Hisashi Iwakuma started for the Buffaloes to become a trivia question as well as the loser in this one, as he was pulled after only 1.2 
innings and two runs on two hits to assure Daisuke Matsuzaka of the ERA title. He didn't figure in the decision. Instead, Kenta Abe was rocked for four runs in 2.1 innings to get hung with the kuroboshi. 

Koo Dae-sung, who isn't going to be around next season, started for Orix and earned a victory, his sixth, with six innings of two run ball on seven hits, though he needed 102 pitches to do it. 

Kintetsu got on the big board first, as DH Fumitoshi Takano blasted a shot over the leftfield wall to make it 1-0.

That disappeared in a hurry, when Tsuji singled to center with one away in the bottom half and, following another out, Aikawa leaned into 
an Iwakuma delivery and tattooed it into the leftfield stands for a 2-1 Orix lead. 

The Buffs were able to come back to tie it in the fourth, first baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa taking Koo to the downs in left with one away, and it was 2-2. Centerfielder Hiroaki Onishi singled to right. One out later,  shortstop Masahiro Abe doubled to left. Catcher Akihito Fujii, though, sabotaged the rally with a strikeout. 

The Blue Wave, however, washed over Kintetsu in the home portion. DH Koichi Oshima doubled off the rightfield wall and second baseman Makoto Shiozaki singled to center. Tsuji buried an Abe offering in the rightfield seats to put it at 5-2. One out later, Aikawa launched a missile into the centerfield stands to stretch it to 6-2. 

Tsuji stepped up again in the fifth with two outs and beat out a ground ball toward short. Kintetsu reliever Yusuke Kurita, in his pro debut,  made a bad pickoff throw to first and Tsuji hustled into second. Shortstop Mitsutaka Goto singled to right to chase Tsuji in to make it 7-2. 

Kintetsu had two on and one out in the sixth and went nowhere. They would muster only one more hit over the final three innings, pinch hitter Osamu Hoshino grounding out to second against Kazuo Yamaguchi, who may be plying his living overseas next season, for game, 
set, ballclub. 

Even though they lost, the Kintetsu players, joined by former Buffalo Masato Yoshii and a couple of the other Orix players who had spent time with the herd during their careers, gathered around in front of their dugout and hoisted manager Masataka Nashida on their shoulders and threw him up in the air a few times. They then went after player rep Koichi Isobe and gave him the same treatment, called doage in Japanese. 

Yoshii, who struckout the one man he faced, wants to continue as an active player. One doubts that he is going to be able to do that given all the injuries he has had over the last couple of years and that he has been ineffective when he has been healthy enough to get in some time 
on the hill. 

Kintetsu originally joined the Pacific League in November, 1949 as the Pearls and changed their name to the Buffalo, a choice inspired by their then manager, Shigeru "the wild buffalo" Chiba, an all star when he was a palyer with Yomiuri. Until the 1980's, they piled up a lot of losses, infact still holding the record for most defeats by a single team, 103 in 1961. That changed with the arrival of Akira Ogi in 1988, who will now likely take over the new merged version of Orix next season. After 55 seasons, it will probably send its all time leading home run hitter, Norihiro Nakamura,  to the major leagues, an opportunity that was cleared for him by Hideo Nomo's defection a decade earlier to L.A., where Nakamura could very well end up in 2005. The Buffs bring the curtain down with a total record of 3261-3720-271.

For Nashida, who has done wonders with a team that has had very little pitchingwise outside of Iwakuma and Jeremy Powell, this has to 
leave him with an empty feeling. It is still uncertain what will happen with him once the lights are turned out for good on the team. Here's to hoping that him moving into the front office rumors are true. Otsukaresma deshita, Nashida-kantoku!. 

Unfortunately, Hillman also has a problem in that Tsuyoshi Shinjo has a bad hamstring and can't run at full speed right now and probably won't be healed up by October 1st, when the playoffs begin. Shinjo 
had a career year to help get the Fighters a berth in the post season, so this is no small deal. 

Outfielder Arihito Muramatsu had surgery on his shoulder to remove a plate that was put in there in mid-season 2003 after he broke it attempting to make a diving catch during a game. He will be able to start working out again in about a month.