Japanese Baseball Jun 19, 2013

Fighters rally past Carp in interleague finale

Hokkaido Nippon Ham rookie right-hander Shohei Otani made his debut pitching and batting in the same game, tossing four innings of three-run ball while batting in the No. 5 spot in the Fighters’ 7-4 win over the Hiroshima Carp on Tuesday. In the last ...

Japanese Baseball Jun 14, 2013

Fighters' Kisanuki shuts out Tigers

Hiroshi Kisanuki posted his first shutout as a member of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on Thursday in a 3-0 interleague victory over the Hanshin Tigers, who fell from the top spot in the Central League standings. Kisanuki, a 33-year-old right-hander with his third ...

MLB Jun 9, 2013

Darvish impressing experts with his strikeout ability

by Jason Coskrey

If you watch the home broadcast for one of Yu Darvish’s starts for the Texas Rangers, you will, at some point, hear play-by-play man Steve Busby exhorting, “got him swinging,” after Darvish fans a batter. You’ll hear it a lot, too. After fanning seven ...

Japanese Baseball Jun 7, 2013

Giants' Abe slugs game-winning home run in eighth

by Jason Coskrey

Shinnosuke Abe stood at the plate with two outs and down to his final strike with his team losing in the eighth inning. Then the Yomiuri Giants captain did what he almost always does: he came through with the big hit. Abe connected on ...

Japanese Baseball Jun 2, 2013

Nippon Ham's Otani earns first NPB victory

A three-home run salvo helped lift Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters rookie Shohei Otani (1-0) to his first career victory, a 7-3 win over the Chunichi Dragons on Saturday afternoon. The 18-year-old right-hander allowed Chunichi three runs on four hits, two walks and a hit ...

Baseball | SPORTS SCOPE May 24, 2013

Fighters rookie Otani makes solid impression in mound debut

by Jason Coskrey

As far as debuts go, Shohei Otani's delivered. The celebrated rookie pitched fairly well on Thursday night, and though he finished outside the decision, he left the mound with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters well within striking distance of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

Japanese Baseball May 4, 2013

Fighters' Nakata smacks three home runs in rout over Eagles

Sho Nakata's three home runs propel the Fighters to a lopsided win over the Eagles.

Japanese Baseball Apr 11, 2013

Fighters bounce back, blank Eagles

by Jason Coskrey

The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters didn’t put up much of a fight against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles’ ace in the first game of their series. Reigning Pacific League MVP Mitsuo Yoshikawa was only too happy to help his team return the favor in ...

Baseball | SPORTS SCOPE Apr 2, 2013

Bar set high for rookie stars Sugano, Otani

by Jason Coskrey

The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters have spent a first-round draft pick on the top pitching prospect in Japan in each of the last two years, and in both instances that player has initially said thanks, but no thanks. For Tomoyuki Sugano the allure of ...

Baseball | World Baseball Classic Mar 8, 2013

Fighters' Yoh enjoying spotlight with Taiwan at WBC

by Jason Coskrey

Daikan Yoh was surrounded by a mob befitting a rock star. Most eyes had been trained on the Taiwanese outfielder during his team’s practice session at Tokyo Dome on Friday, and finally they’d caught up to him. The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters outfielder had ...