[asamford]

This past offseason, at the ripe old age of 38, reliever Shinpachirou Sharaku was facing retirement. He had perfomred well for the Dragons as their closer the past 2 seasons but had really worn out down the stretch in '05. However, in 2002 and 2003 he was arguably the most dominant closer in the JBL for the Chiba Lotte Marines, helping them win 2 Pacific League Pennants and come within one game of winning the Japan Series in '03. He was an All-Star both seasons.

It was his first team, the Marines, that came calling this spring, offering him a $123,000 contract for the 2006 season. They told him he would only play for the big club if one of the youngsters got hurt or didn't pan out. That was good enough for Sharaku, who wasn't quite ready to hang up the spikes just yet, even if it meant playing minor league ball.

Shinpachirou spent most of the year in AAA, spending a bit of time in the major leagues when the Marines suffered a rash of injuries in late June. He only appeared in one game, retiring the only hitter he faced, and when he was sent back to AAA later that week, Sharaku and many others figured that would be it for his JBL career. However, he'd made a commitment to the Marines and promised to stick out the rest of the year in AAA rather than retiring then and there.

His patience was awarded. Late in September when the Marines were finally eliminated from contention for the PL North division, the Marines added Sharaku to the major league roster. When it came down to the last weekend of the season, the Marines were facing the Hawks, with neither team having anything left to play for. The Marines told Sharaku that he was going to start one of the games against the Hawks, something he had never done in his entire professional career. Most people, including Sharaku himself, figured he'd throw and inning or two, tip his cap to the crowd and that would be it. However, it was not to be.

The date was September 10th, last day of the 2006 JBL regular season. The Marines jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on the strength of a Gerald Mick RBI-single. The bottom of the first rolled around and out walked Sharaku. The first batter he faced, John Stenzel, lined a single to shallow-left center, and the Marines bench began to fidget. They didn't want Sharaku to be embarrassed in his last appearance, but they weren't going to yank him after one batter. After Stenzel stole second, Sharaku got a look of a mix of disgust and determination on his face, the likes of which hadn't been seen since his glory days as an All-Star closer. He set the rest of the Hawks down in order.

The top of the 2nd passed quietly, and the Marines skipper decided to let Sharaku go one more inning. After walking the leadoff hitter, he was wondering if that might have been a mistake. Just as he got on the phone to the bullpen, Hawks catcher Derek Tuel grounded into a double play. Sharaku retired the next hitter and he had 2 scoreless innings in the book.

As soon as Sharaku returned to the dugout he lobbied the Marines manager to let him throw one more inning. He felt great, he said, and would have the rest of life to rest. The skipper agreed and after the Marines went down in the top of the 3rd, Sharaku went back out to the mound. Once again he walked the leadoff hitter, and once again, the next hitter grounded into a double play. After another hitter went down, Sharaku had logged 3 scoreless innings. In his career as a closer, he had never pitched more than 3 innings, and the Marines had youngster Haranobu warmed and ready to pitch the 4th.

The Marines rallied in the top of the 4th with a 2 out single, a walk, and another single to score another run, giving them a 2-0 lead. Sharaku once again pleaded with the manager to let him go back out. After all, he was the starting pitcher, and he wanted the shot to pitch 5 innings and be eligible for a win in his last appearance.

The manager relented, Sharaku went back out for another inning on the mound, and for the third straight inning, walked the leadoff hitter. Up to the plate stepped slugger Oswaldo Mendez, and for the third straight inning, the Hawks grounded into a double play. Burchard stepped up and was retired yet again, and Sharaku now had 4 shutout innings pitched in his first ever start in the JBL.

The Marines went quietly in the top of the 5th, and Sharaku went back out on the mound with renewed vigor, knowing that if he got one more inning in the books, and the Marines bullpen could hold the lead, he'd earn a victory in his only career start. Sharaku gave up a single to the leadoff hitter rather than walking him, but he was eliminated when the Hawks grounded into their 4th(!) double play. After another hit, and another out, Sharaku had recorded his 5th shutout inning.

The Marines went scoreless in the 6th, and amazingly Sharaku came back out for another inning, and this time did something he hadn't done all day. Retired the Hawks in order, three ground outs to the right side of the infield.

The Marines went down again in the 7th, and although dog-tired, the Chiba manager told him to go out pitch as long as he wanted to and to remove his cap if he was ready to come out. Sharaku went out for the 7th and faced Oswaldo Mendez. Mendez got ahold of a fastball and drove it deep to left center, but CF Sotan Yo****ora was able to haul it in. With that, Sharaku removed his cap, and the skipper came out to remove him from the game, his final appearance on a JBL mound. In his only career start (and only his second appearance for the Marines in 2006) he logged 6 and a third scoreless innings, allowing three hits, and three walks, but also got the Hawks to ground into 4 double plays. It was now up to the Marine bullpen that Sharaku once starred for to shut the Hawks down and get Sharaku his win.

Rookie Haranobu came out like a ball of fire, striking out Burchard looking, and Gonshiro swinging. The Marines came up to the plate in the top of the 8th looking for an insurance run or two to give the pen a little breathing room. Unfortunately they went down in order, and Harunobu returned to the mound, striking out Derek Tuel for his third straight strikeout. After allowing a single to bring the tying run to the plate, the Marines took no chances and brought in their young closer, Heikichi Tokutomi, who had replaced Sharaku as the Marines top arm in the pen in 2004. Tokutomi finished off the Hawks in the 8th.

The Marines came to bat in the 9th and after Yo****ora struck out, former Hawk Zyunzi Korekiyo slapped a single and stole second base. Kazu Doi doubled him home, giving the Marines what would be an essential insurance run. Timothy Ware singled, but Doi was thrown out trying to score, followed by the catcher, Yo, striking out.

Tokutomi returned to the mound hoping to finish off the Hawks and save the game for his mentor, Sharaku. It was almost not to be. After John Stenzel flied out to center, Tetsuzan drilled a single down the left field line. Slugger Mendez who had been hitless all day, slugged a two run homerun shrinking the Marines lead down to 1, with the imposing Lucien Burchard next up to bat. Tokutomi reached down for something extra and got Burchard to pop out to third, and followed that by inducing Gonshiro to ground out weakly at second base. As soon as the ball rested firmly in first baseman Timothy Ware's glove, Sharaku came sprinting out and into the arms of Tokutomi, the teacher and the student embracing in one last moment of glory for the old timer. Sharaku finished the year with a perfect 1-0 record, and a 0.00 ERA. No one expected him to go more than an inning or two, yet he pitched into the 7th, not allowing one runner to cross the plate.

Although the Marines finished with their worst record ever in the JBL, they finished the year on a very bright note, giving one of the original Marines a retirement send-off like no one would have imagined possible.

[asamford]

haha, that's great the message board censors my centefielder, Sotan Yo$hitora. too funny!!

for some reason the box score is messing up.

here it is.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


   Game No.: 1117.
   9/10/2006: 
   Chiba Lotte at Fukuoka Daiei
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9    R  H  E
  Chiba Lotte     1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1    3  9  0 
  Fukuoka Daiei   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2    2  6  0 
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
  Chiba Lotte        AB  R  H BI BB  K   AVG
  K. Manabu 2B        3  1  2  0  0  0  .265
   C. Noboru 2B       1  0  0  0  0  0  .296
  G. Mick LF          4  0  1  1  0  1  .333
  P. Rathbun 3B       4  0  0  0  0  1  .299
  S. Yo****ora CF     4  0  1  0  0  1  .262
  Z. Korekiyo SS      4  2  2  0  0  1  .256
  K. Doi DH           3  0  1  1  1  0  .276
  T. Ware 1B          4  0  2  1  0  1  .257
  U. Yo C             4  0  0  0  0  0  .230
  A. Hirotada RF      3  0  0  0  0  1  .247
 
  Totals:            34  3  9  3  1  6 
 
 BATTING: 
 Doubles: 
       K. Manabu (23, 1st inning off Ryushi, 0 on, 0 out.) K. Doi (36, 9th inning 
       off Miyazaki, 1 on, 1 out.) 
 
 
 Runs Batted In: 
        G. Mick (73), K. Doi (78), T. Ware (66) 
 
 Stolen Bases: 
        Z. Korekiyo (7) 
 
 
 
  Fukuoka Daiei      AB  R  H BI BB  K   AVG
  J. Stenzel CF       4  0  1  0  0  0  .268
  K. Tetsuzan 3B      3  1  1  0  1  0  .293
  O. Mendez RF        4  1  1  2  0  1  .308
  L. Burchard LF      4  0  0  0  0  1  .248
  M. Gonshiro SS      3  0  1  0  1  1  .278
  D. Tuel C           3  0  0  0  0  1  .253
  S. Hitomaro DH      3  0  2  0  0  0  .307
  T. Norihisa 1B      2  0  0  0  1  1  .221
  K. Hoitsu 2B        2  0  0  0  0  0  .216
   A. Villa 2B        1  0  0  0  0  0  .267
 
  Totals:            29  2  6  2  3  5 
 
 BATTING: 
 
 
 Homeruns: 
       O. Mendez (16, 9th inning off Tokutomi, 1 on, 1 out.) 
 
 Runs Batted In: 
        O. Mendez 2  (92) 
 
 Stolen Bases: 
        J. Stenzel (27) 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 PITCHING:
 
  Chiba Lotte       IP  H  R ER BB  K  PI  PS   ERA RECORD
  S. Sharaku W     6.1  3  0  0  3  1  74  37  0.00  1-0
  T. Harunobu H      1  1  0  0  0  3  20  10  6.62
  H. Tokutomi S    1.2  2  2  2  0  1  18  11  4.33  29 SV
 
  Fukuoka Daiei     IP  H  R ER BB  K  PI  PS   ERA RECORD
  K. Ryushi L        8  6  2  2  1  5 101  66  4.67  4-12
  T. Miyazaki        1  3  1  1  0  1  17  12  5.27
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
     Time: 2:59
     Attendance: 28282 (48000) 
     PLAYER OF THE GAME: Shinpachirou Sharaku
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
  Game notes:
       Kokei Manabu was injured while throwing a ball. Kenjurou Ryushi's losing 
       streak reaches a career high 11 consecutive decisions.

figured it out... I actually exceeded the character limit in a message... holy Yama$hita!!!

[gbmoore121]

Wow. Great story!

[slackmeisterPA]

Nice read... and that censored part is funny as... well, you know...

[kq76]

Wow, awesome post! I really enjoyed that, thanks!

[Kelric]

Nice story, good for that guy.

[asamford]

bump. fixed the box score, i had left the pitching totals out!!!

doh!