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The story
On 5ch’s Nandemo Jikkyo G (Live Sports Commentary) board, a Climax Series game from two days ago got dug back up and became a hot topic. The spark was a moment where, right after Hanshin fans sent up their customary “One more strike!” chant, Yokohama’s Mimori delivered a hit that flipped the momentum. The thread’s discussion ranged from in-game analysis (“There’s a ghost haunting Koshien,” “Why’d he throw it high?”) to criticism of the Climax Series format itself, with posters arguing the pennant winner’s advantage is far too small. Some replies mockingly dragged manager Kyuji Fujikawa into the jinx, drawing pushback like “This is about the fans — Fujikawa has nothing to do with it,” so reactions to the jinx were far from unanimous.
What people said
I could probably drink all night just talking about this one.
If they'd been comfortably ahead, fine, but this…
Calling Hanshin fans "ordinary people" is funny on its own lol
They didn't release balloons the day before yesterday though
Are you mixing this up with an older game?
Because those guys are happy as long as they get to make noise.
A lower pitch would've been strike three.
Probably because there was a near-wild-pitch on the 4th pitch to Tsutsugo back in the 8th inning.
Me right after the first inning: "Well, that streak died fast — boring!"
Me after the game ended: "Turns out this was funnier than four straight shutout losses!"
that Kansai folks just can't stop doing the jinx-inducing "one more strike" chant — it's in their blood.
They already got taken deep by Darubekku this year,
and even a swinging strike isn't foolproof — remember the "Matsuyama tragedy" fans still bring up.
Well, it's a classic bit by now…
True —
if the advantage were worth 3 wins, the series would've ended 3-4 instead.
It's also pretty great that the team made up for the game where Hamachi let his old team pull ahead.
All three of those guys had lost the team's trust this season though.
lol that's just a pitch-count limit.
They're already flashing a "Magic Number: 143" graphic too.
The higher-seeded team gets basically no advantage at all.
If you get swept 4 straight, no handicap on earth is saving you, right?
The Japan Series format is garbage too, honestly.
Lower-ranked teams aren't even allowed to compete in the first place, that's the thing.
A "Chin-san" (mocking nickname for Hanshin Tigers fans) tosses out a ridiculous defense, only to get answered with a straight fastball — literally, from pitcher Ishii.
keeps getting them beaten the exact same way every time —
is that maybe why Hanshin's only won the pennant 3 times in 4 years?
They can win just fine without that chant.
But when they lose right after it, it becomes a huge meme.
It's also funny that they've only done the "one more strike" chant once this entire Climax Series.
Kudo (pitcher) / Fushimi (catcher): "It's the last strike, so we've got to go right for the zone…"
Mimori: "It's the last strike, so of course it's coming into the zone lol"
Your mistake was assuming Mimori plays for the BayStars.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
The “one more strike” chant is considered a jinx because of an incident in the 2003 Japan Series, when Hanshin’s closer at the time, Kyuji Fujikawa, came within one pitch of sealing the win but got hit — earning him the mocking nickname “Ikkuji” (“One-Pitch Boy”). Ever since, fans have passed down a jinx in which sending up this chant while ahead gets the team reversed. This time, the thread lit up because it felt like history repeating itself, but since Fujikawa is no longer an active player and had no direct involvement in this particular play, some posters pointed out that “tying the fans’ behavior back to Fujikawa misses the point” — worth noting is how excitement over the jinx coexisted with discomfort at dragging an individual into the joke. It’s also worth remembering that the Climax Series format lets a team with a better regular-season record still lose to a lower-ranked one, so complaints about how small the pennant winner’s advantage is amount to criticism of the format itself, not of any particular team — the two should be read separately.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Hanshin fans: “One more strike! lol One more strike lol!” Yokohama’s Mimori: “(CRACK)” Hanshin fans: “…”“.
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