November 9th, 2008

Saitama Seibu Lions 3

Yomiuri Giants 2

(Tokyo Dome)

The Saitama Seibu Lions came back from an 0-2 deficit to defeat the Yomiuri Giants in the deciding game seven of the 2008 Japan Series Championship.

It was Saitama’s first Japan Series championship since 2004 when it beat the Chunichi Dragons in seven games. Saitama is the winningest franchise in NPB over the past 30 years as far as Japan Series titles are concerned. 2008 is their 13th title against eight losses overall (including three by Seibu precursor, Nishitetsu). The Lions won five Japan Series titles during the 80’s, three during the 90’s, and this is now their second title so far this decade. From 1986 to 1992, in fact, Saitama won the title six times (they did not appear in the 1989 series which Yomiuri eventually won).

Yomiuri is the winningest Japan Series contender of all time, but they have not had nearly the amount of success as the Lions over the last three decades. They are tied with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows for number of Japan Series wins during that time with five. Yomiuri last appeared in a Japan Series Championship in 2002 when it beat the Saitama Seibu Lions in four straight games.

Yomiuri now has 20 Japan Series titles against 11 losses.

With 14 year veteran, Fumiya Nishiguchi, pitching for the visiting Lions, Yomiuri got off to a quick start. With the bases loaded, Yomiuri scored one run on a Nishiguchi wild pitch in the first inning.

In the second inning, Yomiuri shortstop, Hayato Sakamoto, drove a Nishiguchi meatball into the left field stands. 2-0 Yomiuri.

Nishiguchi (2 Hits; 3 K’s; 2 BB’s; 1 wild pitch; 2 earned runs; 9.00 ERA) was pulled after the second inning, and Lions first year manager, Hisanobu Watanabe, paraded out most of the rest of his starting pitchers in a desperate attempt to get some stability on the mound. It worked last night with Kishi, so why not try it again, right?

Well, stability is what he got. Starters Kazuhisa Ishii and Hideaki Wakui, both coming off of lackluster performances earlier in the series, pitched two innings of perfect baseball each. Then Tomoki Hoshino pitched a perfect seventh and claimed the win in the process. Finally, closer Alex Graman came on for the last two innings and retired all six batters he faced. After getting four runners on base during the first two innings, Yomiuri was completely shut down for the last seven.

Trailing 2-0 in the top of the fifth, and following two excellent innings by Ishii (including 2 strikeouts), Hiram Bocachica replaced the lefty in the lineup with two outs and nobody on. Yomiuri starter, Tetsuya Utsumi, had been very sharp up until that point, but he left one hanging a little too high up in the zone and Bocachica drilled it into the orange people sitting in left. 2-1 Yomiuri.

After two unbelievable innings by Wakui (including four strikeouts), and a solid seventh care of Hoshino, it was time for the Lions batters to start dealing with Yomiuri’s impressive set-up duo of Daisuke Ochi and Kiyoshi Toyoda.

After escaping from a pinch in the seventh, Ochi came on again in the eighth, and he promptly plunked Saitama second baseman, Yasuyuki Kataoka, with some chin music. Kataoka immediately stole second, and he was then bunted over to third by outfielder Takumi Kuriyama.

Kataoka scored on a weak grounder to third by Hiroyuki Nakajima. 2-2.

Then the cracks in Ochi’s armor finally started to show. He walked the next two batters he faced and gave up an rbi single to first baseman and Japan Series sensation, Hiroshi Hirao. 3-2 Saitama.

Ochi, pitching in his fifth game of the series, gave up two runs off of two hits. He also had two strikeouts, three walks and one hit batter. His Japan Series ERA rose to a still respectable 2.35 while taking the loss for the home team.

Toyoda also had a bit of a hiccup when he gave up his first Japan Series hit in recent memory. Pinch hitter, Shougo Akada, ended up on third base after hitting one to within about half of a meter of the top of the wall in right. (That’s why they don’t open the outfield doors when the visiting team is batting.)

Toyoda escaped from the inning without further damage, however, and then it was up to Graman to take the mound again and work through the business end of the Yomiuri lineup.

First, Kimura Takuya, who scored on the wild pitch in the first, struck out swinging. Then Ogasawara grounded out to first base.

With two outs, and trailing by one run, Alex Ramirez stepped up to the plate.

Ground ball to shortstop. Soft toss to first. Championship over.

Saitama won the series 4-3, and like Yomiuri, the team played without the help of some of their bigger bats. G.G. Satou, Craig Brazell and Toru Hosokawa were injured for much or all of this series.

All in all, four Lions batters reached base twice in this game. Kataoka, Nakajima, Nakamura and Hirao were the biggest headaches for Yomiuri in that respect.

Saitama cleanup hitter, Nakamura, had an interesting series at the plate. He was hitless for the fifth time tonight, but drew another two walks. He went only 3-24 in the series (.125 BA), but all of his hits were home runs. He drove in seven rbi’s with those three dingers, and he also drew six walks.

Hiroshi Hirao, on the other hand, had an unequivocally stellar series. He went 8-14 at the plate with two home runs, six rbi’s and one plunking for a .571 batting average. He didn’t play in the first and third games, and came on as a sub in the second and fifth, but he had an impact in most every game he played. His OBP was .600 during this series.

Nakajima also had a solid series. He was very good on defense and went 8-25 from the plate with two jacks, six rbi’s, two plunkings and two walks. His .414 OBP is very respectable against pitching as strong as he saw.

But the winner of the Japan Series MVP was the pitcher who won games four and six, Takayuki Kishi.

He started game four and pitched a complete-game shutout on November fifth before being called in to pitch 5.2 innings of relief last night (Nov. 9th). He threw 147 pitches in game four and another 91 in game six. In 14.2 innings of work Kishi gave up 10 hits and two walks against 16 strikeouts. His Japan Series ERA is 0.00.

Congratulations to the Saitama Seibu Lions and all of their fans on a great season and a remarkable Japan Series Championship victory!

November 8th, 2008

Saitama Seibu Lions 4

Yomiuri Giants 1

(Tokyo Dome)

Well, folks, there’s going to be a game seven.

Saitama starter, Kazuyuki Hoashi, only made it through 3.1 innings, but Takayuki Kishi, another starter, saved the day by pitching 5.2 innings of shutout relief.

Hoashi gave up one run off of six hits, but he didn’t strike anybody out, and he issued one walk.

Hisanori Takahashi, Yomiuri’s starter, fared about the same. He got yanked after only 52 pitches (two innings!).

Providing the offense for Saitama was Hiroshi Hirao, the Lions first baseman. He went 3-4 on the night with a single, a three-rbi double and a solo home run. For the record, he drove in all four of Saitama’s runs tonight.

Also hitting well for Saitama was Tomoaki Satou. He went 3-4 with three singles. Meanwhile, Nakamura drew three walks, and both Kuriyama and Nakajima went 1-3 with two walks apiece.

Suzuki and Ramirez had a decent night on offense for Yomiuri, but only one run was produced.

Kishi (2-0, 0.00) took the win for Saitama while Takahashi (0-1, 6.14) went home with the loss.

The deciding game seven is tomorrow night at Tokyo Dome starting at 6:15 PM.

I received a follow-up email from Jason’s girlfriend.

email November 5th

Hello,

My friend Gabe Calton gave me your email address. I am Jason Deel’s girlfriend of 3 years. This has been the hardest thing I have ever been thru. Jason and I are more that we are best friends. We’ve been to so many races together we live close to Bristol and have season tickets we go to charlotte and other places. Jason loves nascar so much and he would appreciate all the prayers. If anyone wants to send E-Cards they can go to http://www.ohiohealth.com/homegrant.cfm?id=321 and click send E-Card he is in Grant Medical Center.

Thank you so much for everything

I attached a photo of Jason and I today at the last Bristol race. He has a Kahne shirt on but dont get me wrong he is a GORDON ONLY fan he lost a bet and had to wear the Kahne shirt.

Tara

November 6th, 2008

Yomiuri Giants 7

Saitama Seibu Lions 3

(Seibu Dome)

A seventh inning Wakui meltdown was the story of this game.

One out into the inning, riding a decent six frames of two-hit, one-run baseball (with six K’s against one walk), the wheels came completely off the Wakui express.

Prior to the great unraveling, Saitama was protecting a 2-1 lead. The Lions managed to score a single run in both the first and third innings off of Yomiuri starter, Kouji Uehara (who lasted only three innings, by the way), and Wakui had given up a solo home run to Abe in the second.

But then the tune of the downhill slide went a little something like this:

First, Ramirez doubled, then Abe brought him around on a single to right. All tied, 2-2.

Then Kamei immediately doubled to center to put guys on second and third.

That was followed by a triple by Wakiya that just barely stayed in the park. 2-4, Yomiuri.

Wakiya promptly trotted across home plate when Sakamoto roped a double to left. 2-5, Yomiuri.

And that was the end of Wakui’s night.

The truly shocking thing was that most of those hits only required one or two pitches. It wasn’t like guys were battling Wakui and fouling off pitch after pitch. The pitches just kept floating right over the middle of the plate, and the very next camera angle (for five batters in a row) generally showed the ball ricocheting off the outfield wall.

And now with the emergence of Daisuke Ochi as a postseason pitching machine, the Yomiuri bullpen is arguably better than the starting rotation–and I’m not really even counting Kroon.

Yes, Kroon was partly responsible for several dozen of his team’s wins during the regular season, but I’ll take Kiyoshi Toyoda (a former Seibu Lion) in the postseason anyday. When Toyoda pitches in the playoffs, batters do not make it to first base. Period.

Speaking of Kroon, he came on in the ninth and gave up a home run and a single before recording the third out.

Yomiuri now leads this series three games to two. The teams head east to Tokyo Dome for games five and six (if necessary).

Game five is on Saturday and starts at 6:15 PM.

November 5th, 2008

Yomiuri Giants 0

Saitama Seibu Lions 5

(Seibu Dome)

Takayuki Kishi, Saitama’s 23-year-old starter that finished the regular season with a 3.42 ERA, had the game of his career tonight.

The second-year righty out of Tohoku Gakuin University pitched a complete game, four-hit shutout. He gave up one walk against 10 strikeouts in a dominating display that involved 147 pitches.

Yomiuri never managed to get more than one runner on base in any single inning.

Seth Greisinger, Yomiuri’s starter, got tagged for five runs (all earned) in five innings (and change) of work. He was yanked in the sixth before he was able to record a single out because Nakajima singled to lead off and Nakamura drilled his second two-run homer of the game (the plus-sized third baseman has now hit three home runs in the last two games). 5-0 Saitama.

Greisinger (9.00 ERA) gave up six hits and hit one batter while striking out only two. This was definitely not the same pitcher that we have grown accostomed to seeing over the past two seasons.

Game five, the final installment of this series at Seibu Dome, starts at 6:15 PM tomorrow night.

The series is now tied at two games each.

November 4th, 2008

Yomiuri Giants 6

Saitama Seibu Lions 4
(Seibu Dome)

Saitama starter (and former Tokyo ace), Kazuhisa Ishii (7.50 ERA), took the mound for his first appearance in the Japan Series since 2001 and hoped to continue the good form he displayed during the Climax Series.

Ishii gave up six hits (including two doubles and two home runs) during his six innings on the mound. He struck out four, walked two and was charged with one wild pitch and five runs (one of which came via a wild pitch in the first).

Things looked pretty bad for Saitama after Yomiuri’s sixth inning with the score 0-5, but the top half of Saitama’s order started to get things going. Following Bocachica’s leadoff strikeout, Kataoka and Kuriyama both singled off of Yomiuri starter, Tetsuya Utsumi. That put runners on first and third because Kataoka had stolen second prior to Kuriyama’s base hit to left.

Nakajima then plated Kataoka with a single to center for Saitama’s first run of the night. 1-5 Yomiuri.

Then Pacific league home run champ, Nakamura, who hasn’t done much of anything during the playoffs, stepped up to the plate. By this point, Utsumi (5.1 IP, 3 earned runs, 6 hits, 7 K’s, 5.06 ERA) had been replaced by Nishimura, and with two men on, Nakamura promptly deposited one of his pitches into the orange-filled bleachers in left. 4-5 Yomiuri.

But that was it for Saitama’s offense. They only managed one base runner after the four-hit explosion in the sixth, and that was by way of a walk.

Yomiuri set-up man, Daisuke Ochi, made his third appearance of this series, pitching a scoreless seventh and eigth, and still boasts an impressive 0.00 ERA in this championship series.

Suzuki and Ramirez both hit home runs off of Ishii, and Ogasawara added an insurance run in the eigth with a solo shot to right. The story of the night was Suzuki who went 3-4 with three rbi’s, ran the bases well (scored in the first) and played excellent defense. Ramirez hit into his third double play in as many games while going 2-4.

Kroon got the save (with a little help from the umpire) while working a scoreless ninth.

Game four is tomorrow night at Seibu Dome. First pitch is at 6:15 PM.

Image via WikipediaBlog - November 2, 2008
Claire B Lang

The Dickies 500 will take the green flag today at 3:30 p.m. EST and ABC-TV will begin live coverage at 3:00 p.m. EST.

Driver’s Meeting - Get out the Vote:

NASCAR Race Director David Hoots opened the pre race drivers’ meeting here at Texas Motor Speedway today by asking the drivers and crew chiefs gathered in the auditorium in the media center here to vote on Tuesday.

“I’d like to remind everybody to take the opportunity - use the privilege that we have - be an American to vote this week - so everybody do that if you would please,” Hoots noted as he took the microphone prior to the review of the race rules and regulations.

Race Director David Hoots Asks Drivers Not To Get Lax:

David Hoots today also made a special note to remind the teams and drivers about safety vehicles. “We’ll take three pace laps. Crew chiefs, each week we ask you to have your spotters take notice to where the fire trucks and emergency equipment is coming out. They are located around the race track. Do that on the pace laps if you would,” Hoots said.

Hoots added, “Once the caution lights are illuminated you are under caution. Slow down to a cautious pace. Let’s not get lax on this because I think we have a tendency but let’s not get lax. Be aware and very respectful of those emergency services vehicles and personnel out on that race track. They are responding to somebody that needs them. Slow down around the equipment and give them the maximum amount of room possible. If you can’t have clear vision on your car if you’ve been in an accident stop and let us come help you and get the car in the garage. Give them a lot of room and give them a lot of respect.”

TMS - Pit Road and Speeds:

Pit Road Speed is 45 mph.

Caution Speed is 55 mph.

Minimum Speed is 34.11

There were no questions asked….and we prayed.

Gordon on the Pole:

Jeff Gordon will start from the pole today. His award - a Beretta shotgun.

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT/NICORETTE IMPALA SS, QUALIFIED 1ST:

“Texas has not been one of our best tracks but today has been a great day for the DuPont/Nicorette Chevrolet. We started off, the car felt good, but didn’t just quite have the speed. We worked on it and the last lap we made in practice, we really hit on something and it followed all the way through qualifying.

“We have made huge gains on these mile and a half race tracks. Things that I feel good about and we can be consistent with. It is just how you get good information back to your team to fine-tune things. That is how we go faster. We are finding it, we are just unfortunately finding it a little bit late. Not quite enough too late, but this is great for us. A good start to the weekend.

ON WINNING THE BERETTA SHOTGUN FOR GETTING THE POLE: “It is a beautiful shotgun. It takes about a year to get it after all the engraving that goes in to it. It is really a prize worth going after. Late in the season, we haven’t gotten a win. We haven’t been able to qualifying for about a month. This is just exciting to get out there and put a lap down. What a great day for the DuPont/Nicorette Chevrolet. The team was unbelievable today, we unloaded with a fast race car but just kept improving on it all through practice.

“Certainly a lot more comfortable on these mile and a half tracks than we were earlier in the season. This is just half the battle, just qualifying and one lap. We feel like we still have some work to do for the race. We will find out about that tomorrow, but I know our race car are so much better at this point in the season will all of our testing and our hard work. The mile and half have been pretty decent to us the last few times we have been to them, so we know we have made improvements. Texas has been hit or miss for us. We have been here capable of winning before and been here when we were the worst car or I was the worst driver, whatever it was, we weren’t fast. We really want to turn it around this weekend.

“I am so proud of this race team. I think it has been pretty well documented how tough of a weekend we had here in Texas back in April. This team has been working so hard and today was a real sign of that effort. Track position is so important at this place. We put a lot of effort and focus on qualifying and it paid off. That green machine is starting on the pole and we have to go to work tomorrow to get ready for the race and try to get it there.

“I just think that it is so ironic that the last three tracks, Martinsville, Charlotte and Atlanta, all tracks that we felt like we could win the pole at, we didn’t get the opportunity because of rain. I thought the last place we could win a pole was here at Texas. Here we are on the pole. Anything is possible.

“We have started from the pole here but not legitimately, it was because of rain. Top of the board practicing and now qualifying.

TALK ABOUT YOUR WEEKEND HERE IN APRIL: “In my opinion, the car does the talking for me. I drive it in the corner and it does whatever it is going to do. I don’t really do anything different. I try to improve all the time and get the most out of it. But, when the car does what I am asking it to do and it sticks, we go fast. I am not saying that meaning that the guys have to get the car right, it is all of us working together through testing, through communication, everything that it takes to get to get the right setup, the right feel, everything that matches up with how I am driving the car. When we were here in April, we just weren’t even close off the truck. I knew we were in trouble. It just didn’t feel right. It wasn’t fast, the times in qualifying showed up. Today is the exact opposite. I said our car feels pretty good. It is a little tight, but it is comfortable going through the transitions in the corner, I wasn’t having some issues I was having in the past. We kept freeing the car up. A lot of times when you free the car up here, you just get loose in, loose off, it doesn’t really fix the middle part of the corner. All the adjustments we were doing were helping in the right spot and the car just kept going faster. We put up a big lap there at the end of practice and were able to back it up. It is a great feeling and definitely a boost to the confidence of our team.

“I like the night races and I think if you are close, you should be able to adjust on it from the daylight in to the night time. To me track position is just so important at this track. To me it plays out way more than what the car is going to do from day to night. Obviously we have to keep up that. All we can do is go off of our notes from last year and our teammates and go in to practice and see what kind of balance the car has. You have to be careful trying to pay too much attention, you have to think about track temperature changing, but you have to be careful about putting too much emphasis on it. We will just go in to practice tomorrow and make the best of it. In the early practice will be the closest it will be when the race goes in to night time.”

WOULD IT BE FITTING FOR YOU TO WIN HERE TO BREAK THE WINLESS STREAK? “Well, I wasn’t expecting to get the pole, I can tell you that. I definitely not expecting to get the win either, but it doesn’t stop us as a team and me as a driver from trying to make that happen and putting out every bit of effort that we can. I mean, it really doesn’t matter what our stats are, good or bad at any race track. We go in to that weekend believing we can win the pole, that we can win the race and constantly pushing the car and ourselves to improve whether we won the last race there or finished dead last. That is just the kind of team that we are and I think today pretty much proves that and shows that, we know everybody is talking about us not winning and certainly know that our stats here are not great. Yet, we come out with a great car today, win the pole and that all we have to go on right now. We have to wait until Sunday to see how the race unfolds. I can tell you that the track position is huge here and can play a big role.”

MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO.1 BASS PRO SHOP/TRACKER BOATS IMPALA SS, QUALIFIED 2ND: “It was a good run. The car was good off the trailer and we were able to go out there and just hold it wide open. I was hoping we had a shot at keeping the pole, but nevertheless it was a good run for our Bass Pro Shops Chevy.

HOW GREAT IS THE SENSATION OF SPEED HERE? “Not really. I don’t think it seems faster than any of the other tracks we go to. Doesn’t seem any faster than Atlanta. I think after 100, they all feel about the same. It isn’t too bad.”

IS THIS A CAR YOU HAVE RUN A LOT? “We’ve been kind of all over the board here lately. We actually ended up fairly similar to where we were here in the spring, we came with a different setup with some stuff we learned last week in Atlanta and at Charlotte. It didn’t work. That is the thing with these cars, you can’t really seem to be able to take it anywhere else. I don’t know it is. It is like every track you go to has its own things that it likes. Until you figure that out, you are kinda going to chase yourself around in circles. We went back to close to where we were in the spring, kinda like the stuff we ran last year with this car earlier in the year and it seemed to work pretty good for us. It is hard to tell exactly what it is you need to do to get better when everywhere you go is a little bit different.”

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 07 JACK DANIELS IMPALA SS, QUALIFIED 3RD: “It was good. We unloaded good. I was proud of the guys. Qualifying hasn’t been our strong point all season long. We’ve been getting lucky the last three races starting fifth. We earned a top five this time and all is well.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/KOBALT TOOLS IMPALA SS, QUALIFIED 7TH: “You see a big number like the No. 1 car put out, you know what you did in practice and the adjustments that have been made, you try and compute all that and say OK, my mark was here and I am going to try to go to here and hope it sticks. Getting out there and remembering those things is really the tough part. But, when you have a great race car like I did today, you can go out and do a good job with it, get a good lap. Very happy with the Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet and looking forward to a good weekend.

“It was a great lap. I have wanted to be on track the last few weeks like everyone else. It was some really good tracks that got rained out of qualifying.”

I am headed out to the garage. I’ll keep you posted. I’m in the radio room behind the auditorium where the Motor Racing Outreach service is going on and they are playing guitars and singing. It’s extremely inspirational to hear that and see the drivers gathered for church service before a race like this.

Enjoy the day. More later!

Claire B

Greetings from Texas.

Do you like “Deal or No Deal?” Today the winner the “Dickies 2008 American Worker of the Year” had a chance to take his shot at winning $1 million here at Texas Motor Speedway. The winner was Hale Hughes, an oilfield roughneck whose wife survived a battle with breast cancer and went on to survive an accident at work that left him severely injured to battle back and be chosen one of the countries hardest working Americans.

The Dickies girls marched into the news conference today with metal briefcases, each containing the number of a race car in Sprint Cup.

Hughes had to pick a case with a car number in it. If the car number in the case he picked wins the race on Sunday he’ll get $1 million He decided to pick the case right behind Richard Childress who was seated as part of the announcement. He turned to the media in attendance and tod them he felt Childress would give him good luck in his selection.

Hughes opened the case, pulled out the envelope and opened it up.

He had selected the case with the #24 inside it.

Hughes began to tear up.

Let’s see if Jeff Gordon is magic for Hughes on Sunday.

Gordon was 33rd fastest in the final practice session. He was 8th fastest in the first session Saturday.

Final Practice:

1- Carl Edwards Time: 29.657 Speed 182.082 1 lap of 44 the fastest
2-Kyle Busch Time: 29.769 Speed 181.397 1 lap of 47 the fastest
3- Kurt Busch Time: 29.806 Speed 181.172 1 lap of 45 the fastest

A shredded right-rear tire on Tony Stewart’s #20 Home Depot Toyota during the first practice session ripped apart the right -rear quarter panel and side window forcing Stewart and team to pull out their backup race car and prepare it for Sunday’s 500-mile race.

Stewart himself worked on the back-up car to get it out for the second practice. I was in the garage watching Stewart, in his Home Depot driver’s uniform, not only work with a screw driver under the hood of the car but also to get down on the ground and work under the car as the team thrashed to prepare the back up.

The team, with Stewart assisting, was able to prepare the car in time to participate in almost all of the final practice session

First Practice:

Greg Biffle posted the fastest single-lap speed during the first practice session on Saturday:

HOW WAS THE CAR?

Biffle: “We got the 3M Ford Fusion car a lot better in that session. I just wish I would have had that lap yesterday in qualifying. I just got too tight down there in three and four and got a terrible starting spot for tomorrow’s race, but I feel a lot better. The car is real fast in race trim and we’ll keep working on it. I was a little too free at the end of that session, but running down a lot of guys we’re racing with, so I’m pretty happy about that. If we can just get the back of it under it a little better for a long run, we know it’s gonna be hot and sunny and slick, so we’ll just get it the best we can.”

ARE ALL OF THE GROOVES COMING IN OK?

Biffle: “Actually, the last lap I ran the top down there trying to get a run on the 24 car and when I got up there it was just a little loose all the way around the corner. That tells us we need to tighten up just a little bit to be able to run up and down on the race track, but that was only about the second groove. That wasn’t the one up next to the wall. That will come in later.”

Dale Junior’s Comments:

Dale Junior was 25th fastest in the final practice and 12th fastest in the first practice. I thought you’d like to read word-for-word what he said in his media session here at Texas: He had some interesting things to say about Jimmie Johnson:

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., DRIVER OF THE NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS,

ON JUNIOR GIVING THE SHOTGUN HE RECEIVED FOR WINNING THE POLE AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN APRIL TO HIS CREW CHIEF, TONY EURY, JR. “I’m going to let Tony (Eury), Jr. my crew chief look after this one for me. I promised him if we won it that he would get it. So I’m going to let him take it home and hopefully we will make it two-of-a –kind after today.”

“He asked me for that shotgun before we came here last time and didn’t tell me nothing about it being worth $65,000 (laughter). I’ve got plenty of 12-gauges. I didn’t know nothing about it being $65,000.”

ON THIS WEEKEND’S RACE. “I’m just glad to be back to Texas. This is a fun race track to come to. The fans are really excited about us coming out here. They enjoy the facility and we have such a great facility here it’s good for the fans. They seem to be repaying us that favor by showing up every time we come back and they get real excited about it. They love seeing the sport come this way. We’ve had some good success here too so that helps a lot and makes us get excited about coming back. I just kind of like the enthusiasm that the crowd has and the people that are from in and around this area have for when we come here so it gets me excited.”

WITH TALLADEGA PRECEEDING THIS RACE NEXT YEAR, DO YOU THINK WE’LL SEE A TIGHTER GROUP THAN WE DID THIS YEAR AMONGST THE GUYS IN THE CHASE? “I don’t know. Talladega is just such a wild card. It could have went either way as far as separating or keeping people tighter together for the Chase. I think you just can’t take anything away from what Jimmie’s (Johnson) been able to do up until this point. In my opinion the Chase does what it’s supposed to do. There’s no real true formula that anybody in this room could come up with to make the perfect Chase every time. I think you’ve just go to give Jimmie and those guys credit for what they’ve been able to accomplish up to this point. They’re a dominant team in the sport at this time and you can’t handicap an individual for being great. Next year is going to be interesting. The one thing that I’m probably most excited about is I think I heard in there somewhere we were going to get an extra weekend off, so that will be kind of cool.”

KELLEY (EARNHARDT, GENERAL MANAGER OF JR MOTORSPORTS) SAID EARLIER THIS WEEK THAT THE NO. 5 NATIONWIDE TEAM WILL PROBABLY RUN A LIMITED SCHEDULE NEXT YEAR, DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HOW MANY RACES THAT TEAM WILL DO AND ARE YOU FRUSTRATED OVER THE SPONSORSHIP SEARCH IN THAT SERIES? “To be honest with you, this is really the truth of the matter when we merged the No. 88 and the No. 5 together we were entirely too big for what we were setting out to do but under the current situation we didn’t want to merge the teams together and lay off a bunch of people that were dedicated. We made it work this year and we tried to pinch when we could and really kind of came out even on the budget but without the ability to secure another full-time sponsorship for the No. 5 and without that program has not really progressed this season like we wanted to, we just weren’t able to put the money together to be able to run that car again. Up until this year, we’ve lost probably an average of two million dollars a year in our racing program at JR Motorsports and that was just a one-car team. Working in the Nationwide Series, even in the Cup Series is not really a money-making kind of program or a money-making deal for a car owner. You are trying your best to budget yourself to make even and just come out even. We felt like we had a pretty good package for Brad (Keselowski), we had one program that was ready to sign and we couldn’t sign it because it was a conflicting sponsor with one we already had at HMS (Hendrick Motorsports), so we ran into a couple of hurdles that were just too tall for us to jump over. It’s tough. Not only is there a lack of interest in sponsoring the Nationwide Series which is probably going to be growing unfortunately over the next year or so, but there’s those other hurdles you don’t think about where you’ve got a guy that comes in and says I’m ready to do 15 races and you can’t because his product conflicts with another product that is already on your car or the No. 5 or my No. 88 Cup car. So you have all kinds of little things that kind of jump up and bite you. It was unfortunate. We had to trim down. Like I said, when we put those two teams together we were really too large in the first place. To be honest with you, Rick (Hendrick) is the kind of guy he wanted to keep everybody on and try to get through this season and we did the best we could. I think we did a really good job as far as our accounting staff and all that. Going into next season without the same package financially, we weren’t able to maintain the many employees we had. We had probably 100 or 80 people in the shop. That’s too many for two Nationwide teams. I read somewhere that this was kind of like a correction more so than a recession, that we were all kind of living beyond our means. We definitely were. We were employing more people than we necessarily needed to do the job that we were trying to do. I feel like that a lot of us in the sport lived in excess as far as that goes. It seems like it’s all kind of coming back down to Earth.”

THE PUBLIC’S PERCEPTION OF JIMMIE JOHNSON IS THAT HE IS POLITICALLY CORRECT, CLEAN CUT AND A COOL GUY. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT JIMMIE THIS YEAR AND IS THAT WHO HE REALLY IS? “It’s unfortunate and I talk to Jimmie about this all the time. I’m in a different situation and I tell him man you know if you would just act like you act to me and other people you know really well, if you were just like that all day long at the race track and in front of the camera and to the media and just in general people would really see what type of guy you are. Most of you guys know Jimmie. He’s really cool, he’s really a good guy and he’s got a great attitude. He’s never acted like a fool. He’s never thrown a tantrum per say and he’s never said anything really out of context. He’s just always held his head on real straight and he’s a great person. He does a lot of things. He’d give his shirt off his back to you if you needed it. He treats me that way anyways. See I’ve always been able to say whatever I wanted to say and act however I wanted to act. When I tell Jimmie you ought to be more like that, more open and just be yourself, he says I can’t do that like you can do it and I don’t really understand why as much as they understand why. I really feel like its unfortunate that Jimmie isn’t able or hasn’t been able to get his personality truly across to the fan to where they knew exactly what type of person he was. I mean there’s a lot of drivers like that too. I wish that each and every one of these fans could spend several hours with all the drivers for good and bad reasons (laughter). That’s another story. We all are very colorful, even Matt (Kenseth). If you really get to know Matt, Matt’s got a great sense of humor and he’s really funny. He’s got a lot of Wisconsin in him but he’s a great guy. I will never go to a Green Bay Packers game with him though in Wisconsin again. We’ve had a great relationship and he’s a real, real good friend of me and I know what kind of guy he is. He’s funny. He’s got a great sense of humor. He’s got a good outlook on the sport. He sees the sport for what it is. He doesn’t take it too seriously. He takes what he needs to seriously. Jimmie is sort of the same way. They’re very colorful. I don’t know, I think they personally choose to limit their access because down the road how much privacy they’re going to want when they get older. The older you get I think the more privacy you wish you would maintain and I feel like they are just kind of trying to do their job while they’re here and when they’re not here anymore they want to have a life of their own. Maybe that’s what they’re trying to protect. I’m not really sure.”

YOU’RE WRAPPING UP YOUR FIRST HENDRICK SEASON, GIVE ME A SENSE OF WHAT YOU’VE REALLY ACCOMPLISHED AND GAINED AND WAS IT WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR WITH THE CHANGE IN TEAMS? “Well I got a lot of things I was looking for. I was looking for peace of mind and some satisfaction and being able to enjoy my job and do my job like I wanted to. I got all those things. We didn’t run like we wanted to obviously. I was real happy with the first half of the year. I thought we were really strong. We kind of held our own there and ran really well. There was some high points. We ran fast pretty much every week. We led a lot more races than we normally lead but we didn’t get the finishes in the second half of the season that we normally wanted. The second half of the season we were nowhere near what we wanted. Rick (Hendrick) and them have some pretty interesting ways to try to remedy situations which I’m willing to do whatever it takes. Hopefully next year we can try to do a better job the second half of the season. I want to really purposely focus on the summer. The Poconos and those types of tracks and try to do better to just prove to myself that I can get it done at those certain tracks. It’s been pretty good. I’m really, really, really happy. I’m really lucky to have what I have and have the opportunity with Rick. I thank him all the time for giving me the chance to drive one of his cars. Every time I get in my car, it’s the best race car I’ve ever seen. I thank my guys for how good of a job they do building the cars. They honestly to me look the best in the garage. I know there’s probably no big difference visually to the eye from one car to the next, but to me mine are the best prepared in my mind. I feel real lucky to have that opportunity. I feel like the first half of the year I was out there making a case for myself for getting that opportunity. The second half I didn’t. So I want to make sure next year I can put it together the whole season.”

YOUR TEAMMATE JEFF GORDON MAY BE GOING THROUGH HIS FIRST WINLESS SEASON SINCE HE WAS A ROOKIE, YOU DID IT ONLY ONCE IN YOUR CAREER AND THAT WAS LAST YEAR, WHAT DOES THAT FEEL LIKE TO GO THROUGH A WHOLE SEASON AND NOT WIN A RACE AND HE SAID IF HE DIDN’T WIN IT WOULD BE OKAY BECAUSE HE WOULD BE THINKING TOWARD NEXT YEAR, CAN YOU REALLY THINK THAT WAY? “Well you are. When I didn’t win last year I didn’t want the season to end. That’s the way I felt. I got to Homestead and I was still winless and I was like I wish we were running 10 more races because you don’t want to go out like that. That was the first and only time I’ve not wanted the season to end at Homestead. When you’re left with that option and that option only, you do as maybe a self-defense mechanism to keep from crying, you start laughing to try to look forward to the next season and look forward to what the opportunities are in the future. I feel very confident that Jeff’s still got great opportunities to win before the end of the season. He always has a way of getting it done when it comes time to get it done. He’s such a competitor and they’re such a great team. It’s tough. Yeah you don’t want the season to end and when you realize the reality of the situation you just want Daytona to start the next week because you don’t want to be winless. You want to win a race or two if not more.”

WITH THREE RACES TO GO IS IT STILL A MAJOR PLUS TO BE IN THE CHASE AT THIS POINT OR DOES IT MATTER AS MUCH BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T HAD A GOOD CHASE? “I think when you go to New York you get a lot of confidence because you’re in that group and you’re part of that group that is getting ready to start the Chase. So you get a lot of confidence at that point. At this point you’re just sort of watching the battle like everybody else. You’re still a participant but you’re clued in to whose going to win it, what’s happening up front. It’s really an honor when you go to New York at the first of the Chase and you’re honored by being there and being a part of that but if you’re not a part of the actual battle for the championship coming down to the last two or three races, you’re on the sidelines like everybody else. You’re still out there trying to win races. It’s tough. Last week I was trying to run really good. I had a car that was good at certain points of the race and bad at others and I was behind Jimmie at one point and trying to race past him and I felt like wow, what am I supposed to do here? Am I supposed to be racing him this hard because I had to run him hard for like five laps to get by him? You try to take care of the guys that are in the battle for the championship, especially your teammates. But you’re out there trying to race and do your job and make a case for your season as well.”

IS THE CHAMPIONSHIP TOO BIG OF A DEAL? HAVE WE GOTTEN TO THE POINT WHERE THE BALANCE BETWEEN TALKING ABOUT THE CHAMPIONSHIP 36 WEEKS OUT OF THE YEAR HAS TAKEN AWAY FROM EACH WEEK’S RACE? “Not really. What’s happened is we have saturated the market with race after race after race. The NFL, they do such a great job. I hate to keep comparing to them and using them as examples but they do the best job. They give you just enough to keep you wanting more. The season ends before you want it to. You just get just enough to get excited and then it’s all over and there’s such a long wait. The model works. We have basically a very similar reaction that baseball, hockey, a lot of other sports do that have long enduring seasons. There’s lulls and inactivity between the fan and the sport itself at times. There’s no way to fix that. We’re driven by the ability to go make another dollar and make more money and there’s no way we would ever trim it down. But when we were a 28-race schedule, some of you here were around at that time; the sport was giving you just enough to get really get excited about the next season. When we were racing at 12:00 people were racing home from church to get to see the start of the race. We’ve just made it too easy and too much. We sort of lost a lot of the substance that we really had before and the character the sport I think has waned a little bit but its part of the times too. I don’t think it’s all our fault, I think it has a lot to do with a lot of other things going on. The temperature of the world out there and the economy. I think the model that the NFL has is the perfect one and I feel like that’s really our best bet for the most amount of success and to maintain it I think also that’s the best way. We’ve already passed the point of no return. No way we would ever trim the schedule back. There’s no way we would change what we really already have here.”

EVERYBODY WANTS TO KEEP TALKING ABOUT TWEAKING THIS AND TWEAKING THAT WOULDN’T YOU RATHER JUST KIND OF LIKE TO SEE IT STAY THE SAME FOR A FIVE, SIX, SEVEN-YEAR PERIOD TO JUST KIND OF SEE HOW IT PLAYS OUT? “I think it’s fair to throw discussion out there about changing the qualifying format and all the different things, but I think it’s not a good idea to go making a bunch of changes especially with the Chase. How do we understand what to change and how to make it better if we can’t watch it and look at it for seven years or eight years and see how it’s working and really get a good look at how it is working and not working? How can we really know what to change and make the right change? We shouldn’t keep changing and changing until we stumble on the right spot and the right options and the right ways to have things. The qualifying order is kind of the same way. It’s been done the same way for a long, long time. We had some poor luck with weather and now we have an argument on our hands that’s really not got an answer. I think they should really remain the same for a while so we can get a good, especially with the turbulence with the economy right now we all need to be really kind of watching and looking in different areas to make sure things are working right. We’ve got to make sure we’re doing all the right things to keep the sport healthy and get through the tough times that we’re going to have in the next year. I think we leave the things as they are. Jimmie (Johnson) just had a great season. They’ve just been that good. It is kind of foolish to want to make changes. This is kind of how we got in this spot in the first place. It’s just going to snow ball into more and more corruption and disagreement if we continue to change and change and change just because a guy has such a great year. Matt (Kenseth) was really consistent when he won his championship that really started the argument to make this happen and get the Chase. But I think the playoff atmosphere is better and I do enjoy it. We need to really kind of watch it happen for a while before we know what kind of change to make.”

DOES IT BOTHER YOU WHEN JIMMIE (JOHNSON) GOES OUT AND KILLS EVERYBODY THE WAY HE HAS THESE LAST SEVEN RACES THAT SOME COMPETITORS WANT TO TALK ABOUT WAYS THEY CAN CHANGE THINGS RATHER THAN MAYBE JUST CELEBRATE THE FACT THAT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS BEEN DONE IN OVER 30 YEARS AND THEY SHOULD TALK ABOUT THAT RATHER THAN TALK ABOUT HOW TO CHANGE IT? “That’s a great point. Everybody has a responsibility especially in this room to try to help keep this sport on a pedestal and try to bring some of the greater topics to view for the public. What Jimmie’s been able to accomplish is truly amazing and it’s really incredible how dominant they’ve been in this day and age where competition is so tough. What Cale (Yarborough) and them did is really great but they were battling half of the competition that we’re battling today. To take nothing away from them but for Jimmie it’s truly amazing. They’ve been so, so consistent. I mean they’ll get their credit and you guys will be the one to give it to them but otherwise to keep it interesting until the last lap at Homestead we’ll discuss this and that idea about how to change things to make them better. I really think they are just fine how they are. It’s tough to take away a big points lead after 26 races from a guy. If you’re 12th or 10th or 11th in points you’ve got to feel a little sympathy for the guy that’s in the points lead and see the points lead be nearly lost and you’re back in it. You’re 400 or 500 points out of the race and now you’re back in it. Now you got a chance and it really makes no sense to me. I’ll take it, shoot. I don’t want to get in an argument but it’s important that we do realize what Jimmie’s done and how big of a deal that is. He is a good guy and he deserves that kind of credibility and that kind of accolade. I’m sure he’ll get it too if he wins the championship.”

That’s it for now. Going on to pre-race for the Nationwide Series event.

More later.

Enjoy the day!
Claire B

November 1st, 2008

Saitama Seibu Lions 2

Yomiuri Giants 1

(Tokyo Dome)

Saitama drew first blood in this series on the back of an eight-inning, one-hit performance by starter Hideaki Wakui. Providing the run support were left fielder, Taketoshi Gotou, who slugged a solo home run over the wall in center in the fifth, and shortstop, Hiroyuki Nakajima, who belted a similar long-ball an inning later.

Mr. Tatsunori Hara, Yomiuri’s manager, gambled by having Kouji Uehara start game one against Wakui. My choice would have been Greisinger, but that’s just me. Not that Uehara pitched badly–he lasted seven innings, gave up only five hits plus one walk and a single hit batter. Pretty solid start, actually, but those two home runs were all it took.

Alex Graman took the mound in the ninth, and he looked to be in a little trouble after Takuya Kimura managed to beat the throw to first to make it one on with no outs. But Saitama second baseman, Yasuyuki Kataoka, displayed his range up the middle a second time and kept Yomiuri from moving pinch-runner, Takayuki Terauchi, over to second on a hard grounder up the middle off of Michihiro Ogasawara’s bat. In fact, Saitama nearly got the double play on that one, but that would have to wait.

With a man on first and one out, down by a run in the bottom of the ninth, Alex Ramirez stepped up to the plate. Nightmare, right? Ramirez had had Yomiuri’s only hit of the game before Kimura led off with a single in the ninth. Ramirez’s double in the fourth inning, aided by a bit of luck when the ball got away from Saitama right fielder, Hiram Bocachica, allowed Takahiro Suzuki to score (Suzuki had reached base on an error to lead off the inning, so Wakui didn’t get tagged with that run).

Fortunately for Saitama, Ramirez hit into the inning-saving play that the Lions just barely missed out on during Ogasawara’s at-bat. Ramirez slapped into a game-ending 1-6-3 double play, and the Saitama Seibu Lions will head back to Seibu Dome with no worse than a 1-1 split after the first two games of this series.

Game two is tomorrow night, again at Tokyo Dome, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:15 PM.

Every team has been analyzed and reviewed by all of the major sports outlets and Isiah Thomas is in trouble again.  Ahhh, smells like the start of another NBA season and time for a look at the expected story lines to watch.

Celtic Pride

Kevin Garnett ignited the team and provided them with direction and urgency last season.  Paul Pierce then asserted himself in the playoffs and carried the Celtics to victory.  So, in short, what is next?  Can KG hold the team together two straight season? 

Drama Queen

What in the name of Jack Nicholson can happen in LA next?  Is Lamar Odom a star or a spare?  Can Bynum, Gasol, and Odom co-exist?  Can Gasol play well two seasons in a row?  Will Gasol wilt in the playoffs as usual?  How long until Kobe says something stupid?  I could ask more questions, but you get the point.  TNT has nothing on the drama that is the LA Lakers.

Celtic Fodder

Is there anyone in the East that can challenge the Celtics?  Cleveland looks as flawed as ever, but LeBron is still there.  Was Atlanta’s playoff appearance a fluke or is a decent team coming together?  Can Elton Brand remake Philly as a contender?  Is this the season Detroit finally implodes?

New Orleans Hype

Remember when the Kings were the great fun team that everybody loved to watch and hoped would knock off the big bad Lakers and win a championship?  Remember when the Mavericks stole that role from the Kings?  Remember when the Suns stole that role from the Mavericks?  Now the Hornets appear to hold that title.  Will it work out any better for them?

Demise of the Former Western Powers

For quite some time, the Spurs, Suns and Mavericks have alternated as pre-season favorites in the West.  LA and New Orleans have busted up the party.  Which of these three former powers falls and how far do they fall?  Which, if any,  of these teams can surprise their detractors, overcome their faults and challenge for the conference crown?

Portland Potential

The Trailblazers were surprisingly competitive last season without their young(’ish) big man.  Does Oden’s arrival propel them into the playoffs?  What about home court advantage?  Can Oden’s body withstand a full NBA season?  Can Oden live up to the hype?

The Inevitable Upstart

Just about every season, there is at least one unexpected team that stumbles into a winning combination and finds a way into the playoff race.  Who is this year’s Cinderella story?  Clippers?  Magic?  Hawks?  Pacers?  Kings?

Market Crash

The sports page is a refuge for many from the ugly mess known as the stock market.  But, we fans also love a good sports train wreck.  And we will be eagerly waiting for and trying to manufacture a team implosion.  It makes for good theater.  The candidates?  Detroit comes to mind.  Denver seems poised for a crash.  Many would like to see Dallas go down in flames and Mark Cuban to spaz out during a Craig Sager interview.  Which team crashes and burns this season?

Here is a way for you all to get some limited say now. Even though I may have limited you choices, don’t let that keep you from limiting your reasons for picking. Enjoy!

With the awards for excellence in the MLB coming out in November I decided to share my thoughts on who should get the nods for each award. Lets begin with the National League.

N.L. Cy Young - Many people will say Brandon Webb. But i disagree.  My vote goes to Tim Lincecum. And that is not just because he went to the UW. Yes, Webb did win 22 games, but Lincecum had a lower ERA, more strikeouts, less hits against, less home runs against, and had just a few more innings. Plus Lincecum did this while player for the inferior team in the Giants

Winner - Tim Lincecum SP San Francisco Giants http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=453311

N.L. MVP - I just want to start by saying that Matt Holliday got absolutely robbed last year. He was in my opinion the better fit for the MVP than Rollins. But I will say that having at least 20 triples, 20 home runs, and 20 doubles is legit. My vote this year goes to Albert Pujols. He batted .357, hit 37 homers, and drove in 116 runs. David Wright came in a very close second, but you can’t argue with only 54 strikeouts in 524 at bats. 

Winner - Albert Pujols 1B St. Louis Cardinals http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=405395

N.L. Rookie of the Year - My vote goes to Geovany Soto. The catcher for the Cubs did everything expected of him. He performed well, made the All-Star team as a starter, and helped his team go to the playoffs. I don’t think anyone else evenly matches up to Soto.

Winner - Geovany Soto C Chicago Cubs http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=434567

Now for the American League.

A.L. Cy Young - Cliff Lee is pretty much in his own race on this one. He finished with a 22-3 record and a 2.54 ERA. No one was as dominant in the league than he was. The only competition he might have is from Francisco Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (yes, that is their legit name), who had 62 saves which is a new MLB record or Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays who had 9 complete games while winning 20 games

Winner - Cliff Lee SP Cleveland Indians http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=424324

A.L. MVP - This seems to me a pretty close race between a few guys. Josh Hamilton, Carlos Quentin, and Francisco Rodriguez. I think Quentin could have made an even better case for himself if he wouldn’t have gotten hurt towards the end of the season. perfect example of “keep your cool.” He over reacted after getting an out and broke his finger. I would say the award deserves to go to the most dominant player. So with that, I award it to Rodriguez (and no, not A-Rod). 62 of 69 in save opportunities is mighty dominant. The previous record for most saves was 57.

Winner Francisco Rodriguez RP Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=408061

A.L. Rookie of the Year -  This has been a two man race for most of the season. Evan Longoria (no relation to the actress from Desperate Housewives Eva Longoria-Parker) of the Tampa Bay Rays and Alexei Ramirez of the Chicago White Sox emerged early as the favorites. Ramirez hit 4 grand slams which set a rookie record, but Longoria hit more total home runs, drove in more runs, and had better OBP and SLG percentages in less games. Ramirez hit about 18 points higher for AVG. Overall I say that the award goes to Longoria because he was a bigger part of his team’s drive to the playoffs. As a rookie, his teammates looked to him as a leader on the team. That is definitely deserving of the Rookie of the Year Award.

Winner - Evan Longoria 3B Tampa Bay Rays http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=446334

There you have it, R.L. Judd’s choices for the MLB awards. If you don’t like it, tough. Follow baseball as much as i do, then make your own choices. Till then, I’m out.

 
R.L. Judd

October 23rd, 2008

Chunichi Dragons 2

Yomiuri Giants 11

(Tokyo Dome)

That hurt. Yomiuri regained its swagger tonight and walked all over Chunichi’s pitching on way to an 11-2 rout of the defending Japan Series champions.

Chunichi starter, Kenta Asakura (27.00) got chased after only two innings. He gave up six earned runs care of Yomiuri third baseman, Michihiro Ogasawara, during those two frames. Ogasawara blasted a two run homer in the first and a grand slam in the second. Ouch.

Ramirez and Lee also hit home runs in this game. Both Kamei and Ramirez had three-hit nights.

Asakura was followed by lefty Takashi Ogasawara who made it through five innings but gave up another three runs off of six hits. Like his predecessor, Ogasawara also gave up a pair of home runs during his time on the pitcher’s mound.

Chunichi’s pitchers (there were four total) combined for only one walk, but also notched a mere three strikeouts. They gave up 17 hits (including two doubles, a triple and four home runs), but didn’t manage to bean anyone.

Kouji Uehara started this one for Yomiuri, and he braved an initial rough patch to turn in a very good performance overall. Morino had a solo home run in the first, and Hirata came on in the third for a pinch-hit solo dinger in the third, but after that Uehara buckled down and only gave up two more hits before he was replaced in the top of the 9th. He threw 104 pitches in eight innings of very solid work. Two runs off of four hits with nine K’s and no walks. That’s definitely respectable. If it hadn’t been for those two home runs, his performance would have been outright scary. Uehara’s postseason ERA currently stands at 2.25.

Down two games to one, Chunichi is in need of some solid pitching, especially from its starter. A little bit of offense wouldn’t hurt either.

Game four is tomorrow night at Tokyo Dome (6 PM).

October 22nd, 2008

Chunichi Dragons 4

Yomiuri Giants 3

(Tokyo Dome)

Chunichi came up with some clutch play to level this series at one game apiece.* Shockingly, it took Yomiuri starter, Seth Greisinger, 101 pitches to get through four and one-third innings during which he gave up three runs (two earned) off of five hits. Greisinger ended up with an ERA of 4.15 and tallied six K’s against an uncharacteristic three walks.

Greisinger got off to a rocky start.

Chunichi right fielder, Byeong-gyu Lee (sometimes romanized as Byung-kyu Lee), led-off with a solo shot to left. Three batters later, Tyrone Woods deposited one in the bleachers in right. 2-0 Chunichi.

Greisinger only gave up three more hits after that, but he walked in a run in the fifth, and that proved to be the end of his night. But it was another off-season Yomiuri acquisition that ended up taking the loss in this one. More on that later.

Of note for Chunichi was Kazuhiro Wada who went three-for-four with a walk. Masa Yamamoto (5.06), Chunichi’s starter, lasted five and one-third innings while giving up three runs off of five hits.

Ramirez and Sakamoto had 2-4 nights at the plate for the home team, and Tani hit a solo home run. But the big heart-breaker for Yomiuri fans was the bottom of the eighth when the Giants loaded the bases with only one out and the score tied 3-3. Yoshinobu Takahashi, who hadn’t started the game, came off the bench to pinch hit. And hit he did–right into a double play to end the inning.

Chunichi scored what proved to be the game-winning run in the top of the ninth off of Yomiuri’s closer-extraordinaire, Marc Kroon. With two outs and a man on first (Morino walked), Kroon gave up consecutive singles to Wada and Nakamura, the second of which brought Morino home. 4-3 Chunichi.

Hitoki Iwase came on in the ninth and sat three batters down on only nine pitches (two K’s). Reliever Masato Kobayashi got the win while Iwase notched a save.

The series is now tied at one game apiece. Game three of this series is scheduled for tomorrow night at Tokyo Dome (6:00 PM).

* Yomiuri, due to a rule enacted in the off-season, was gifted a one-game advantage because they won the Central League pennant this year. This was technically the second game of the series, but the first one in which any baseball has actually been played. Similarly, Saitama Seibu, the Pacific League champs, began its recently-concluded series versus Hokkaido with a one-game cushion.

October 22nd, 2008

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 0

Saitama Seibu Lions 9

(Seibu Dome)

The Saitama Seibu Lions employed an old-fashioned ass-whuppin’ tonight en route to advancing to the Japan Series versus the winner of the Chunichi-Yomiuri series that is currently locked at 1-1.

The name of the night was Hideaki Wakui (2-0, 0.60) who was perfect through six and two-thirds innings and finished the game having given up only three hits. The 22-year-old righty didn’t walk anyone and recorded six strikeouts in a complete game shutout (104 pitches). Dominating is most likely the term we will be using here.

Wakui’s dominance was supported by another good night from the offense. The team scored nine runs (all of them earned) off of 12 hits. Hokkaido starter, Ryan Glynn (0-2), got yanked after giving up five earned runs from four hits and three walks (he also had one strikeout) in two and two-thirds innings of work. His second stage ERA, and this is not a typo, is 23.82.

Saitama designated hitter, Taketoshi Gotou, led the attack by going 3-3 (plus a walk) with a solo home run, one single and one double that were both of the rbi-genus. He had four rbi’s total, and both Kuriyama and Nakajima chipped in with a pair of rbi’s each.

Kuriyama, the team’s left fielder, actually reached base three times and so did third baseman, Nakamura, and first baseman, Ishii.

And with that, the Saitama Seibu Lions have proven themselves worthy of a trip to the Japan Series. They will have a few days off while the Central League finishes its second stage of the playoffs between the heavily-favored Yomiuri Giants and last year’s Japan Series champion, Chunichi Dragons.

Chunichi took care of Yomiuri in the second stage of last year’s playoffs, but this year’s edition of Japan’s most expensive team is considerably better than last year’s version. At the same time, Chunichi has been playing very well as of late, and they have already leveled the series at one game apiece.

The Pacific League champion, Saitama Seibu Lions, beat the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters by a margin of four games to two.

October 21st, 2008

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 4

Saitama Seibu Lions 9

(Seibu Dome)

Former Tokyo Swallows ace, Kazuhisa Ishii (1.29 playoff ERA), pitched a very strong seven innings for the home team in his first postseason appearance in a Lions uniform. He gave up three runs, one of them earned, off of five hits and tallied an impressive 13 K’s against four walks.

Hokkaido managed to score three runs in the 7th and one in the 9th, but it wasn’t nearly enough to catch up with the 15-hit attack orchestrated by Saitama.

Saitama put four runs on the board in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Both first baseman, Yoshihito Ishii, and centerfielder, Shougo Akada, had 3-4 nights and racked up two rbi’s each (Akada had a solo home run in the eighth for the team’s final run of the evening).

For Hokkaido, Botts went 3-4 with a home run, but that was their one bright spot for the evening in terms of offense.

Hokkaido starter, Brian Sweeney, gave up seven earned runs in three innings of work and took the loss for the visitors. He struck out one guy and didn’t walk anyone, but he gave up 10 hits during those three innings (including spans of three consecutive hits in both the first and second).

The Saitama Seibu Lions now lead the series three games to two. The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters will try their best to force a game seven tomorrow night when game six starts at 6:15 PM (Seibu Dome).

Image via WikipediaClaire B. Blog
Monday, October 20, 2008
Charlotte, NC

Good morning from Charlotte! All the way home last night we debated sports in which the same team/person wins all the time and how fans of various sports react. That will be the topic today. I have had emails on how frustrated Kurt Busch was —ready to pull his car off the track - and asking for permission to do so……Penske management saying no. I have had emails from Johnson fans and fans of other drivers regarding the chase and statistically the chances that anyone can catch him.

I got this from a listener: Larry maintains that most race fans who are “up on the wheel” today about their driver’s chances in the chase do not understand that “IF” their driver were to win all the remaining races, why wouldn’t they be in first place and win the championship.

Larry writes, “Given that most of us thought it would take something like an average finish of 5 to win the championship, you will notice that ONLY three drivers can conceivably finish with a 5 or better average and that is ONLY if they win the remaining races. But what is really hard to fathom (for most) is that winning does not “dig oneself out of a deficit” because if a specific driver were to win and the top three drivers were to finish 2nd, 3rd and 4th, the largest point gain over the leaders would be a mere 10 points. At +10 points per weekend, it would take 10 weekends to make up for a 100 point deficit and then only if you won every weekend…the top drivers are “there” every weekend…..and to catch the 48 car, he will have to finish outside of the top 10 “more than once” for deficits to be made up.”

Potential best avg if….IF any of the drivers were to win all of the remaining races…however unlikely….

Obviously, at the rate we are going, says Larry, a “sub-avg-5” will not guarantee a championship….but something well below a sub-5 avg….maybe.

Thanks Larry!

Claire B

NEWMAN TO DRIVE A TRUCK AT ATLANTA:

Ryan Newman is driving a truck this weekend at Atlanta. I wrote the story from a source in a blog a couple of days ago and now it’s official.
Ryan Newman, known as “The Rocket Man,” slides in behind the wheel of the No. 2 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) American Commercial Lines (ACL) Chevrolet for the first time at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). Newman has never driven in the Truck Series, but has an honorable pole record in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with seven poles in thirteen Sprint Cup starts at AMS. Newman is currently tied for the all-time pole record in the Sprint Cup Series. Newman has two starts in the Nationwide Series and has one pole and a second place start in that division.

Q: THIS IS YOUR FIRST TRUCK RACE. WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS?

Newman: “It’s the first time I’ve had the opportunity to run in the Truck Series. Everyone has always told me how much fun they have running the trucks, and now I’ve got the shot to see what it’s like. I expect to go there and have fun. But in saying that, we should have a shot at the win in the end. KHI has two really strong trucks. My teammate is Ron Hornaday, who is currently second in points, and I think he was second at Atlanta earlier this year so I expect we’ll have a really good truck - a top-five or top-10 truck. And by halfway, I’d like to be in a position where we have a shot at the win.”

Q: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO RUN A TRUCK SERIES RACE FOR KHI?

Newman: “First off, I have never driven a truck before and it was really something that I wanted to have the chance to do. Secondly, Kevin and DeLana (Harvick) are good friends of mine and (wife) Krissie’s, and when the seat came open in their 2 truck, we talked about it and he asked me if I would be interested. The timing was just right. It’s kind of a difficult time for them with having the need for a driver to fill the seat for the last few races, and I am glad to help them out at Atlanta this weekend.”

Q: WHAT ARE THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN A TRUCK AND A SPRINT CUP CAR?

Newman: “I don’t know since I haven’t driven one yet. I’m sure I will be talking to Kevin and Ron a lot over the weekend so that we can get the No. 2 truck up front.”

Q: WHAT IS THE KEY TO RUNNING A FAST LAP AROUND ATLANTA?

Newman: “From what I understand, running the truck there, you are wide open. It’s a really fast track, trucks stick really well. The biggest thing I will have to learn is how the trucks race. It seems like they get pretty loose inside each other.”

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 2 ACL team will bring chassis number 014 to Atlanta Motor Speedway. The chassis took to the track earlier this season at AMS where the No. 2 team earned their first top-10 finish of 2008 with a sixth-place finish. Chassis 014 also competed at Bristol (Va.) Motor Speedway and was rebuilt after the event due to a crash. The team refers to this chassis as “Old Faithful” due to the fact that this is the oldest downforce truck the No. 2 team has in their stable of chassis. “Old Faithful” also has a consistent record of being solid throughout a race and coming on strong at the finish.

Thanks all….back to work in the studio getting today’s show ready. Thanks for checking out the blog!

Claire B

October 20th, 2008

Chunichi Dragons 2

Hanshin Tigers 0

(Kyocera Dome)

A 9th inning Tyrone Woods two-run home run off Hanshin closer Fujikawa was the difference between the two teams on Monday night, as Chunichi advanced to the Climax Series 2nd Stage.

The game was a pitchers duel between the Dragon’s Yoshimi and the Tigers’ Iwata, both pitching 8 shutout innings.

Fujikawa came to the mound in the top of the 9th, and gave up a hit before Wood’s blast gave Chunichi a last gasp 2-0 lead.

On came Iwase for the Dragons to try to shut down the Tigers in the bottom of the 9th. And he did just that, sitting down Arai, Kawamoto and Toritani in order to keep the reigning Japan Series champs in with a shout in 2008. 

So, the 2nd stage series will be the same as that of 2007, with Chunichi taking on the Giants at Tokyo Dome.  The difference this year is that the Giants will have a 1 game advantage in the first to 4 series due to their 1st place CL finish.

Go Dragons!

Image via WikipediaBLOG - MartinsvIlle Speedway
Claire B. Lang - Sunday October 19th, 2008

Good Morning and welcome to Martinsville Speedway!

I asked Richard Petty today about the rumored merger talks between Petty Enterprises (Boston Ventures) and Dale Earnhardt Inc. While talks have been going on - it’s just conversation between many teams as they posture their companies and adjust their business plans to include looking at satellite teams or mergers. Here’s Richard’s answer about the possibility of a merger - I’m sure parts of it will be used by others who were taping - but I wanted to give you the full answer to my question to Richard about the possibility of a DEI Petty Enterprises merger:.

CBL: What about the reports of a merger between Petty Enterprises and DEI:

Petty: “You read in the paper that Wachovia and Wells Fargo was trying to get together and everybody else is trying to get together. The Japanese sent a bunch of money to buy a bank in New York. Everybody in the world is talking about this crap. OK and that’s just the trend of the time right now. Yea, we’ll talk to anybody. I’d like to talk to Wells Fargo somebody that’s got a lot of money. I don’t, some of these teams that’s trying to join up they ain’t no better off than we are so we need to get some better help than that.

CBL: That would be wild if two rivals (Earnhardt /Petty) Merged:

Petty “What happens is the way the system is now as far as the economy and also the way the system is with some of the other race teams that’s got satellite teams - here we’re sitting with two teams and some of these guys from the major satellite part is sitting there with eight teams. (It’s) kind of hard to compete with so I think that everybody’s looking at different angels of you know how do you compete with what’s out there right now.”

Petty also said that he would not comment when asked a follow-up by a reporter who asked if DEI needed Petty more than Petty needed DEI.

“Can’t never tell man - liable to be three or four names in there,” Petty added when a reporter followed up by asking if it would be Earnhardt Petty or Petty Earnardt if the merger ever did happen.

The word is that while everyone’s talking to everyone the meetings are more like fact-finding meetings and with a number of players in the garage - not just the two meeting to hammer out a deal.

Drivers Meeting:

Couple of quick notes - the main warning at the driver’s meeting from race director David Hoots was about Martinsville’s pit road: “LET’S LEAVE THE RACING ON THE RACE TRACK AND NOT ON THE PIT ROAD,’ Hoots emphasized. “We all know how small it is,” he added, “It’s been redone it’s nice and smooth - Let’s leave the racing out on the race track.”

There was one question in the driver’s meeting. It was from #48 Crew Chief Chad Knaus:
“Last race here it seemed that you guys opened up the pits kind of late. We were almost all the way through one and two - can you guys push that back?”