And the Chiba Lotte Marines are your 2010 Japan Series champions!
I spent today watching college football (yes, the kind with the prolate spheroid) with Kozo down in Yokohama and told Steve that I'd "try to be back home in time to watch the 11th inning". It was a joke due to Game 6 ending in a 6-hour 15-inning tie. But infact... I got home in the 8th inning and it was a 7-6 game at the time with Lotte leading, and sure enough, Kazuhiro Wada hit a triple to lead off the bottom of the 9th and next thing you know, it was a tied 7-7 game in extra innings yet again.
In the 12th, with Asao still in (and Firearm IMing me to say that "Ochiai just went full retard, Asao for a 4th inning?!"), Imae walked, pitcher Itoh bunted him over and for once did NOT fail. Satozaki grounded out and then Okada -- who the announcers kept marvelling at how he went from being an ikusei player to playing at THE JAPAN SERIES -- slammed one out to right field, back to the wall, and well, when the dust cleared, Imae was in for the go-ahead 8-7 run and Okada the ikusei wonder was on 3rd.
Iwase got my beloved Heiuchi to hit a fly out but well, this game was over. The bottom of the 12th featured a Tanishige fly out, Ibata watches a 3rd strike go by for the second out, and then a pinch-hitting Fujii grounded out to short.
And the Marines are the champions.
It feels still very weird and detatched for me for whatever reason. And my TV feed cut out so I don't even know yet who got the MVP or anything else.
EDIT> Word in from Nagoya (ie, Steve, who is in the Lotte ouenseki) is that Imae is the Series MVP, which totally makes sense, just like he was in 2005. My god, has it seriously been 5 years since then? I still remember staying up until 6-7am every morning to track the Marines-Tigers games back then.
2 comments:
While the bunt may have worked, I was still screaming at the TV to stop it.
The outfield was way in on that triple by Okada. That's the third time this season that I've seen the outfield way in with two down in the bottom of the 9th or later and a routine fly out turns into a game winning RBI. (Wait, one time the Giants' center fielder made an amazing run and wide-receiver catch to end the game against Yokohama.) I realize that they're protecting against a base hit that scores the runner from second, but that just seems to be a little too far in for such protection. And with two outs, it seems odd to give up the run with a ball over the head when playing a little farther back can still hold the runner at third.
Nonetheless, it all ended well for Lotte, so I'm fine with Chunichi's fielding miscue.
I thought Ochiai went full retard most of the series. I would have been throwing stuff if I were a Chunichi fan when he had Ibata drop a sac bunt WITH ONE OUT - and this happened repeatedly this series! Plus leaving Nakata in for BP in Game 5. Plus leaving Asao in for 4 innings. Plus. Plus.
At least Nishimura got over his bunting complex and only had the Itoh bunt, which absolutely made sense in that situation.
I shot some cool video of Okada doing flips in the outfield after the game - I'll try to get it on YouTube tonight :)
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