[tehsuigi]

BANZAI! WE WIN ROOKIE SERIES

We finished the season as the top team in the NC with a 99-63 record, earning them a pennant and a rematch against their divisionmate, the Spokane Cadets, in the Division Series.

It almost ended in disaster, as the Cadets posted 8-2 and 8-3 wins in the first two games of the series. We got a gutsy complete game win from Hisashi Iwakuma in Game 3, taking that one 7-3, then 8 gutsy innings from Masahiro Tanaka in Game 4 to tie the series, before a 2-run home run by Ichiro gave us the lead in the bottom of the 6th inning that stood up thanks to Yu Darvish and Koji Uehara. Reverse sweep complete, and off to the Sub-League Series.

The Auburn Doubledays traded wins back and forth in a seven-game series high-lighted by DH Hideki Matsui absolutely crushing everything in his path. Games 3 thru 7 all had a Matsui home run (Game 7 had two for a 6-RBI day), and "Godzilla" finished with a .500/.531/1.167 slash line to win series MVP. Other notable performance include catcher Kenji Johjima's pair of home runs and bases-clearing double in a 5-RBI Game 1 win, Tanaka's 7 shutout innings in Game 3, and RF Shohei Ohtani's 3-run blast in the 12th inning of Game 5 to get us the win.

In the Rookie Series, it was firepower vs firepower as the North Woods Skeeters lead the AC in offense themselves. Game 1 went to the Skeeters, before we reeled off three straight wins. 3B Yoshi'tomo Tsutsugo and H. Matsui both went yard in Game 2, Ichiro and Ohtani launched one each in Game 3 as Kenta Maeda pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, and Game 4 was a 14-1 clobbering; Tanaka coming one out away from a complete game, H. Matsui with another two-HR day. Game 5 was a comeback win for North Woods, as they erased 2-0 and 6-3 deficits to win 9-6. All signs pointed to another seven-game series, but our offense had better ideas, backing starter Hiroki Kuroda (also coming one out away from a CG) with 5 runs in the 2nd in a 12-1 victory.

After the win, manager Tesuiji was given the traditional どあげ celebration by being tossed into the air. The faithful crammed into trains back into Osaka, leaping into the Dotonbori river in rapturous joy.

What a year, what a team.

Addendum
16,235 PP earned this season. Next year's gonna be a bit tighter for PP unless I keep my field dimensions as bandbox-y as they are now. Getting Takashi Saito was a solid acquisition, with his 3.04 ERA over 23 2/3 IP in the finish, and his 9 scoreless innings in the postseason run. Not sure if he'll be a closer next year; Uehara may still fit that role better.

Prep for Stone League
I added Daisuke Matsuzaka yesterday on a bargain, but I don't think he's going to make the team unless something goes wrong. Ohtani joins the rotation, at least at the outset.

Iwamura's done trash at 2B, but the alternative is Iguchi (even lower-rated) or Matsui (then who plays SS?). Tsutsugo's played bad enough at 3B to justify never playing him there again; he moves to 1B next season unless he gets a ratings bump tomorrow on the Live update. Which means my 3B is...Shogo Akiyama? Guy's never played a game on the infield but has 56 range, 71 arm, and 30 error.

Next card I'm getting is a certain tornado-windup pitcher. After that, it's a Saito upgrade, and I'm back to debating if foreign players should get playtime on this save.