“Ghost Roast” is a regular look at the foibles and follies of the Niihama-shi Ghosts
by Midorikawa Michiyo, Niihama-shi Chronicle

May 14, 2012: Niihama, Japan – So close and yet so far for the Niihama-shi Ghosts in 2011, as the team won more games (99) than any other in the League of the Rising Sun, only to be resoundingly pounded by the Edo Battousai four games to none in the Neo-Tokyo Cup.

It was the team’s second straight Neo Tokyo Cup defeat.  So close, and yet so far.

One would have expected the team to have plugged its few holes in the offseason, emerging stronger and more ready to bring home a championship, but if you talk to the pundits and skeptics (often one in the same), you’ll meet predictions that the team is unlikely to notch 99 wins, unlikely to capture the Shining Star Group title, unlikely to even return to the Neo-Tokyo battle.

“It’s a weaker team, no doubt,” says one veteran observer, who asked not to be named.  “They’re just slip slidin’ away.”

The reasons for this pessimism are twofold.  First, the loss to free agency of two mainstay outfielders: Tatsukichi Suzuki, who signed with the Neo-Tokyo Akira, and Tetsuo Ageda, who signed with the Shin Seiki Evas.  “Both guys were asking for exorbitant raises to stay on with the Ghosts,” says a clubhouse insider.  “Yet in the tepid free agent market, both ended up signing deals very reasonable to their new teams.  We could have afforded one of them, yet didn’t even try.”

Attempting to fill the gap will be LF Tamuramaro Gato, who was the team’s biggest offseason acquisition.  Gato notched 23 HR and 80 RBI for Edo last season, and he’ll be relied upon to singlehandedly supply the power that Suzuki and Ageda delivered in droves last season.  Unlikely one can replace two.  Slip slidin’ away.

The second cause for pessimism is the loss to injury of starting pitcher Takeji Iitsuka, whose career was cut short in the post-season after posting a 10-2 record as a rookie in just 18 starts.  The team has done little to replace him in the rotation, only signing middling free agent Tsugumichi Uemura as a possible fifth or spot starter.

In short, you have a team that is barely treading water as the rest of the Shining Star Group only gets stronger.  The opening week loss of first baseman Ron Samuels for 2-3 months could only be a harbinger of worse to come.  A thin farm, an aging core.  This team could be selling big by the trade deadline.