It is said that it is difficult to win consecutive victories.
If you look for a reason, it’s probably endless. Opponents will come to hit first-class pitchers, and above all, motivation will be different. There will be some players who have achieved career highs in the season they won the championship and will go downhill after that.
Furthermore, Yakult and Orix in 2021 were teams that were viewed as whether they could avoid the bottom, let alone win, before the opening. It’s not like they’re lining up talented people against the backdrop of their abundant financial strength. Even if you can win the championship with no mark once, it seems that most people expected that it will be difficult in 2022 when it is not so.
I myself thought so.
The Pacific League is Softbank, and the Central League is the Tigers. That was the expected win. Regarding Hanshin’s winning prediction, it’s not just a prediction, it’s just my wish. had
First of all, the strength is out of the question. There is an absolute ace representing the baseball world in the starting lineup, and there is no hole in the batting line. I think the reason why we couldn’t win the championship in 2021 was simply that the engagement didn’t go well, or that it was a “season where nothing went well” that any team would be attacked once every few years. was
What’s more, as a result, the Hawks players had an unusual off-season as they didn’t even make it to the Climax Series.
“We will go to the climax. I’m practicing for the next season.I’ve been on that side this year, but my physical and mental condition is completely different.”
That’s why it was Kodai Senga a year ago who laughed and said, “It looks like we’re going to have a good result next year.” To be honest, when I heard those words, I thought the Hawks would be the only team to win the championship in 2022. A strong team is coming into the new season with all possible preparations. By any chance, I thought that it might be a solo victory.
As he himself expected, Senga in 2022 showed more success than Senga in 2021. Although he did not grow as much as expected with “11” winning stars, his ERA is an amazing 1-point range. For Hawks fans, there may be some things that are not enough, but not only Senga, but the results left by other players were also worthy of winning.
However, ORIX took out Softbank at the last minute. They lined up in the number of winning stars and lined up in the winning percentage, but they were separated by an unprecedented minute difference in the head-to-head confrontation.
Why were they able to win the super dead heat that remains in baseball history and achieve consecutive victories?
It goes without saying that one of the factors was the great wheel of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was selected for the Sawamura Award for his ERA surpassing even Senga. He has 15 wins, a 1.68 ERA, and 205 strikeouts. It’s a result that can’t be called anything other than an ace.
In the batting team, Masanao Yoshida’s struggle shined. Although he lost the top hitter to Hokkaido Nippon-Ham’s Tsuyoshi Matsumoto, he still had high-level batting averages, RBIs, and home runs. It can be said that this is also one of the important driving force of consecutive victories.
However, on October 2nd, when Softbank played Lotte and Orix played Rakuten’s 143rd game of the season, the Hawks took a 2-0 lead in the 5th inning, and the Buffaloes trailed 0-2. rice field.
Unlike soccer, a two-point difference in baseball can be overturned with just one chance. But even if the Buffaloes managed to turn the game around, if the Hawks got away with it or brought it to a draw, their dream of winning back-to-back titles would have been cut short. The situation was overwhelmingly in favor of the Hawks.
Still, the winning streak was achieved.
I may be accused of being irresponsible as a professional writer, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t find words that logically explain Orix’s victory. It was a conclusion that can only be thought of as something beyond human wisdom boosting the fierce bull army.
As for the Central League… Right or wrong, I have my own answer as to why Yakult was able to achieve consecutive victories.
One is Murakami’s big explosion, and the other is Hanshin’s miscalculation.
Munetaka Murakami of 21 was also amazing. 39 homers and 112 RBIs. A team with a fourth batter who has such a good record cannot be weak. But 22-year-old Murakami was a monster. Three years ago, the man who had the most strikeouts in the league with 184 strikeouts and a batting average of just 20%, 30%, and 10% has improved all of his numbers, including home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage, and his batting average is 30%. has greatly exceeded Only in the final stage of the season, when the 56th home run of the season was expected, he showed a human-like Moro, but he was a full-fledged actor who lived up to expectations in the final turn at bat in the final game.
However, no matter how much Murakami exploded, it would have been a more difficult season for Yakult if Hanshin had not played an unprecedented defeat, such as nine consecutive losses from the opening.
In 2021, Yakult won the championship. However, it was Hanshin who surpassed them in winning stars. Naturally, head coach Takatsu should have seen Hanshin as a formidable opponent ahead of the new season. There is no Murakami in Hanshin, but the pitchers are substantial accordingly.
However, Yakult succeeded in letting Hanshin, who had been unanimous in terms of being involved in the battle for the championship, win three times in the opening three consecutive games. The impact Hanshin received was so great that the mood of anticipating victory disappeared before Golden Week.
Of course, Hanshin weren’t the only team that was expected to compete for the championship, and it’s not like Takatsu wasn’t wary of other teams. However, it was not a bad material for Yakult that the rivals who were supposed to target them were no longer in the beginning of the season.
Yakult, which took the top spot in late May, accelerated from there and gained a large lead over second place and below. In fact, at about the same time, Hanshin also showed a fierce recovery, but because the gap was too wide, it was not enough to put pressure on Yakult.
Yakult also had miscalculations, such as Okugawa, who was expected to leave the line of battle. However, by firmly capturing the wave of biorhythm, Director Takatsu will not overwork the pitching staff, which can never be said to be abundant, and will carve out stable results. They had more than enough savings to get away with some of the final breathless situations. It was also a season in which the management ability of Director Takatsu, who oversaw the entire season, shined.
Whether it was Orix’s manager Nakajima or Takatsu, it’s not like he was a top-notch player during his playing days. Of course, he was first-class, but he wasn’t the sort of person who would make an active player bow down just by his name. These two coaches not only led the team from last place to the championship, but also achieved consecutive victories. This may be a sign that the elements that modern players look for in a manager are changing from what they used to be.
On the other hand, Hanshin decided to reappoint the former legend, Akifu Okada. Manager Yano, who was close to the players and was close to Manager Takatsu in terms of type, switched to the type that leads the players. What are the consequences of that? I am personally very interested.
Anyway, Yoshida left Orix, and Senga’s name disappeared from Softbank. The Pacific League in the new season may develop completely differently from the past few years, and the Central League is the Central League, and the other five teams are pulling the strings, saying that Yakult will not allow Yakult to win the third consecutive title. You must be
The WBC is waiting for next year after the end of the year when the World Cup has passed. An exciting new year is upon us for baseball fans.
