Pennant Race! Collecting and Translating 1974 Calbee Series 1 (Part 4)

#22  Kurata - Pitcher (Giants)

He’s prioritizing throwing his forkball and is getting the hang of winning. It will be a defining year for Kurata.

[Baseball Museum]  A forkball is thrown by gripping the ball between the middle and index fingers. It is thrown with the same movement as a fastball, but it breaks below the batter’s hands.

 

#25  Yanagida - Outfielder (Giants)

Yanagida is the youngest left-handed batter and can hit impressive home runs. It remains to be seen if he can break into the lineup regularly.

[Baseball Museum]  Yanagida wears #38, which was assigned to him by current Second Team manager, Kunimatsu.

 

#27  Tabuchi - Catcher (Hanshin)

This should be a decisive year for a potential “Post-Oh” Era. Only Tabuchi can compete with Oh for the home run crown. It may hinge on him hitting .300.

[Baseball Museum]  Everyday catchers are also called the “cornerstone.”

 

Tabuchi lost out to Oh in ‘74 with 43 homers to Oh’s 49. He did come out on top the year after however, with 43. Incidentally, Tabuchi did hit over .300 that year as well (.303) but he still managed to get somewhat robbed by Koji Yamamoto for Central League MVP. Yamamoto hit .319/.971 with 30HR to Tabuchi’s .303/1.094 with 43HR. While Yamamoto did steal an impressive 24 bases to Tabuchi’s measly 2, that doesn’t really make up for the huge gulf in home runs—the most valuable thing a baseball player can do.

 

#29  Tabuchi - Catcher (Hanshin)

Everyone agrees that Tabuchi’s power rivals Oh’s. He may soon compare to Manager Nomura in home runs.

[Baseball Museum]  A protector is a piece of equipment catchers and umpires wear to prevent injury.

 

#30  Enatsu - Pitcher (Hanshin)

His fastball has returned. And so, on to year three of 20 or more wins. Enatsu is unquestionably the league’s ace.

[Baseball Museum]  Records for most home runs hit by an individual at the National High School Baseball Tournament:  Fujisawa (Kurashiki Technical [31st Tournament, 1949] ), Inada (Heian [13th Tournament, 1927] where he hit 1HR, and [16th Tournament, 1930] where he hit 2HR).