Jason Coskrey - The Japan Times

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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.

Japan Times

BASEBALL

Mar 8, 2017

Matsuda, Tsutsugo carry Japan past Cuba in WBC opener

The fans waited as Nobuhiro Matsuda rounded the bases and exchanged high-fives with his teammates. They knew what was coming, and when Matsuda pumped his fist and let out a guttural yell, as is his custom after home runs, the Japanese fans packed in Tokyo Dome exploded with enough force to knock the...

Japan Times

BASEBALL

Mar 7, 2017

MLB players for 2020 Games unlikely

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said the league remains committed to the World Baseball Classic, and later watched Houston Astros outfielder Norichika Aoki compete for Samurai Japan.

Japan Times

BASEBALL

Mar 7, 2017

Versatile Meng does it all for China

Meng Weiqiang may patrol left field at some point for China during the 2017 World Baseball Classic. He's also going to pitch and might even strap on a catcher's mask. There's a chance he'll do at least two of those things, maybe even all three, during the same game.

BASEBALL

Mar 6, 2017

Japan ready to begin quest for WBC title

For Japan, the preparation has finally come to an end.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

Feb 27, 2017

Fujinami hoping to see hard work pay off in new season

Shintaro Fujinami is no old dog, but the 22-year-old Hanshin Tigers pitcher may have some new tricks.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK

Feb 9, 2017

Rosters finalized for upcoming World Baseball Classic

The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks are set to be the most well-represented NPB team at the 2017 World Baseball Classic after the final rosters for the tournament were revealed Wednesday in the United States.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

Feb 6, 2017

Sugano set to step into spotlight at World Baseball Classic

The wider baseball world is about to meet Tomoyuki Sugano.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

Feb 2, 2017

Otani better off skipping World Baseball Classic than risking injury

There is no reason for Shohei Otani to participate in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

Jan 30, 2017

Samurai Japan's stars have to come to grips with WBC ball

Throwing a baseball isn't rocket science. Unless, apparently, that ball is the official baseball of the World Baseball Classic and is being thrown by a member of Samurai Japan.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK

Jan 29, 2017

WBC duty means quick turnaround for foreign stars

Now that spring camps are only a few days away for NPB teams — some players are already working out "independently" together — the foreign contingent has begun trickling into the country. It was mostly the first-year foreign players the past couple of weeks, but now the veterans have started showing...

Japan Times

BASEBALL

Jan 24, 2017

Japan fills out team for World Baseball Classic

Samurai Japan mostly filled out its roster for the 2017 World Baseball Classic on Tuesday, adding eight players, but no major leaguers, to the 19 names released in December.

MORE SPORTS

Jan 17, 2017

World No. 5 Spieth visits Tokyo to promote new signature golf shoes

Jordan Spieth is a better golfer than teacher.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

Jan 11, 2017

Time ripe for Lions hurler Kikuchi to prove worth on mound

There is a chance that by 2019, pitchers Yusei Kikuchi and Shohei Otani could both be major leaguers. In 2009, MLB scouts flocked to Hanamaki Higashi High School, in Iwate Prefecture, to flirt with Kikuchi, a fire-balling lefty, before returning a few years later to put a full-court press on Otani.

BASEBALL

Jan 9, 2017

Former MLB great Ramirez reaches agreement with Kochi

Former MLB star Manny Ramirez is on his way to Japanese baseball after Monday's announcement that the 44-year-old slugger had reached an agreement with the Kochi Fighting Dogs of the independent four-team Shikoku Island League Plus.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK

Jan 7, 2017

Players ramp up training before camps

There were a number of NPB stars on the move during the first week of 2017.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

Jan 2, 2017

New year brings new hopes for some in Japanese baseball

Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched his final game of 2016 in the maroon and yellow of the Gigantes de Carolina in the Puerto Rican winter league. Matsuzaka threw seven innings in that Dec. 29 start, giving up three hits and allowing his only run in the seventh inning.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

Dec 22, 2016

Tanaka, Iwakuma the dream ticket for Japan's WBC roster

Samurai Japan added the first major league player to its roster for the World Baseball Classic on Wednesday, when Houston Astros outfielder Norichika Aoki signed up for his third WBC.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Dec 20, 2016

Otani heads early WBC roster for Samurai Japan

Samurai Japan released a partial roster for next spring's World Baseball Classic on Tuesday, naming 18 players who will be part of the squad tasked with bringing the title back to Japan in March.

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

Dec 19, 2016

Free-agent compensation choices usually risky bets

The Orix Buffaloes will hope taking right-handed pitcher Kazuyuki Kaneda from the Hanshin Tigers as compensation for the Tigers signing former Buffalos outfielder Yoshio Itoi in free agency ends up being a productive outcome for the loss of such a talented player, but history isn't really on their side....

JAPAN / Politics

Dec 10, 2016

Valentine denies official talk of being offered Japan ambassador post by Trump

Ex-Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine says he has not been in contact with the Trump team amid reports he is under consideration to become the ambassador to Japan.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.

What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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