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The story
A thread went up on 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo G” (live sports-chat board) about the Climax Series Final Stage game between the Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. A string of throwing errors and other defensive miscues during the game set off harsh reactions in the thread, with posters firing off lines like “this is sandlot ball.” Comments split between frustration with manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo’s fielding assignments and sympathy for players stuck playing out of position, while the thread also got lively arguing over how the Climax Series’ “advantage” win-count rule actually works.
What people said
This is exactly why they're weak.
How many times are they gonna repeat this?
Looks like sandlot ball out there.
Shinjo said "leave defense to me" back in his first year, but ever since they brought in reinforcements he's been way too careless about fielding.
That was batter Yanagimachi, right?
Probably a tough play either way.
Beat the Hawks, Fighters!
Beat the Hawks, Fighters!
Serves you right — Fooo!
Serves you right — Fooo!
At this rate they'll never beat the "Toilet Bowls" (5ch's crude old nickname for SoftBank) no matter how many games they play.
Honestly can't blame him for that one.
That's exactly why 99% of online opinion is ripping into Shinjo.
It's pointless — just let SoftBank go straight to the Japan Series.
Toilet Bowl: "What about our ticket revenue?"
Masayoshi Son: "I've got more money than I know what to do with."
If they try too hard it'll all be over in just 3 games.
Because Orix, Lotte, and Rakuten were all weak.
Farming weaklings.
Straight-up farming weaklings.
Hint: runner on third, Yamakawa.
Kind of feel bad for him getting shuffled all over the field.
Nomura's even playing center today.
What is going on with this team's fielding assignments?
Even Power Pro (the baseball video game) wouldn't let you get away with this.
Classic first-year Eikan Nine moves (the high-school team-building mode in Power Pro).
According to Sports Navi it's 1.
So if Nippon-Ham loses today, that means they'd need 4 straight wins just to survive?
Both teams need 5 wins total.
The Toilet Bowls already start with 2 in the bank.
With a 2-win advantage, it switches to a first-to-5 format.
Embarrass them so bad Shinjo wants to quit on his own.
Does that guy even have a sense of shame?
He seems like he's got sky-high pride though.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
This thread centers on a game from the Pro Baseball Climax Series (CS) Final Stage, a format in which the higher-ranked team from the regular season is awarded a head-start “advantage” win (or wins) before the series even begins. Posters in the thread toss around figures like “2-win advantage” and “first-to-5,” but the exact win conditions can vary season to season, so none of this should be taken as definitive based on the thread’s comments alone. Opinion split over whether to chalk the sloppy defense up to individual players’ errors or to manager Shinjo’s fielding decisions — such as playing a pitcher at first base and shuffling players into unfamiliar positions — with critics of his managing on one side and those arguing “it couldn’t be helped in that spot” on the other. Note that “Toilet Bowl” (便器) is a long-standing, crude 5ch nickname for SoftBank used on baseball threads, not a term coined for this particular game.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (“Nandemo Jikkyo G”) thread “[Bad News] Nippon-Ham Suddenly Can’t Stop Making Errors“.
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