Jason Coskrey - The Japan Times

August 22, 2025

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Jason Coskrey

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Jason Coskrey

Jason Coskrey is a sports writer for The Japan Times. His primary focus is Japanese baseball, but he has also covered soccer, American football, boxing and basketball. He previously worked for the Marietta Daily Journal in Marietta, Ga. A native of Detroit, he is a graduate of the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

BASEBALL / MLB

Apr 30, 2018

Shohei Ohtani's MLB fireworks wow Japanese baseball world

The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters were busy preparing to face the Chiba Lotte Marines on Saturday afternoon when the events happening at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, reached the visitors' clubhouse at Zozo Marine Stadium in Chiba.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts

Apr 29, 2018

'Reborn' pitcher Naoyuki Uwasawa off to good start for Fighters

Naoyuki Uwasawa declared himself reborn in mid-December.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Apr 28, 2018

Taishi Ota, Oswaldo Arcia power Fighters past Marines

The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters have been working hard to put up good results over the past several days. So they're not about to take their feet off the gas now just because it's Golden Week.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts

Apr 23, 2018

Tigers pitcher Shintaro Fujinami at crossroads

The Hanshin Tigers have a Shintaro Fujinami problem. They just don't seem to know what to do about it.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK

Apr 22, 2018

Kiyomiya shows off power on farm

After a slow start to his first season as a professional, Kotaro Kiyomiya provided fans with a small glimpse of what made him the most sought-after player in last fall's NPB draft.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Apr 17, 2018

Timely homers, stellar relief pitching propel Fighters past Lions at Tokyo Dome

Usually when the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters face another Pacific League team at Tokyo Dome, they're the home team.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts

Apr 16, 2018

In Shohei Ohtani, Japan finally has its world-beater

It must take a considerable amount of willpower for Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Hideki Kuriyama not to respond to questions about his former player Shohei Ohtani with a simple, "I told you so." Although the sly smile he lets slip on occasion more or less does the job.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Apr 11, 2018

Pitcher Nick Martinez finding Japan to his taste after joining Nippon Ham from Rangers

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters pitcher Nick Martinez is still making a lot of adjustments to his new baseball life in Japan. He's had to acclimate himself to a new style of baseball, a new culture, the travel and learn how to pack for NPB road trips.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts

Apr 9, 2018

Fighters hit machine Kensuke Kondo has fans wondering if batting .400 is possible

There are some who think Kensuke Kondo could've hit .400 last season.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Apr 6, 2018

Nick Martinez tosses first nine-inning complete game as Fighters top Marines

Going into Friday night, Nick Martinez had never thrown a full nine innings or earned an NPB victory.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts

Apr 2, 2018

Yomiuri reliever Takagi gets rude welcome in NPB return

Yomiuri Giants reliever Kyosuke Takagi made his return to baseball essentially under cover of darkness Friday. But even with the Tokyo Dome lights off for the opening-day ceremony, Takagi's presence was illuminated by the chorus of boos emanating from the Hanshin Tigers fans in left field.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Apr 1, 2018

Tigers ace Messenger turned uncertainty into sure thing

The Hanshin Tigers' newest reliever stepped out of a plane and into the unknown in 2010. Waiting for him was a different style of the game he'd played all his life, not to mention the impending adjustments to a new country, new culture and new teammates.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Mar 31, 2018

Koji Uehara delights Giants fans in season debut after nine years in MLB

Koji Uehara returned to Japan in a flurry of energy, splitters and high-fives.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Mar 30, 2018

Tigers hurler Randy Messenger silences Giants in season-opening triumph

Whoever wins the Sawamura Award this year might want to do whatever it takes to avoid Randy Messenger and the Hanshin Tigers on Opening Day next season.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB Preview

Mar 29, 2018

Carp look to remain on throne as Central League rivals prepare to mount challenge

The following is the second of a two-part NPB preview concluding with the 2018 Central League.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB Preview

Mar 28, 2018

Hawks look set to maintain stranglehold over Pacific League rivals

The following is the first of a two-part NPB preview beginning with the 2018 Pacific League.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Mar 27, 2018

Slugger Wladimir Balentien alters focus going into new season

Wladimir Balentien switched things up a little this spring.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Mar 26, 2018

Seibu ace Yusei Kikuchi refuses to rest on laurels

Yusei Kikuchi has put last year behind him. All the wins, the career numbers and accolades, firmly in the rearview mirror. His brush with the Sawamura Award, now just a fond memory.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Mar 19, 2018

Laird confident Fighters can compete in 2018

Brandon Laird rounded third base wearing a big smile on Saturday afternoon at Jingu Stadium. As he headed for home, Laird held out his left hand and tapped his palm with the index and middle fingers of his right, pantomiming someone making sushi, as he does after all of his home runs.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK

Mar 18, 2018

NPB stars look to build momentum in spring

While most baseball fans know spring numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, some players make it hard to remember at times. Because however meaningless the actual numbers are during this time of year, the process is still fun to watch.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.

From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past

By Alex K.T. Martin

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