A Moment Connecting the 2023 Japan Series and the 2012 Orix

The Japan Series is really heating up.
It's been 10 years since it went to a Game 7.
It's been such a long time, hasn't it?

People seem to think Orix has the advantage after Yoshinobu's spirited complete game forced a tie, but I don't think that's necessarily the case.
After all, the Orix relief corps is quite exhausted.
Soichiro Yamazaki isn't in top form, to the point where he was left off the bench for Games 3 and 4, Udagawa is tired, and Abe and Waguespack are worse than they were last year.
And since Miyagi has been in superb form from the end of the season through the Climax Series and the Japan Series, conversely, if he were to "collapse," it would be about time.
The fact that he pitched almost perfectly in Game 2 is a worrying omen, isn't it?

On the other hand, for Hanshin, there is anxiety about Aoyagi, who didn't pitch in the Climax Series, starting the final game, but they'll likely use a relay from early on anyway, and when you look at it that way, the Hanshin relief corps looks more stable, so perhaps it's about even.
I have a feeling we'll see a game worthy of a final showdown.

And what struck me today was that after Manager Okada pulled starter Murakami when the score became 1-4 in the fifth inning, he used Yuki Nishi, who was the losing pitcher in Game 2.
Nishi was hit hard in Game 2, but he is still a pitcher who held down a spot in the rotation for a year.
He had that pitcher throw in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings while trailing by three runs.

In short, he gave up on the game there.
With Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching today, a three-run deficit was almost hopeless, so Manager Okada made the decision early on to rest his relief pitchers and use Nishi, who was hit in Game 2 and would be a concern to use as tomorrow's starter.
It was an excellent decision.
Usually, it's hard to make such a clean break. I was impressed.

At the same time, I find myself thinking about Nishi.
Orix had a long period of stagnation that felt like being stuck in mud.
Or rather, it had been a period of stagnation for about 20 years ever since Ichiro left.
Along the way, there was the merger with the Kintetsu Buffaloes, and while it changed into a different form than before, the stagnation remained the same.

Nishi was a pitcher who served as the ace for several years during that stagnant period for Orix.
In the final game of 2012, Nishi threw a no-hitter.
By the way, the Orix manager that year was Akinobu Okada.
(At the time of the no-hitter, Okada had been removed for a "leave of absence," and Hiroshi Moriwaki had become the acting manager.)
He was a player who felt like hope in the mud, but when Nishi became a free agent, he went to Hanshin.
It couldn't be helped.
Orix at the time was mud, and it was common for Nishi to be the losing pitcher without any run support even when he pitched well.
After Nishi left, and another ace who supported the mud era, Chihiro Kaneko, also left for the Nippon-Ham Fighters, the Orix pitching staff became like a wilderness where not even weeds would grow, and the one who fought hard alone was Taisuke Yamaoka, and the one who grew rapidly was Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who had been a reliever the previous year.

So, four years later, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is now a representative ace of Japan and is widely expected to move to Major League Baseball this offseason, is pitching, and in the background, the former ace Nishi is being made to be an inning eater.
Just as I was thinking what a contrast in history that was, T-Okada comes out as a pinch hitter, doesn't he?
Yes, he is the player who used to be the cleanup hitter for Orix when they were in the mud.

Orix 10 years ago was a team that was "not even on the radar," let alone being criticized.
A team playing meaningless games in the middle of summer at a half-empty Kyocera Dome.

Those two unfortunate players, who were the ace and the cleanup hitter in that era, are now facing each other at a packed Kyocera Dome while being broadcast on national television.
Watching TV, I felt dizzy.
I couldn't believe something like this could happen.

Are you watching, Mr. Moriwaki?
Are you watching, Chihiro Kaneko, Hikaru Ito, Mitsutaka Goto?
Where did Valdiris and Caraballo go?
Hey, Dixon, are you doing well? Turn on the TV. Something incredible is happening.
I wonder what Ryoichi Adachi, the only member in the first-base dugout who knows the mud era, thinks of this matchup.

While I was thinking that, T-Okada easily popped up.
That's right. You were the kind of person who wouldn't hit when people expected you to.

In the post-game winning manager interview, when Manager Nakajima, who is now gaining the status of a "great manager," said, "Please support us tomorrow too!", the Kyocera Dome was enveloped in a huge cheer like "Wooooo!"
That's amazing.

I want to meet Yuki Nishi right now and ask him.
Hey, what do you think?
Did you think Orix and Kyocera would become like this?
You didn't, did you?
That doesn't mean I think you should have stayed.
Because you left, Yoshinobu emerged.
And you did your best at Hanshin in your own way.
I think that was good.
I never thought you would end up as a garnish for Yoshinobu's sashimi, though.
But I think everyone ends up like that somewhere along the line.
Someday, even Yoshinobu might become a garnish for an up-and-coming player by the time he retires.

I've talked a bit too much.

Let's all watch baseball tomorrow.