The Lions out-tied the Buffaloes to win the Pacific League pennant in 1988, and the Buffaloes out-tied the Braves to win the P.L. pennant in 1989. In fact, in 1989 the Braves were one percentage point behind the Buffaloes, and the third-place Lions were two percentage points behind.
In 1989, the Buffaloes met the Giants in the Japan Series and the Buffaloes won the first three games only to lose the last four, as Cromartie won his only Japan Championship.
Hmm, so many today cry about the ghost runner, though it's only created because the damage extra inning games do to rosters. Would this be an acceptable alternative a tie game after 12 innings? The old -play until a winner- era is dead and gone until they solve the pitcher issues.
It couldn't happen in baseball in the US nor in football these days where ties count as a half win and a half loss, but in the NFL in 1932, the Chicago Bears were 7-1-6 .875 and the Packers were 10-3-1 .769. Under the current system they'd have been Bears 0.714 and Packers 0.750.
86 wasn't one of the years I went through Japan, so I missed that one. Very cool - I think I remember reading "Kuromachi"'s book (that's a Japanesized phonetic of "Cromartie"... which also translates to "Black City". Warren's book was a fabulous read! One other thing, he mentions "tsu-wan" meaning 1 ball, 2 strikes. In Japan, do they still say the count as Strikes first, then Balls second? Probably a weird but very real point that every Japanese guy coming to play in the US has to adjust to, even if just in conversation!
If the NPB had counted ties as 1/2 a win, the teams would have been tied at 78.5 wins. But since ties were simply excluded from the calculation, the math was affected. The total number of counted games was smaller for each team (but to a different degree), so each victory for the team with fewer counted games carried more weight. Does the NPB still use this method?
The Lions out-tied the Buffaloes to win the Pacific League pennant in 1988, and the Buffaloes out-tied the Braves to win the P.L. pennant in 1989. In fact, in 1989 the Braves were one percentage point behind the Buffaloes, and the third-place Lions were two percentage points behind.
In 1989, the Buffaloes met the Giants in the Japan Series and the Buffaloes won the first three games only to lose the last four, as Cromartie won his only Japan Championship.
Attending a Carp home game is on my bucket list.
Hmm, so many today cry about the ghost runner, though it's only created because the damage extra inning games do to rosters. Would this be an acceptable alternative a tie game after 12 innings? The old -play until a winner- era is dead and gone until they solve the pitcher issues.
It couldn't happen in baseball in the US nor in football these days where ties count as a half win and a half loss, but in the NFL in 1932, the Chicago Bears were 7-1-6 .875 and the Packers were 10-3-1 .769. Under the current system they'd have been Bears 0.714 and Packers 0.750.
86 wasn't one of the years I went through Japan, so I missed that one. Very cool - I think I remember reading "Kuromachi"'s book (that's a Japanesized phonetic of "Cromartie"... which also translates to "Black City". Warren's book was a fabulous read! One other thing, he mentions "tsu-wan" meaning 1 ball, 2 strikes. In Japan, do they still say the count as Strikes first, then Balls second? Probably a weird but very real point that every Japanese guy coming to play in the US has to adjust to, even if just in conversation!
The fact that they called him クロマチ (黒街) alone is absolutely hilarious to me.
I’m not sure about the strike / ball count. I’ll take some time to watch a few Japanese games and will let you know what I find.
If the NPB had counted ties as 1/2 a win, the teams would have been tied at 78.5 wins. But since ties were simply excluded from the calculation, the math was affected. The total number of counted games was smaller for each team (but to a different degree), so each victory for the team with fewer counted games carried more weight. Does the NPB still use this method?
Great write up. I vaguely remember this season