Wayne Graczyk - The Japan Times

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Wayne Graczyk

Wayne Graczyk has written the "Baseball Bullet-In" column in The Japan Times since 1976. A native of New Jersey, he came to Japan in 1969 with the U.S. Air Force and is a 1977 graduate of Tokyo's Sophia University. Wayne was the long-time (1977-2004) sports editor of the Tokyo Weekender newspaper, he covers Yomiuri Giants baseball games for Nippon TV and, since 1976, he has compiled the Japan Pro Baseball Fan Handbook & Media Guide. He is a member of the Tokyo Sportswriters Club and the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan. Notice Wayne Graczyk, the baseball columnist for The Japan Times for the past 40 years, passed away at the age of 68 on April 19. His final column was posted on April 8. Readers can continue to access his coverage of Japanese baseball through the online archives.

For Wayne Graczyk's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Dec 14, 2013

Major roster overhaul raises outlook for Hawks

The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have been one of the most active among the Japanese pro baseball teams in making preparations for big improvement in 2014. It is clear the team management is viewing its fourth-place finish in 2013 as unacceptable and, judging by its wheeling-and-dealing this off-season, the front office is doing all it can to make sure the second-division Pacific League finish is not repeated.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Nov 30, 2013

Expect greater influx of Latinos in NPB

Fan Dayan Viera was born in Cuba and currently lives in Miami, Florida. He emailed to say, "As a Cuban, I wonder if Japanese teams will be taking advantage of the new policy change where Cuban players are going to be allowed to play in foreign leagues without needing to defect from Cuba."

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Nov 16, 2013

Asia Series lacking gravitas it once had

What do you make of the Asia Series currently being played in Taichung, Taiwan? The tournament, begun in 2005, has gone from an official spectacle featuring the champion teams from the Asian countries where high-level baseball is played, to an exhibition series including non-Asian entrants and where teams are not always featuring their best players.

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Nov 2, 2013

Prolific hitter Murton no lock for NPB return

Will Matt Murton return for a fifth season with the Hanshin Tigers?

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Oct 19, 2013

Tanishige to become rare player-manager for Dragons

Kind of a surprise was the announcement last week that Motonobu Tanishige was named the new manager of the Chunichi Dragons.

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Oct 5, 2013

Playoff drought finally ends for Hiroshima after 22 years

Every once in a while, it's nice to see a team that does not usually qualify for postseason play make it into the playoffs.

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Sep 14, 2013

Lessons on ballpark seating etiquette for Japanese baseball

Whose side are you on? Or, rather, which side are you on?

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Aug 31, 2013

Injuries affecting competition for batting, homer titles

As the 2013 Japan pro baseball season enters its final month, recent injuries to the leading hitter in the Central League batting race and the Pacific League's top home run hitter have thrown wide open the competition for those titles.

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Aug 17, 2013

Seibu Dome gives fans a fun game-viewing experience

Have you been to a Lions game lately at Seibu Dome?

Japan Times

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Aug 3, 2013

Bass still standard by which foreign players measured

Over the years I've been asked, "Who is the No. 1 foreigner to have played in Japanese baseball?"

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Jul 20, 2013

Teams jockeying for playoff position to battle Giants, Tigers

At the All-Star break for the 2013 NPB season, the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers appear to have a lock on finishing in first and second place in the Central League pennant race. Unless there is total meltdown by one of them, we will be seeing them in the postseason Climax Series come October.

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Jul 6, 2013

Several NPB pitchers keeping hitters in check despite altered baseball

OK, so now we know the ball used in Japanese pro baseball games has been changed again and, in spite of the fact there was no initial announcement by NPB, everyone seems happy about the change — except maybe the pitchers.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Jun 16, 2013

Former Hiroshima star Hopkins now an orthopedic surgeon

Gail Hopkins, the first baseman on the 1975 Hiroshima Carp Central League championship team, returned to Japan last month for some business and reminiscing about his days with the team.

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Jun 9, 2013

2014 NPB season-opening series in California appears unlikely

Reader and fan of Japanese baseball Leon DeHaven in Arizona wants to know if the proposed 2014 season-opening series between the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers in Southern California (Baseball Bullet-In, April 28) is still going to happen. "I'm ready to rent a room in Anaheim," he wrote in an email.

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

May 19, 2013

Carp looking to turn things around after disappointing start

There were high hopes for the Hiroshima Carp heading into the 2013 NPB season but, almost a third of the way into the schedule, the results so far might well be described as a still wait-and-see situation.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

May 5, 2013

Antics of 'Animal' hard to forget more than 25 years later

He wasn't the best foreigner to ever play in Japanese baseball, but Brad "The Animal" Lesley was surely one of the most colorful and unforgettable characters to ever put on the uniform of a Central or Pacific League team.

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Apr 28, 2013

First regular-season NPB games in U.S. nearly set

What do you make of the idea to have the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers open the 2014 Japanese baseball season in the U.S.?

BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Apr 21, 2013

Slow pace of NPB games an ongoing problem

In response to my column of March 17, a couple of readers have come in with suggestions on how to pick up the notoriously slow pace of Japanese baseball games. From the Bay Area, fan Mike Colegate sent the following e-mail.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Apr 14, 2013

Power numbers increasing in NPB this season

Happy days are here again — or so it would appear — for the hitters in Japanese baseball. The ball is flying once more, as shown by the number of home runs being hit in the early going this season. No one is saying anything, but the long ball has apparently snuck back into the game here after two seasons of lackluster hitting, and you have to wonder if the baseball itself has not been changed back to the pre-2011 version. It is soaring like 2010.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / BASEBALL BULLET-IN

Apr 7, 2013

Fate of Seibu Lions uncertain with talk of possible sale

Will the Saitama Seibu Lions be sold?

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa

A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa

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