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BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 12, 2022

Mets continue to show willingness to spend with splurge for Kodai Senga

With Senga, 29, the Mets are buying in on a free-agent ace who has long desired a chance to prove himself against MLB's batters with his 'ghost fork.”
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 27, 2022

World Series storylines: Phillies' mentality versus Astros' experience

The Astros' sordid sign-stealing history means they won't be America's favorites, but Las Vegas has no problem making them the odds-on preference to 'win' their second title since 2017.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Oct 24, 2021

Retiring greats get deserved curtain calls as NPB season wraps up

The tradition of giving Japanese veterans hanging up their gloves one last chance to stand in front of a cheering crowd is one that should be cherished.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
May 15, 2021

Shohei Ohtani unleashed

With the so-called Ohtani rules junked, the Angels' “super freak” is dominating as a hitter and a pitcher. “There are things that he can do on a baseball field that other people can't.”
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 9, 2021

Beloved Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda dies at 93

Lasorda spent more than 70 years in the Dodgers organization.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 7, 2019

Warren Cromartie still eager to pitch in to help Giants, Expos

Warren Cromartie says he's always been a team player.
JAPAN / History / Heisei Icons
Feb 3, 2019

Takafumi Horie: Bane of the old guard

In many ways, Heisei has been an era of reform, peppered with tales of mavericks who challenged those at the helm of an entrenched business and political system they viewed as opaque and rife with vested interests.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Jun 11, 2018

Rakuten reliever Frank Herrmann follows path from Harvard to Sendai

Frank Herrmann is still putting his Harvard University education to good use. Just not in the way, and certainly not in the place, he expected.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 2, 2018

Fighters' Brandon Laird still getting kick of out fans' excitement

Brandon Laird was on his way back to the clubhouse after practice on Saturday when he spotted a young boy looking down on him from the stands. The boy wore a yellow shirt and black-rimmed glasses and a baseball glove covered one of his hands. He offered a small wave as Laird looked up and noticed him....
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Jan 21, 2018

Japan's Hall of Fame players deserve own moment in sun

For all the ideas Japanese baseball has lifted from its MLB counterpart in North America, it's surprising a proper Hall of Fame ceremony hasn't been one of them.
Japan Times
SPORTS / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Mar 21, 2017

Tough to root against Tebow in attempt to make MLB

Tim Tebow sat alone in a corner of the New York Mets clubhouse, quietly working his iPhone.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 9, 2016

A primer on evolution of pro sports' All-Star events

Next week, Japan professional baseball will play its annual two-game All-Star series with contests scheduled at Fukuoka Yafuoku Dome on July 15, and Yokohama Stadium on July 16. The All-Star games are like a festival in Japan, and the series will most likely draw capacity crowds, but has the idea of...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 27, 2016

Exploring quirky history of season schedules

Is a 162-game professional baseball season too long?
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Feb 22, 2016

Marathon bullpen sessions remain question of culture

Nagekomi is a term familiar to most Japanese baseball fans. Even in the normally taxing Japanese baseball spring training menu, nagekomi, used in baseball to refer to marathon bullpen sessions, stands out as one of the most strenuous.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 4, 2015

Fond memories of 'Mr. Minor League'

Sadly, the Baseball Bullet-in says goodbye to a good friend and great fan of the game, Takashi "Bert" Shimada, aka "Mr. Minor League," who died in Tokyo on June 19 at the age of 87. Though he followed baseball at all levels in his own country as well as the U.S., he preferred American minor league baseball...
Everyone should relax as Japan’s capital, Tokyo, isn’t ripping out thousands of trees to redevelop the famed Jingu Gaien park. Quite the opposite is planned.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 12, 2024

Tokyo's Jingu Gaien is at the center of an urban debate amid a redevelopment rift

Concerns about plans for Tokyo's Jingu Gaien may be exaggerated, as key trees will be preserved and more green space will be created post-development.
Shunya Takahashi (center) and Nihon Fukushi University professor Toshihito Mitsui (right) during an event in 2019.
PARALYMPICS
Sep 4, 2024

From Koshien to the Paralympics: Javelin thrower realizes dream long in the making

Born in the city of Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, Takahashi developed a right arm impairment at the age of 3 due to myelitis and finished sixth in his event in Paris.
NFL referee Shawn Smith reviews video of a coaches challenge during a game between the Chiefs and Chargers in Los Angeles on Sept. 29.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 7, 2024

Pro sports heading toward robotic future

Leagues insist that these systems are not meant to eliminate officials.
Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, leaves the courthouse in Santa Ana, California, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 7, 2025

Ohtani's ex-interpreter Mizuhara sentenced to nearly five years in prison

The case involved the illegal transfer of nearly $17 million from the star's account to pay off gambling debts.
Rescue teams work at the Jet Set nightclub following the collapse of its roof in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Apr 10, 2025

Dominican Republic ends search for survivors after scores killed in nightclub collapse

Emergency personnel late Wednesday reported 60 more deaths, with the total confirmed tally reaching 184.

Longform

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