THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers

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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#106 Post by Sandgnats »

Always a good read Ron. I feel your pain... our new trainer situation didn't help much over in CL early this season.
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#107 Post by roncollins »

_*_*_ THE DANCE CARD _*_*_
A Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers
Thompson Tosses W in First Outing
Erases Evas

July 2,2024: Nogoya – Rookie lefthander Ken Thompson got the call on Monday, and by Tuesday he was fitted with a Toyama Wind Dancer road uniform and taking the mound for his first big league start. And it wasn’t just any big league start, either. On the opposite side of the yard at Genisis Park sat the dastardly Shin Seiki Evas, Rising Sun division leaders, and chief rivals of everyone in Japan.

“It was a little intimidating, to tell the truth,” Thompson said.

And the results showed it. He allowed a pair of singles to lead off the game, then a ringing double off the bat of Richard Kelly that plated one, and a sac fly from Ryozo Takeuchi to make it 2-0, Shin Seiki. But he settled down after that, striking out Phil Anderson, and getting a fly out to end the threat. He shut the Eva Empire out for the next six innings, leaving with a 4-2 lead that Fracois Gosselin and Raul Cruz maintained.

“It was a big victory,” said manager Hirotada Suzuki. “We’re looking for a 5th man in the rotation, and were figuring Thompson might be it. One game doesn’t tell the tale, but I was proud of the resilience he showed.”

Thompson, at 24, has had a bit of a slow road to the majors, having been the club’s #1 pick in 2021. His first professional season was rocky, but he’s been on the right path since then, including an 11-5, 2.88 year in AA last year, and a 7-5, 3.26 start in AAA Beppo City this season. He’s known as a guy who can keep the ball in the park, a guy who will keep the ball on the ground, and who can put it over the plate.
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#108 Post by Reg »

Thompson really didn't seem bothered by the rough start to the game. He got back to business and didn't allow another run. Solid debut! ...against the Evas, no less!
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#109 Post by Leones »

Trendsetters wrote:Thompson really didn't seem bothered by the rough start to the game. He got back to business and didn't allow another run. Solid debut! ...against the Evas, no less!
That's a nice beginning indeed!
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#110 Post by roncollins »

_*_*_ THE DANCE CARD _*_*_
A Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers
Dancer Streak Faces Biggest Obstacle
Enter Evas


August 18, 2024: Riding a ten game winning streak, the Toyama Wind Dancers blow into Nogoya with a record of 71-50, trailing the division leading Shin Seiki Evas by a game and a half. It’s been a rocky season so far, filled with devastating injuries to much of the roster—a fact that continued a few weeks back when rookie sensation Donald Allen tore a labrum and appears to be out for the rest of the year. The centerfielder was leading the team in hitting at the time of the injury, and had been providing stellar defense.

He joins All-Star second baseman Jose Escobido and Ace pitcher Akira Watanabe on the long term disabled list. Star first baseman Pablo Prado and right fielder Ivan Rosa have also spent significant time on the trainer’s table this year, leading one to wonder how the Wind Dancers are managing to stay afloat, better yet actually compete with the Evas once again.

The answer is many fold.

Let’s start with the veteran core of the team, the tie to the club’s past in second baseman Shiro Adaci and centerfielder Sadatake Sato.

At 31, Adachi is having his second solid, if not spectacular, year in a row. Yes, he’s hitting only .236, but that’s been augmented with what is already almost a career high ten homers, and defense at the critical middle of the infield that is borderline All-Leather. The kid still has his chops with the glove. “He’s our glue,” said pitcher Shinbu Takeuchi, another longtime Japanese star. “It’s great to see him come back and contribute after the rugged year he had right after the merge. Everyone is cheering for him.”

His outfield counterpart, Sato, is 32 years old, and like Adachi, had some troubles adapting to the bigger PEBA game. He’s also faced injury over those years. But he rebounded last season well enough for the team to execute its option. Lucky for them, and lucky for the team’s fans. Though his power seems down a bit, Sato has been nearly as brilliant this year as last, and with Allen on the DL, he’s carrying the load in centerfield once again. He’s a quiet leader in the clubhouse.

Then we look at a few other guys.

Third baseman Ivan Juarez is growing into a solid ballplayer, hitting .309/.419/.390, and dropping a 4.3 WAR season on the league (so far), all without hitting a single homer.

Left fielder Okakura Ishikawa, at 27 years old, is quietly posting a career season at .289/.334/.426, with 11 homers, 68 RBI, and 17 steals, all good for 2.9 WAR as we speak. Defensively, he’s still flashing a top quality glove. These are the kinds of numbers that have been bandied about around his name since he joined the team as a brash 22-year-old phenom in the famous contraction draft five seasons ago.

The team was probably hoping for a little more out of first baseman Pablo Prado than his .260/.334/.451, 13 homer performance, but given his injury and the expanded fences at the Castle this year, those numbers aren’t bad—and represent a huge step up from the right side of the plate this season. With the team 12th in the league in offensive homers, it’s nice to have someone in the 4-slot who can occasionally pop one.

Which brings us to 24-year-old right fielder Ivan Rosa, who lost another couple weeks to a broken foot, but who returned to post a brilliant .331/.375/.525 line, complete with 13 homers and 19 doubles. His 20 steals represents his third straight such season, and his All-Leather quality defense rounds out his value.

Then, of course, there’s the closer. Raul Cruz, 30 years old, and signed a season ago to a huge contract that raised the eyebrows of many. He posted a PEBA record 55 saves last season, and at a 1.70 ERA and 35 saves so far this year, may actually be having a better season in 2024. His 2.18 FIP is nearly his career best. His 208 ERA+ is his second best, right after his eyeball blistering 403 posted with Tempe as a 26 year old. “It’s nice to have a guy like that to give the ball to,” said Clayton Lewis, one of the team’s starters. “You know you can really put everything you’ve got into the moment.”

Speaking of Lewis and the rotation …

Well, let’s just say that it’s a rare group that could suffer the loss of Akira Watanabe, arguably one of the best three or four pitchers in the SL, and keep ticking. But that’s what happened.

Lewis, at 8-8 continues to be the “hard luck” guy. He’s thrown a 2.81 ERA in 23 games—which is second best on the team, behind veteran Tadamasa Hashimoto’s 2.35 ERA. “Six Pack” is 12-4 on the y ear, and is sporting a career best 2.84 FIP. He’s given up only 4 homers in his 150 innings pitched. At 14-7, 3.09, left-handed Bill Courtney is coming into his peak at just the right time as far as Dancer fans are concerned. He split time in the bullpen last season, but has been all rotation this year. After trialing David Sutherland in the spot vacated by Watanbe’s injury, the club finally bit the bullet and called up rookie lefty Ken Thompson. The ex-first round selection has been just what the doctor ordered, going 7-2 and posting a 3.29 ERA.

And then there’s Shinobu Takeuchi, who, at 29 has the aura of a 9-year vet, and who is sitting at 9-5 this season, with a 3.30 ERA—numbers he hasn’t seen since the days of the real LRS. And, oh, yeah, throw in than no-hitter he tossed at Reno back in June. In his mid-20s, Takeuchi was the established ace of the club, but now he’s a back-ender. The team has a $12.5M option as the last year of the deal he signed back in the days before the merger. He’s a guy who carried the load in the club’s heady run to win the last real Neo-Tokyo Cup. “Not a lot of people are talking about Shinobu,” said Thompson. “But he’s the real deal. He knows what he’s doing, and he knows what to say to get his point across.” Add that to the fact that he still gets it up there to 98 MPH on a good day, and you’ve got a valuable guy.

So, you can see that it’ hard to pick one guy. At the end of the day, this collection of Dancers is a full team--a team leads the SL in batting average and OBP while being totally dusted in homers. It’s a team that doesn’t walk a lot. TI’s a team that plays defense, and controls homers. It can steal a base.

How far will it go?

Well, you tell me. But we’ve got a feeling that this week, with four games at Shin Seiki and three more at Aurora, will show us a lot about that question.
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#111 Post by roncollins »

_*_*_ THE DANCE CARD _*_*_
A Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers
Dancers Lead Rising Sun
Hospital Ward Remains Active


September 2, 2025: Toyama – After a grueling schedule which has seen the Toyama Wind Dancers play two or three more games than any division rival, and that has extracted a devastating toll in breakdowns and injuries, the ball club somehow finds itself entering the stretch run with a 1-game lead.

“This is an important time for us,” said starting pitcher Clayton Lewis. “We know how big this game of baseball is to our fans, and we really want to bring the division crown home.”

While nothing is clenched, with the second best record in the aptly named Superior League, the club, Toyama is considered something of a lock for a post season berth. But winning the division has been on their minds all season. “We always want to take the division,” Lewis added. “We think that says something about us. Especially this year with so many of our starters missing so many games.”

True to form, while the club went 4-3 this past week, and slipped into the division lead, it also lost first baseman Pablo Prado and superstar outfielder Ivan Rosa to injury. Both are expected to return prior to the playoffs, but will miss a majority of September. They will, however, see the return of second baseman Jose Escobido, who has been sidelined since early May with a broken bone in his elbow. “We’ll see how he shakes the rust off,” said second-year manager Hirotada Suzuki.

DANCERS, SUZUKI AGREE ON EXTENSION

On the heels of the club taking the division lead comes news that easy-going manager Hirotada Suzuki has agreed to a long-term contract extension that will keep him with the Wind Dancers through 2030. The deal is rumored to be worth $550K per season, and would go into effect after 2025. “I’m very happy in Toyama,” said the 38 year-old Suzuki, who took over the team last year in a somewhat surprising arrangement, but guided the club to the post season.
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#112 Post by roncollins »

_*_*_ THE DANCE CARD _*_*_
A Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers
Dancer Shortstops Top of Line


September 2, 2025: Toyama – A glance at the stats will show Reno’s Torazo Kodama leads all shortstops with a +9.7 Zone Rating. He’s posted those numbers in 77 games, but hs stick has been so bad that he’s currently residing in Glendale, the Zephyer’s AAA city. Okinawa’s Takeru Sekuguichi is next at +6.9 (in 123 games). His stick isn’t much better, but they keep rolling him out there.

And then comes the Toyama crew.

Edison Terry has managed to stay healthy enough to play 67 games at shortstop, and drop a +6.7 zone rating along with a .286/.299/.361 slash that is solid. On top of that, while filling in for injury time, Yojiro Endo has dropped a +6.0 Zone rating in 65 games. His offense (.245/.265/.321), is tepid, but relative to the others on this list, has been magnificent.

“We have the best fielding shortstops on the planet,” said pitcher Shinobu Takeuchi. “Bar none. These two guys are the best.”
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Re: THE DANCE CARD - Community Blog of the Toyama Wind Dance

#113 Post by roncollins »

_*_*_ THE DANCE CARD _*_*_
A Blog of the Toyama Wind Dancers
Dancers Take Division


October, 2024: Toyama – After a grueling season, and in spite of most pundits’ prognosis, the Toyama Wind Dancers have emerged to stand atop the Rising Sun Division. Fans filled the streets, storming the Castle, so to speak, holding an impromptu gathering of glee. Members of Toyama’s faithful beat on drums and sang songs. They lit off smoke bombs and blared air horns at the passing cars which were unfortunate to need to wade through the milling of humanity.

Toyama won 98 games. Poor, bedraggled Shin Seiki only 96.

As with any such season, the heroes are many, but have to begin at the starting rotation, which suffered grievous injury in the form of losing stalwart ace Akria Watanabe for almost all season (and much of next), but saw glory in the form of Tadamassa Hashimoto (16-5, 2.62, an almost curse lock for Pitcher of the Year if it weren’t for the existence of Provost over there in Aurora), almost certain rookie of the year Ken Thompson (10-3, 3.44), veteran Shinobu Takeuchi (13-7, 3.32), Bill Courtney (17-10, 3.2), and Clayton Lewis (10-10, 2.74—who has traditionally had nothing but bad run support). Other than Thompson (who came up in mid-season), these guys all registered between 195 and 210 innings and took a lot of pressure off the pen. There is some discussion that the club will stay with the five man rotation through the playoffs—a remarkable commentary on the depth of the group.

The pen consisted of a collection of semi-steady arms in the middle and the magnificent Raul Cruz in the 9th. Cruz registered a 48-save season, which is only tarnished by the fact that he set a league record 55 last year. His 1.6 ERA in 73 innings was brilliant.

Offensively, the team scored 739 runs. This despite anyone who would be considered a league elite hitter, and despite playing in a ballpark that is considered somewhat neutral. The team struck out less than anyone else in the division, dropped a .277 batting average, best in the SL, and a .330 OBP, tied with Aurora for best, and stole 131 bases—third highest total in the league. Defensively, the team was solid, registering only 84 errors (17 fewer than anyone else in the division).

The Ivan and Ivan show (3B Juarez and OF Rosa) put the hurt on opponents to the tune of 5.5 and 5.3 WAR, this despite Rosa’s injuries on and off all year. Okakura Ishikawa finally had an injury free season, and in 581 PA registered 4.4 WAR, stealing 23 bases in 30 attempts.

Then there is the combination of OF Sadatake Sato and IF Shiro Adachi. What more can be said except that the fans were waving flags with the two of their likenesses and lifting beer to them as they sang songs of joy.

At 32, Sato seems to have settled into the shoes the fans had hoped he would fill as a younger man. His .275/.326/.473 line included 18 homers and 24 doubles. His glove, admittedly a shadow of itself, was at least league average. With 3.1 WAR last season, and 2.9 this year, fans are happy, happy, happy for him…and no one is yet addressing the fact that his contract has a player option on it that might give him pause to go elsewhere next year. Life, it seems, is like that.

Adachi, also 32, is one of those gritty guys that everyone keeps writing off, but who has slowly adjusted himself to the league. With younger and flashier shortstops in the organization, Adachi has converted to second base, and platoons with the better-regarded Jose Escobar. But Escobar has proven to be fragile, and Adachi has proven to be indispensable. His +9.6 ZR in only 111 games at 2B is All-Leather quality. Some will look at the .226 average, and stop there. If they do, they’ll miss the .372 SLG, which includes 19 doubles and 12 homers, making it all add up to a tidy 2.2 WAR and a guy for whom the entire clubhouse follows.

To see these two LRS veterans playing vital roles in a Riding Sun Division title warms the heart.

There are others, too, of course. Newcomer Pablo Prado brought 19 homer power to a lineup that needed it. Shortstop Edison Terry showed he’s still adjusting to the offensive side of things, but his +7.5 ZR in 94 games at short were eye-popping (combined with Yujiro Endo’s +5.7 in 68 games, you’ve got a +13.2 ZR at shortstop…which we’ll take every day and twice on Sundays). Roberto Cisneros was his normal line-drive self. Rookie catcher Reynaldo Garcia clubbed 12 homers. Oft-injured Escobido has come back and appears to be ready for the playoffs. Clifford Green struggled this season, but is still valuable in spots…and even young CF Noriyuki Matsui, who was clearly over matched with the bat, showed value with a +4.7 ZR in CF while playing 56 games, most as a defensive replacement for Sato.

Special commentary needs to be made for CF Donald Allen, who burst onto the scene with a .335/.378/.427 slash line in 403 PA before tearing a labrum in July and missing the rest of the season. His 14 steals, +10.7 ZR in center, and 4.2 WAR in that limited time speaks volumes to the idea that if Ken Thompson does not win ROY, it will be because of Allen. The team’s medical staff actually suggests that Allen could be ready to return for the playoffs, and rumors are that the team is considering activating him in place of Matsui.

What will happen with the team? How will they fare in the playoffs? The schedule had them setting still for a week at the end of the year, and now they sit another week as the wild cards arrange themselves. Will the rust build? Who can tell? The team, after all, swept into the playoffs last year, and then were ceremoniously swept out again.

All we know now is that the Wind Dancers are Rising Sun Champions, and the fans are out getting a little rowdy.

"We wanted the division," one woman said. "Everyone knows the playoffs are a toss-up, but to win a division means something!"

We'll see if they think the same way in a few weeks.
Ron Collins
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2020 Neo-Tokyo Cup Champions
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