2010 Season Preview, Part 3
My 2010 Season Preview has been broken down into five parts:
- Who's Staying/Who's Out/Who's In
- My Batting Lineup
- Pitching Rotation
- Bullpen
- Biggest Questions for the Season
Today I'm going to continue my fictional managerial role and break down my starting five pitchers. Rumour has it that Marty Brown will be using a 6-man rotation to start the season, but in my opinion Rakuten just doesn't have the horses to go six deep, especially with their middle relief problems.
On to the starting rotation.
2010 Season Preview, Part 2
My 2010 Season Preview has been broken down into five parts:
- Who's Staying/Who's Out/Who's In
- My Batting Lineup
- Pitching Rotation
- Bullpen
- Biggest Questions for the Season
Today I'll look at my fictional lineup, and attempt to justify my choices.
If I ever decided to leave my cushy job (by cushy, I mean free green tea) and take up a managerial position with the Eagles, here's how my lineup might look. First, the batting order and fielding positions.
2010 Season Preview, Part 1
With Spring Training over and the exhibition schedule in full swing (it's actually still snowing heavily here in Sendai as I write this), it's time to clean the dust off of this corner of the internet in anticipation of the upcoming 2010 NPB season.
First, a small note. When I started up this website last fall, in the midst of the Eagles' first-ever march into the postseason, I had a lot of free time on my hands. A LOT. Those days have changed however. As a result I won't be able to provide the full day-in/day-out coverage that perhaps drew you to this site initially.
My goal for this website this season is to provide previews and recaps on a weekly basis, not a game-by-game one. I'll also be continuing the Player Reports feature, and will do some weekend Live Blogs as well, using the Cover It Live service.
On to the preview!
2009 Report Card: #5 Fernando Seguignol
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Now that I've managed to survive a motherboard failure on one of my laptops, I'm ready to continue getting the report cards going. I'll try to write one a week; that should fill in the time between now and spring training.
This week's installment focuses on the man from Panama, first baseman Fernando Seguignol.
Eagles vs Fighters CS Game 5 Postgame: Sayonara
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SAPPORO DOME, SAPPORO - The Rakuten Eagles surprising season came to an unfortunate close Saturday evening, as they fell to the Nippon Ham Fighters 9-4 in the fifth game of the Climax Series, 2nd Stage. The loss also closes the book on manager Katsuya Nomura, who was not offered the skipper's job for the 2010 season, but may return to the team in some honourary capacity.
Eagles vs Fighters CS Game 5 Preview
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With the season hanging in the balance, the Eagles will look to rookie left-hander Hiromichi Fujiwara to keep their slim hopes alive in an afternoon game in Sapporo today. Game 5 was going to be the wildcard game in the series for Rakuten anyways; after their top three pitchers the quality of their starters is questionable at best. Facing elimination though means the stakes will be even higher, so we'll truly get to see just what this 24-year-old is made of.
Eagles vs Fighters CS Game 4 Postgame: Not over yet
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SAPPORO DOME, SAPPORO - It wasn't pretty, but it was enough. Ma-kun came through when the Eagles needed him most, and the lineup provided a few surprises to keep their season alive for at least one more day, beating the Fighters 3-2 Friday night. Rakuten now trails Nippon Ham three games to one in the best-of-seven series.
Eagles vs Fighters CS Game 4 Preview
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The Eagles try to stave off elimination tonight as they battle the Fighters at the Sapporo Dome. The Rakuten offense finally sputtered last night, despite having multiple opportunities late in the game to score runs, highlowlighted by a bases loaded, no out situation in the 8th inning where they failed to produce a single run. The two defeats in Hokkaido have been of the soul-crushing variety; the series could just have easily been 2-1 in favour of the Eagles. Now they'll just try to save some face by not getting swept by the Pacific League winning Nippon Ham Fighters.
Eagles vs Fighters CS Game 3 Postgame: Meltdown
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SAPPORO DOME, SAPPORO - Boxing and baseball have few, if any similarities to each other. I suppose that both sports use a type of glove. Both sports require years of training, precision timing, and pinpoint accuracy, but at their core they are two different animals entirely. There is however, one facet, one feature, one story that not only links boxing to baseball, but to almost every competitive sport known to man -- Getting Old.
Eagles vs Fighters CS Game 3 Preview
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Wait, game 3? What happened to game 2??? I figured I'd get these numbered properly (at least in my opinion); since the Eagles are losing the series two games to zero, it only makes sense to me that tonight's contest should be named game 3. Don't like it? Well, I don't like how grown men spit on the floor inside an office building here in Japan but there ain't much I can do about it.
2009 Playoffs, 1st Stage
16th Win 11-4
17th Win 4-1
Eagles win 2-0
2009 Playoffs, 2nd Stage
21st Loss 9-8
22nd Loss 3-1
23rd Win 3-2
24th Loss 9-4
Fighters win 4-1
2009 Season Standings
Archives
- March 2010 (3)
- November 2009 (1)
- October 2009 (40)
- September 2009 (16)
Recent Comments
- Kyle on 2010 Season Preview, Part 3
- Andrew on Regular Season Report Card: #3 Linden
- Chuck Stark on Regular Season Report Card: #3 Linden
- Andrew on 2010 Season Preview, Part 2
- Kyle on 2010 Season Preview, Part 2
Multimedia
- Climax Series Game 1, Oct 16 2009
- Eagles Magazine Covers
- Eagles vs Buffaloes, Oct 9th 2009
- Various Stadium Photos
- Video Clips From Games
- #3 Todd Linden Gallery
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