Eric Gagne is a 25-year-old pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. After three rather unspectacular years as a starting pitcher with the Dodgers, the Montreal native was converted to a closer prior to this past season. Dodgers pitcher Eric Gagne delivers the goods during ...

Funny how things work out sometimes. Eric Hinske was toiling in the Oakland A’s system, and things weren’t looking good for the young third baseman. With Gold Glove infielder Eric Chavez firmly entrenched at third in Oakland, Hinske was probably looking at a few ...

The fans may have come out to see major-league stars like Ichiro Suzuki, Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi, but it was a local boy who stole the show. Yomiuri Giants ace Koji Uehara allowed just one run on five hits and struck out eight ...

The knock on Japanese players used to be that they were too small and underpowered to make it in North America’s big leagues. But with the recent success of the Seattle Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki, that argument has been laid to rest. Want further proof? ...

The Koji Uehara Show took center stage Saturday night, playing to a packed house at the Tokyo Dome in Game 1 of the 2002 Japan Series. Yomiuri ace Uehara struck out a dozen Lions over nine complete innings while Takayuki Shimizu and Kazuhiro Kiyohara ...

Lleyton Hewitt may be the No. 1 tennis player in the world, but Friday afternoon at Tokyo’s Ariake Colosseum he played second fiddle to a little-known slugger from Thailand. Paradorn Srichaphan scored an emphatic 6-4, 6-3 win over top seed Hewitt to book his ...

Closing in on her 21st birthday, Serena Williams seems to have it all: No. 1 in the world in women’s tennis, four Grand Slam singles titles to her credit, 17 victories on the WTA Tour, an Olympic gold medal (in doubles with sister Venus), ...

The Serena Williams traveling tennis clinic rolled into Tokyo on Wednesday and, in this land of sushi, it was doughnuts that Williams had on her mind. “Up 3-0, I thought maybe I could go for 6-0, 6-0,” said Williams, the reigning French Open, Wimbledon ...

Call him the Shigeki Maruyama of Japanese baseball, with a little Tony Robbins thrown in for good measure. Win, lose or — in Japan, anyway — draw, homer, whiff or single, you’ll rarely catch Yakult Swallows outfielder Alex Ramirez with a scowl on his ...

Just wind him up and watch him go! Warren Cromartie, who thrilled Yomiuri Giants fans from 1984-1990 not only with his stellar play but also with his banzai-inducing antics in the outfield, was back in Japan recently over the All-Star break. The former major-league ...

Jeremy Powell took the mound Saturday for the Pacific Leaguers in the second installment of the 2002 All-Star Series, it marked the first time in 41 years that a foreign pitcher from the Kintetsu Buffaloes had taken part in Japan’s annual midsummer classic. “I ...

SAITAMA — “I had two years of suffering,” Brazil striker Ronaldo said Wednesday evening after putting his side into the World Cup final. “Every time I score a goal is a victory, every time I enter the pitch is a joy and an honor.” ...