NPB Tracker

Hiroshima’s most recent loss eliminated the team from playoff convention, thus preventing manager Marty Brown’s automatic one-year extension clause for making the playoffs from kicking in. So Marty is done after the season, and next year the Carp will be managed by former shortstop Kenjiro Nomura.

Marty spent four seasons running Hiroshima, a time that saw the Carp generally more competitive than Yakult and Yokohama but still unable to crack the A-class. I thought the Carp were on their way up after finishing 69-70-5and missing the playoffs by two games last year, but they were not able to sustain that performance this year.

This is purely speculation on my part, but I could see Marty returning to the Cleveland organization, where he managed at 3A prior to joining the Carp.

• Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-09-27:
  Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-09-20:
  Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-.. http://bit.ly/i97mX #
• Ken Takahashi gets some MLB hazing: http://bit.ly/EHNvA #
• Edgardo Alfonzo, Adrian Burnside done with Yomiuri at season's end: http://bit.ly/4DhbGN #
• Benny Agbayani leaving Chiba Lotte after six years: http://bit.ly/XnJHU #
• Yu Darvish: Are the Yankees in Pursuit of Him? : http://bit.ly/16Jje6 #
• Top amateur to choose Japan or MLB, Kikuchi would be first high schooler to opt for big leagues: http://tinyurl.com/ygc6smb #
• Hisashi Iwakuma knocked around (6.0IP, 9H, 5ER, 4BB, 6K) against the Softbank Hawks… Season ERA drops to 3.26. #
• New NPB Tracker project going into beta: http://www.npbtracker.com/data #
• New Project in Beta: NPB Tracker Data: I’ve interrupted my self-imposed hiatus to launch my Data project .. http://bit.ly/16vvS0 #
• Top Dominican Prospect Reportedly Considering Japan: Here’s a developing story: a couple of weeks ago, a .. http://bit.ly/OikYd #
• Norichika Aoki goes 4-for-5 against the Tigers to raise his average to .300… His average at the All-Star break was .249. #
• Dan Johnson done with the Baystars after season's end: http://bit.ly/sqgxQ #
• Hanamaki Higashi Loses, Time for Kikuchi to Decide: Yusei Kikuchi’s Hanamaki Higashi has lost in the Koku.. http://bit.ly/33GKfD #
• Slowest curveball in Japan: http://bit.ly/4bBm9L #
• Ishikawa's curve: http://bit.ly/cIRni #
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• Former Yakult Swallows and major leaguer Masao Kida will be in search of a new opportunity: http://tinyurl.com/yc55o4d #
• Hiroki Kuroda out of final regular-season start with a stiff neck, could start game 2: http://tinyurl.com/yel8gw4 #
• Stephen Randolph throws shutout for Yokohama: http://bit.ly/lvQZ1 #
• Carp vs Giants: http://www.justin.tv/zombie20 #