Midori no Ya! An *** Expansion Dynasty

[tehsuigi]

GM Notebook - August 1, 2047

Deadline deal done - added Motoshi Sakumoto, a shortstop from Chunichi, and one of their pitching prospects for one of our glut of corner outfielders and some pitching depth. 9-7 in July, so we're keeping our momentum up. The gap between us and first is down to 6 games, and third place is only 3.5 games ahead of us.

Time to see if Shosaku Aoki can play center and give Shojiro Murakami a break.

[tehsuigi]

GM Notebook - September 1, 2047

When the injury bug bites, it bites HARD. We lost Shigekatsu Maeda for a few weeks, Masami Matsuura for I don't know how long, Chris Garrett for a couple more days, and now Kim Chae-bong's season is over because of an elbow strain - his first major injury.

That said...we went 18-9 in August. 5 games back of 1st, 3 games back of a playoff spot. We briefly were in third before we lost pace to the Hawks. It's going to be a mad scramble to finish the season, and keep juggling guys in the DH spot.

Shigejiro Matsumoto picked up PL Pitcher of the Month thanks to his 4-0 August with 54 Ks in 33 IP and a .140 oAVG. The man's coasting to another Sawamura award, I can tell.
And our corner outfielders are finally bearing fruit with Kenishi Shimizu getting PL Rookie of the Month! Kid batting .396 for August.

[tehsuigi]

The Quiver - September 28, 2047
Your Shizuoka Arrows News Source!

No, it wasn't the finish anyone wanted. The comeback almost worked, April aside this was a good team.

But the team bid farewell to their postseason streak and their general manager both yesterday. tehsuigi leaves the Shizuoka Arrows in a good place, with youngsters ready to push the old farts out and a fantastic pitching staff. He also leaves them in a bit of a budget bind, so it'll be interesting to see who stays with the club past this year.

At least they ended with a win, as Tony Topete crushed a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 8th to put Shizuoka ahead of Orix 4-3. The Arrows finish the season 81-62, and 3 games back of the Lions and Buffaloes tied in second.

EDIT: Tony Topete won PL Batter of the Month, batting .357 with 7 HRs.

2047 Awards
* Golden Gloves: C Kiyonori Nakashima, 3B Willie de la Cruz
* Best Nine: none
* Rookie of the Year: none
* Sawamura: Shigejiro Matsumoto (15-7, 2.54 ERA, 266 Ks in 177 1/3 IP). Mikio Yasuda 5th.
* MVP: Matsumoto 7th, Yoshikuni Yokota 8th, Tony Topete 11th

[tehsuigi]

2047 Season Summary

Okay Yamazaki-san. This office is yours now. Do with it what you will.
Just make sure you keep Takahiko Kusunoki-san around. He's the only guy still here from Day 1, and he's still a damn good trainer even at 69 years old.

[tehsuigi]

Manager History

Well, it would have been nice to get a 10th ring, but this is the first time I was able to build and sustain a full dynasty.
I may return to this save as Commissioner to see where some of my squad ends up in 5 years (like Matsumoto, Kim, and Yasuda), but for all intents, this dynasty is over.

[tehsuigi]

Epilogue - October 15, 2050

It was a raucous atmosphere at the Tokyo Dome, as the Shizuoka Arrows finally got back to the top of the Japanese baseball world, winning Game 5 5-3 and the series 4-1. The Arrows won the PL pennant by 3 games over the Lions, then bested them in a tight seven-game series.

For the last few veterans who stuck with the Arrows since their last title in 2041 like manager Paul Paez, ace Shigejiro Matsumoto, slugger Yoshikuni Yokota, and stud starter Kim Chae-bong, it was vindication of their decision. For the newer faces who helped get this team back on top, like Mikio Yasuda, Willie de la Cruz, Shosaku Aoki, and series MVP Shinshuu Komatsu, it's a feeling like no other. And for GM Seiya Yamazaki, it's time to start crafting his legacy to match his predecessor's.

This year was especially meaningful for Matsumoto, who passed the legendary Masaichi Kaneda atop the career strikeouts leaderboard midway through the season. Matsumoto is set to be a free agent this offseason, but it would be cruel if he wore any uniform other than double-green.
EDIT: he would sign a 1yr/4.96M deal with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles...

That will come later. For now, the bells are ringing throughout Shizuoka once more.

Where'd they end up?
Still with Shizuoka: Fuchigami, Ramos, Aoki, de la Cruz, Kim, Kobayashi, Maeda, Hideo, Matsumoto, Shibazaki, Shimizu, Umeda, Yasuda, Yokota, Kawaguchi
SoftBank: Yamasaki
Rakuten: Sakumoto, Hayashi, Yoshinaga
Hanshin: Endo
Nippon-Ham: Hara
Seibu: Murakami
DeNA: Nakashima
Yomiuri: Fukuda
MLB or MiLB: Topete, Garrett
Industrial Ball: Miyamoto
Retired: Ogawa, Matsuura, Nakamura

New Retired Numbers
* 12 hangs in the rafters to recognize Rintaro Takashima, and his 636 Ks and 2.93 ERA over 518 2/3 IP in Shizuoka. He was a contributor to all of the V-7 teams, plus one more ring in 2047 as a Hawk.
* 16 represents Isamu Hiratsuka, with 1,054 Ks and a 3.56 ERA over 672 2/3 IP as a starter and reliever. He was on 6 of the V-7 teams, but became a lights-out closer for SoftBank winning rings in 2047 and 2048.
* and 37 represents the captain of the V-7 squad, Koji Kashima. His 302 HRs, 909 RBIs, and .279 BA were all great, but his leadership is what people talk about. After leaving Shizuoka for the KBO, he played part of a season for DeNA and one final game with Kirin before retiring.

[tehsuigi]

Postscripts

The All-Time Arrows
Who would be my Best of the Best? Let's go by WAR (and thumb the scale for my favourites). For the position players, starters are on the left (1B/2B/SS/3B and LF/CF/RF), reserves on the right.

The V-7 Dynasty
Cooked this up to show who's been with the team and when during that halcyon run from 2036 to 2042. Only six guys were with the team the entire duration - Morioka, Matsumoto, Alejandrez, Nakamura, Kimura, and Kashima.

PL and CL Standings Charts
There's a real haves-havenots issue in the PL, with only four of eight teams winning the pennant all sim (Arrows 11, Hawks 8, Buffaloes 5, Eagles 4). Conversely, only the Bears and Dragons failed to win a pennant in the CL.