THE HOT CORNER: Giants poised for final act

Jim Allen / Daily Yomiuri Sportswriter

In the final act of a pennant race, every tiny success and failure can become prominent--and for a good reason. When the season's last out is registered, it's all over and there's no going back.

Lose the race by one game and people remember the dropped ball in the ninth inning of the final game, while forgetting 50 other mistakes over the course of the season that had exactly the same impact.

Fortunately, Japan expends little energy criticizing the mistakes of those who fail at the final hurdle.

Few--other than longtime die-hard Nippon Ham Fighters fans--will remember how that team collapsed in August 1996. Hanshin Tigers fans remember their team held a 13-game lead in July 2008; other fans mostly recall only the Yomiuri Giants coming from behind to win the Central League pennant.

In America, however, famous failures are remembered even by casual fans. The 1964 Phillies, 1969 Cubs, 1986 Red Sox all snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and--unfairly or not--are remembered as chokers.

That being said, it doesn't matter where you live if the pennant race is on the line and your club can't win when it counts. When that happens, frustration mounts and sharp words often follow.

On Monday, Yomiuri owner Takuo Takihana told reporters the Giants could still win the league provided they avoided making mistakes and aimed high.

The Giants, who on June 30 had a five-game lead over the Tigers and an eight-game cushion over the Chunichi Dragons, finished the weekend three games back of the Tigers and 2-1/2 back of the Dragons.

Takihana, a soft-spoken gentleman who has found little cause to criticize his club since Tatsunori Hara returned as manager in 2006, spoke for all frustrated Giants fans on Monday. He lamented poor hitting and careless fielding, and reminded the team of its mandate to finish first.

"It's no good thinking about reaching the Climax Series [by finishing second or third]," Takihana was quoted by the Hochi Shimbun on Tuesday as saying. "Our only thought has to be to finish first."

The comments could have come from any manager of a pennant contender. After all, there is no point settling for third when first place is still within your grasp.

While the Giants have lost their lead, they haven't lost their heads and are anything but out of the race. They showed that on Tuesday night in Yokohama. After gifting four runs to the BayStars, the Giants remained composed and came back to win 6-4.

With one out and no score in the bottom of the third inning, Giants utility infielder Shigeyuki Furuki dropped a fly ball, allowing the game's first run to score.

Back-to-back hits loaded the bases. Giants starter Hideki Asai got a ground ball to the right side of the infield, but Furuki failed to handle it for his second error and another run scored. A two-run double capped the BayStars' rally in a game that had quickly become everything the Giants' owner had warned about a day earlier.

When players press, they often make mistakes, and the 34-year-old Furuki admitted his desire to win distracted him.

"I wanted to win so badly, that I was thinking all kinds of things," he said.

Hara left Furuki in the game, though, and Furuki repaid the skipper with an RBI single moments later that made it 4-2.

"He said he was sorry," Hara said. "Baseball is not that easy and errors do happen. You have to be really good at dealing with them so you can come back strong. He [Furuki] hadn't lost his fight, so there was absolutely no need to take him out."

The Giants pulled within a run in the next inning on a solo homer by Michihiro Ogasawara and tied it when Furuki went deep in the sixth. Tetsuya Matsumoto, who had been benched in mid-August for not hitting, singled in two runs to complete the comeback.

It wasn't pretty, but it was a win Hara was proud of.

"The players on this team fight hard," the skipper said. "The most important thing is how we cover for each other.

"We are loaded with guys who are in the middle of great careers. They know what needs to be done. We're getting to the point in the season where that quality is really going to make a difference."