy Bass joined the team.

That had been all the way back in 1950, but their fans' enthusiasm had not waned.

And speaking of MLB, how about those Chicago White Sox? They're a team with a lot of interest in Japan, not just because of Minataka Murakami, but also Riku Nishida, who got a cup of coffee back in June.

Anthony Kaye, 2024 Japan Series winner with the Bay Stars.

Brandon, thoughts on the White Sox making the playoffs?

Well, first off, the viral moment of Murakami hat-tipping the IM Japanese.

So yeah, subscribe.

That's going to be really fun stuff to kind of just write about mpb more like i'm really excited for that and people can follow me on twitter at brandon two weeks so my first and last name and then ets at the end

yeah and about a month from now we'll be we'll be in the japan series but also we will be uh talking about the mpb draft hopefully so yeah be on the lookout for that here at talking yaki we will hopefully do an episode um dedicated to a couple of top players to keep an eye on from this year's mpb draft but that just about does it for us today thanks for watching see you guys next time