Baseball 2019 Discussion Thread

[Olympian1010 7,977]

Australia really likes to fly thousands of miles to get last every year. At least one Canada always loses their first game, they generally win the second.

[Topicmaster1010 4,182]

2019 Little League World Series

 

Day 3: August 17

 

U.S. Bracket:

 Rhode Island 6-1 Kentucky  

 Louisiana 3-2 Oregon  

 

International Bracket:

  Australia 0-2 Venezuela 

 Italy 0-10 Canada 

 

*Kentucky, Oregon, Australia, Italy eliminated

 

Tomorrow's Schedule:

 

U.S. Bracket:

 Virginia vs. Minnesota  

 Hawaii vs. New Jersey  

 

International Bracket:

 Curacao vs. South Korea   

 Japan vs. Mexico  

Edited August 19, 2019 by Topicmaster1010

[Topicmaster1010 4,182]

2019 Little League World Series

 

Day 4: August 18

 

U.S. Bracket:

 Virginia 11-0 Minnesota 

 Hawaii 6-0 (suspended) New Jersey 

 

International Bracket:

 Curacao 0-4 South Korea 

 Japan 5-0 Mexico 

 

Tomorrow's Schedule (Losers are Eliminated):

 

U.S. Bracket:

 Hawaii/New Jersey vs. Rhode Island 

 Minnesota vs. Louisiana 

 

International Bracket:

 Mexico vs. Venezuela 

 Curacao vs. Canada

 

Consolation Games:

 Australia vs. Kentucky

[Topicmaster1010 4,182]

2019 Little League World Series

 

Day 5: August 19

 

U.S. Bracket:

 Minnesota 0-10 Louisiana

 

International Bracket:

  Mexico 7-8 Venezuela 

 Curacao 8-1 Canada 

 

*Minnesota, Mexico, Canada eliminated

 

Consolation Games:

 Australia 1-4 Kentucky 

 

Tomorrow's Schedule:

 

U.S. Bracket:

 New Jersey vs. Rhode Island   

 

International Bracket:

 Venezuela vs. Curacao

 

Consolation Games:

 Italy vs. Oregon 

[phelps 7,678]

and together with the North American MLB, also the other 2 more important Pro Baseball leagues in the world ended their Regular Season and are ready to start their respective Playoffs campaign...

 

so, let's see how things went in the Japanese NPB and in the Korean KBO...

 

here's a quick recap of both leagues...

 

 

NPB Regular Season

 

CENTRAL LEAGUE
Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	Draws	Win Pct.
1	Yomiuri Giants*	77	64	2	.546
2	Yokohama DeNA BayStars**	71	69	3	.519
3	Hanshin Tigers**	69	68	6	.504
4	Hiroshima Toyo Carp	70	70	3	.500
5	Chunichi Dragons	68	73	2	.482
6	Tokyo Yakult Swallows	59	82	2	.418
* = Teams qualified to the Climax Series as League Champions
** = Teams qualified to the Playoffs, Round #1
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	Draws	Win Pct.
1	Saitama Seibu Lions*	80	62	1	.563
2	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks**	76	62	5	.551
3	Tohoku Rajuten Golden Eagles**	71	68	4	.511
4	Chiba Lotte Marines	69	70	4	.504
5	Hokkaido nippon-Ham Fighters	65	73	5	.471
6	Orix Buffaloes	61	75	7	.452
* = Teams qualified to the Climax Series as League Champions
** = Teams qualified to the Playoffs, Round #1

 

 

NPB Post-Season

 

CENTRAL LEAGUE POST-SEASON BRACKET
Playoffs, Round #1*		Climax Series**
Yokohama DeNA BayStars		Yomiuri Giants
Hanshin Tigers		TBD (PO, Rd #1 winners)
PACIFIC LEAGUE POST-SEASON BRACKET
Playoffs, Round #1*		Climax Series**
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks		Saitama Seibu Lions
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles		TBD (PO, Rd #1 winners)
* = Best-of-3 Series (all games played on the turf of the higher seeded team)
** = Best-of-7 Series
JAPAN SERIES: Winners CL CS vs Winners PL CS (Best-of-7 Series)

 

 

 

 

KBO Regular Season

 

KOREAN BASEBALL ORGANIZATION (KBO)
Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	Draws	Win Pct.
1	Doosan Bears*	88	55	1	.615
2	SK Wyverns**	88	55	1	.615
3	Kiwoom Heroes***	86	57	1	.601
4	LG Twins****	79	64	1	.552
5	NC Dinos****	73	69	2	.514
6	kt Wiz	71	71	2	.500
7	KIA Tigers	62	80	2	.437
8	Samsung Lions	60	83	1	.420
9	Hanwha Eagles	58	86	0	.403
10	Lotte Giants	48	93	3	.348
* = Team qualified to the 2019 Korean Series
** = Team qualified to the Playoff Series
*** = Team qualified to the Semi-Playoff Series
**** = Teams qualified to the Wild Card Game

 

 

KBO Post-Season

 

KBO PLAYOFFS BRACKET
Wild Card Series (Best-of-3, with all games on the turf of the higher seeded team, also starting from 1-0 in the series)
LG Twins (#4) b. NC Dinos (#5) 2-0 (Bonus Win; 3-1)
Semi-Playoffs Series (Best-of-5 Series)
Kiwoom Heroes (#3) vs LG Twins (WCS Winners)
Playoffs Series (Best-of-5 series)
SK Wyverns (#2) vs TBD (Semi-Playoffs Series Winners)
2019 Korean Series (Best-of-7 series)
Doosan Bears (#1) vs TBD (Playoffs Series Winners)

[phelps 7,678]

updates from Japan and Korea...

 

in the Country of the Rising Sun we are ready for the final showdown, the Japan Series 2019 (they will start next Saturday)...in Korea we are at the "semifinal" stage, to decide who's going to face the Doosan Bears in the final act (Kiwoom Heroes won earlier today game #1, 3-0 after 11 innings)...

 

here are the updated tables...

 

KBO PLAYOFFS BRACKET
Wild Card Series (Best-of-3, with all games on the turf of the higher seeded team, also starting from 1-0 in the series)
LG Twins (#4) b. NC Dinos (#5) 2-0 (Bonus Win; 3-1)
Semi-Playoffs Series (Best-of-5 Series)
Kiwoom Heroes (#3) b. LG Twins (WCS Winners) 3-1 (1-0; 5-4; 2-4; 10-5)
Playoffs Series (Best-of-5 series)
SK Wyverns (#2) vs Kiwoom Heroes (Semi-Playoffs Series Winners)
2019 Korean Series (Best-of-7 series)
Doosan Bears (#1) vs TBD (Playoffs Series Winners)

 

 

CENTRAL LEAGUE POST-SEASON BRACKET
Playoffs, Round #1*			Climax Series**
Yokohama DeNA BayStars	1		Yomiuri Giants	3
Hanshin Tigers	2		Hanshin Tigers (PO, Rd #1 winners)	1
PACIFIC LEAGUE POST-SEASON BRACKET
Playoffs, Round #1*			Climax Series**
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	2		Saitama Seibu Lions	0
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	1		Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (PO, Rd #1 winners)	4
* = Best-of-3 Series (all games played on the turf of the higher seeded team)
** =Max-of-7 Series (all games played on the turf of the higher seeded team)
JAPAN SERIES (Best-of-7 Series)
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks vs Yomiuri Giants

 

and this is the Schedule of the Japan Series 2019

 

game #1, Saturday, October 19th @ Fukuoka (h.18.30 local time, h.11.30 CET)
game #2, Sunday, October 20th @ Fukuoka (h.18.30 local time, h.11.30 CET)

game #3, Tuesday, October 22nd @ Tokyo (18.15 local time, h.11.15 CET)
game #4, Wednesday, October 23rd @ Tokyo (18.15 local time, h.11.15 CET)
game #5 (if necessary), Thursday, October 24th @ Tokyo (18.15 local time, h.11.15 CET)

game #6 (if necessary), Saturday, October 26th @ Fukuoka (h.18.30 local time, h.11.30 CET)
game #7 (if necessary), Sunday, October 27th @ Fukuoka (h.18.30 local time, h.10.30 CET*)

 

* = DST ends in Europe, meanwhile there is no DST in Japan

[phelps 7,678]

quick update on the KBO playoffs series...

 

Kiwoom Heroes won the first 2 games on the road against SK Wyverns and are just 1 win away from reaching the 2019 Korean Series...

 

game #1 was a wonderful pitching duel, involving not only the starters of both teams but also the bullpens...it ended 3-0 after 11 innings!

 

game #2 was more of a slugfest, but still a thrilling and highly entertaing match, ending 8-7 for the road team...

 

game #3 is scheduled for tomorrow @ 6.30 p.m. local time (11.30 a.m. CET)

[phelps 7,678]

and after today's game (Kiwoom Heroes won the 3rd match against SK Wyverns 10-1 and swept the series against them), we already have the teams playing the 2019 Korean Series...

 

 

KBO PLAYOFFS BRACKET
Wild Card Series (Best-of-3, with all games on the turf of the higher seeded team, also starting from 1-0 in the series)
LG Twins (#4) b. NC Dinos (#5) 2-0 (Bonus Win; 3-1)
Semi-Playoffs Series (Best-of-5 Series)
Kiwoom Heroes (#3) b. LG Twins (WCS Winners) 3-1 (1-0; 5-4; 2-4; 10-5)
Playoffs Series (Best-of-5 series)
Kiwoom Heroes (#3, Semi-Playoffs Series Winners) b. SK Wyverns (#2) 3-0 (3-0; 8-7; 10-1)
2019 Korean Series (Best-of-7 series)
Doosan Bears (#1) vs Kiwoom Heroes (#3, Playoffs Series Winners)

 

 

And this is the 2019 Korean Series schedule:

 

game #1, Tuesday, October 22nd, Kiwoom Heroes @ Doosan Bears (h.18.30 local time, h. 11.30 CET)
game #2, Wednesday, October 23rd, Kiwoom Heroes @ Doosan Bears (h.18.30 local time, h. 11.30 CET)

 

game #3, Friday, October 25th, Doosan Bears @ Kiwoom Heroes (h.18.30 local time, h. 11.30 CET)
game #4, Saturday, October 26th, Doosan Bears @ Kiwoom Heroes (h.14.00 local time, h.07.00 CET)
game #5, if necessary, Sunday, October 27th, Doosan Bears @ Kiwoom Heroes (h.14.00 local time*, h.06.00 CET*)

 

game #6, if necessary, Tuesday, October 29th, Kiwoom Heroes @ Doosan Bears (h.18.30 local time*, h. 10.30 CET*)
game #7, if necessary, Wednesday, October 30th, Kiwoom Heroes @ Doosan Bears (h.18.30 local time*, h. 10.30 CET*)

 

* = DST over in Europe, no Time change in South Korea

[phelps 7,678]

so, Game #1 of the 2019 Japan Series is in the bag...

 

in a packed Yafuoku! Dome in Fukuoka, women's heavyweights Judo World Champion Akira Sone threw the ceremonial first pitch and then, after the illusive solo HR by Abe in the top iof the second inning for the Tokyo Giants, it was all a home team show...

 

when the Yo,iuri's starting pitcher Yamaguchi tired up a bit, the home team bats started to pile hits up and between the 6th and the 7th inning they opened the score up to 7-1.

 

It was all over...and the last HR by the Giants in the 9th and final inning was just cosmetic...7-2 the final score for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in game #1, which means that now they lead the series 1-0...

 

most notable players for the Home Team, left fielder/3rd baseman Gracial (hitting the 2-run HR that started it all for the Hawks in the second inning) and the starting pitcher Senga, with a dominant performance over 7 innings (only 3 hits and 1 earned run allowed, 5 K's)...

 

here's the boxscore of Game #1

http://npb.jp/bis/eng/2019/games/s2019101901838.html

 

game #2 is about to start (always in Fukuoka) in less than half an hour...

[phelps 7,678]

2019 Japan Series, game #2

 

it all started with 6 very quick scoreless innings, where the starting pitchers (R.Takahashi for Fukuoka, Chris Mercedes for the Giants) had their opposing linups totally under control...

 

then, the Yomiuri Giants went to their bullpen...and the drama began almost immediately...

 

first a 3-run blast in the 7th, followed by a solo-homer and a 3-run shot in the 8th opened up a 6-0 gap in favour of the Hawks, which basically killed any hope for the visiting team...

 

so, despite a disgraceful 9th inning by the Hawks' relievers (first J.Takahashi, then the closer Mori), who allowed the Giants to score 3 runs and bring the tying run at the plate, the home team saved their asses and won the match by a score of 6-3...

 

now they lead the series 2-0, with the 3rd game scheduled for Tomorrow (6.15 p.m. local time, 11.15 a.m. CET) at the Tokyo Dome in the Japanese Capital...

 

Game #2 boxscore:

http://npb.jp/bis/eng/2019/games/s2019102001839.html