From our other sites
The story
The Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers open a three-game series against Hiroshima at Koshien Stadium on the 8th, with their magic number for the pennant sitting at 18. When a reporter checked in with Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) about its now-traditional special “Oh No, Hanshin’s Gonna Win It!,” the network said “nothing has been decided at this point.” The special aired in 2021, the year Hanshin missed out on the pennant, while it was shelved in 2023 and 2025 — both championship years. On 5ch, some posters backed holding off on the broadcast as a lucky charm, while others argued it’s too early to celebrate with only a 2.5-game lead over second place.
September 8, 2026, 14:11
The Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers, with their magic number for the pennant now at 18, host Hiroshima for a three-game series starting on the 8th at Koshien Stadium. As the pennant race heats up, baseball fans on social media have their eyes on one thing in particular: whether Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) will air its special “Oh No, Hanshin’s Gonna Win It!” again.
This year, with our reporter now having moved from Sankei Sports to Sankei Digital, we again called ABC to ask about the special’s broadcast plans. A representative told us, “nothing has been decided at this point.”
Source: zakzak.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
MBS (Mainichi Broadcasting) already jinxed things with their own special, so it's still up in the air
Playing it safe by skipping the broadcast for luck is the right call
Once it drops to 10, it becomes more a question of *when* they clinch
Let's hold off on getting too excited just yet
Meanwhile SoftBank's coasting in the Pacific League
Seriously? That's cutting it way too close, lol
DeNA and Hiroshima especially — they're getting crushed by the Giants but playing Hanshin dead even
And there are still a lot of those matchups left, so a comeback is very much in play
Nobody ever gets punished for beaning Hanshin's batters, and the ball-strike calls keep going against them too
And then have it jinx them so the Giants swoop in and steal the pennant
Brought in Yumiko Udo.
They always seem to win it in the middle of some chaos
Gotta let the Taiyo Whales win one every once in a while (note: the Whales are a franchise that hasn't existed since the '70s — old-school troll)
The Giants turn into chihuahua-level pushovers against Hanshin, so I'm not even counting them
The last title-clinching game pulled 14% in the Kansai region.
Nationwide it was probably more like 2%… 💦
Normally that should be enough to run away with a huge lead over 2nd place
Saiki only wins at Koshien, and Takahashi only starts once every 10 days
Chikamoto and Nakano just have batting average going for them — their OPS is below league average
Their legs have slowed down too, so the running game isn't working anymore
Today's Hanshin is basically Hankyu now, so the whole team culture's changed (note: Hanshin and Hankyu Railways merged as companies, reshaping front-office influence)
Yomiuri throws an all-bullpen game one day and gets a complete-game shutout from a starter the next
Meanwhile Hanshin's got guys who won't even celebrate a teammate's home run — total self-centered vibe
The team chemistry is just on a completely different level
A bunch of Hanshin players got called up and came back hurt
In 2008 it was Arai, in 2021 it was Aoyagi who got injured
June 2021: ABC TV's "#Oh No, Hanshin's Gonna Win It" → missed the pennant
September 2026: MBS's "Yumiko Udo's Tiger Cafeteria"
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HRa8q9hbMAAL4Df.jpg
Why's Momi-oka in there giving off dark-age vibes
Even if they win, he's getting fired regardless
Even Mori, Ochiai, and Akiyama got fired right after winning titles
so right now it's basically neck and neck
I want it to go head-to-head with the Giants' Kenji Haga legend (note: reference to a disgraced celebrity's name, used sarcastically)
Background and Key Points
The “Oh No, Hanshin’s Gonna Win It!” special has a track record: when ABC aired it in June 2021, Hanshin missed the pennant, and the network then held off airing it in both 2023 and 2025 — years Hanshin went on to win. This year’s “nothing decided yet” response looks less like the network being confident of a title and holding back on purpose, and more like sticking to the jinx-avoidance tradition. A magic number of 18 can swing wildly depending on the leading team’s remaining games and results, and posters on the thread pointed out it’s “not time to celebrate yet.” Indeed, as of the 8th, the lead over second place sits at a slim 2.5 games, and the timing of any pennant clinch will shift depending on how the remaining schedule — including the Hiroshima series — plays out. The thread split between posters who back the superstition and those with a more cynical take that it’s really just about ratings and sponsors rather than any jinx — though neither view can be confirmed from the source article alone.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[V Yanen!] Asahi Broadcasting’s “Oh No, Hanshin’s Gonna Win It!” special has no broadcast plans again this year — aired in ’21, missed the pennant; held back in ’23 and ’25, won both times [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★].”
Leave a Reply