NPB Bullet Points: Records and Oddities
It’s been an interesting week in Pro Yakyu, and here are the links to prove it. All of the articles below are either pictures or in English.
- The Chiba Lotte Marines’ dedicated fans presented team management with a petition signed by 112,493 to keep Bobby Valentine in Makuhari next year. The bald guys is the one who collected the signatures.
- Marty Brown went with a five-man infield in the 12th inning of the Carp’s saturday game with the Lions, and it actually worked. With the bases loaded and one out, Brown brought Tetsuya Okubo in from left and put him in between short and third. The Lions pitch hitter Haruki Kurose grounded one right at him, and Okubo threw home for a rare 7-2-3 double play.
- Yu Darvish won his eighth game of the season on Friday and also high-fived these TV personalities.
- Craig Brazell fouled three straight pitches off himself Friday against Lotte, then hit a home run. (thanks to reader bloodsmurf for the video)
- Yakult set an NPB record by getting hits in 11 straight at bats, which they did in the fifth inning of their 14-10 win over Orix on June 14. Tsubamegun has a nice write-up of Yakult’s big inning.
- Just a few days before Yakult offensive explosion, Lotte cranked out 10 straight hits as part of a 15-run inning. Steve Novosel caught it in hi-res. Also from Steve is this pic of a couple maiko (geisha) at a Marines game.
- Naoya Washiya has signed his first professional contract with Washington. He’ll start his career in rookie ball.
- We’ll wrap this one up with a couple of photoposts from Deanna and Matt.