Japanese Baseball | NPB NOTEBOOK Sep 29, 2013

Few issues left in play as season nears finish

by Jason Coskrey

Nippon Professional Baseball has crowned its 2013 league champions and most of the spots in the Climax Series have already been spoken for. Even so, there are still a number of questions remaining and storylines to be wrapped up as the season enters the ...

Japanese Baseball | NPB NOTEBOOK Sep 22, 2013

Home run king Balentien nearing another conquest

by Jason Coskrey

Wladimir Balentien has hit more home runs than any NPB player has ever hit in a single season and through Sunday had 13 games left to add to his record total which stood at 58. As if Balentien’s year wasn’t already impressive enough, the ...

Japanese Baseball Sep 15, 2013

Balentien sets new Japan single-season home run record

by Jason Coskrey

As soon as Wladimir Balentien’s bat made contact with Daiki Enokida’s fastball there was no doubt: Japan had just crowned a new home run king. And the new king’s first decree was that his record total wasn’t high enough yet. Balentien set the NPB ...

Japanese Baseball Sep 14, 2013

Swallows snap losing streak in wild encounter with Tigers

by Jason Coskrey

A prized rookie pitcher went head-to-head with a slugger on a historical pace before a fight broke out and before and a player dove across home plate to successfully execute a suicide squeeze. The most recent tilt between the Tokyo Yakult Swallows and Hanshin ...

Japanese Baseball Sep 13, 2013

Balentien still waiting as Tigers beat Swallows

by Jason Coskrey

Wladimir Balentien said getting to 55 was “the hard part” in his quest to set a new single-season home run record. From the looks of things, 56 isn’t going to be a walk in the park either. The Hanshin Tigers kept the Tokyo Yakult ...

Japanese Baseball Sep 12, 2013

Carp double up Swallows; Balentien remains at 55 homers

by Jason Coskrey

There were plenty of balls flying out of Jingu Stadium on Thursday night. Just not the one the fans wanted to see most Tokyo Yakult Swallows slugger Wladimir Balentien didn’t go deep, but four home runs by the Hiroshima Carp, including a three-run shot ...

Japanese Baseball Sep 11, 2013

Balentien ties single-season home run record

by Jason Coskrey

Before facing the Hiroshima Carp, Wladimir Balentien and teammate Ryoji Aikawa decided they were going to go with a high-sock look, or as Balentien put it, “old-school, Sadaharu Oh-style.” He really resembled the Yomiuri Giants legend when he stroked a history-making home run into ...

Japanese Baseball Sep 11, 2013

Balentien ties single-season home run record

by Jason Coskrey

Wladimir Balentien turned Japanese baseball’s record-setting trio into a quartet. Balentien hit an opposite-field solo home run in the sixth inning of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows’ game against the Hiroshima Carp to tie the NPB single-season record with his 55th homer of the year ...

Japanese Baseball Sep 10, 2013

Balentien belts 54th home run in loss to Carp

by Jason Coskrey

Wladimir Balentien moved one step closer to history, and the Hiroshima Carp remained on track for a long-awaited trip to the postseason. In a way, everyone went home happy about something. Balentien connected on his 54th home run of the year, a two-run shot ...

Japanese Baseball Sep 2, 2013

Commissioner Kato denies Balentien's homers related to altered ball

Embattled Nippon Professional Baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato says the baseball secretly altered by the Japanese league this season has nothing to do with the record-chasing 52 home runs hit by Tokyo Yakult Swallows outfielder Wladimir Balentien. “I doubt the ball really has anything to ...

Japanese Baseball Aug 31, 2013

Balentien maintains poise, perspective as he chases single-season HR record

by Jason Coskrey

Wladimir Balentien flips on the television and takes in a rare moment of relaxation. Instead of his Tokyo Yakult Swallows uniform, which will be worn later, he’s clad simply in a red T-shirt commemorating his back-to-back home run titles and yellow shorts from a ...