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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...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Mar 21, 2015

Fighters' Hermida excited about new challenge

Jeremy Hermida hit a grand slam the very first time he stepped in the batter's box in the major leagues, becoming the first player since Bill Duggleby in 1898 to achieve that particular feat. That day, Aug. 31, 2005, has been followed by a series of ups and downs, a winding career path that has led the...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 20, 2014

Swallows, Buffaloes upgrade rosters, renew hope for title run

The last time there was a Yakult-Orix Japan Series played, it was 1995. The Orix team was the BlueWave, based in Kobe and led by some guy named Ichiro Suzuki. He had just completed his second full season in Japanese baseball, hitting .342 to win his second of seven consecutive Pacific League batting...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 1, 2014

NPB's quirky playoff rules recipe for confusion

Did the Hanshin Tigers deserve to play in this year's Japan Series? The team finished second in the Central League pennant race, seven games behind the league champion Yomiuri Giants, but the Tigers advanced to the CL Climax Series Final Stage with a controversial victory over the Hiroshima Carp in the...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 9, 2014

Ishikawa perseveres with Swallows

On a somewhat muggy Friday night in Yokohama, Masanori Ishikawa strode to the center of the diamond at Yokohama Stadium, bent down and bounced the rosin bag around in his hand a few times — seemingly every pitch later that night was accompanied by a puff of white — and proceeded to make his 20th...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 5, 2014

Cruz settling in with Marines

Luis Cruz wanted to go home. He wanted to see his family again, wanted to be back in a familiar environment. He wanted to get away from that lonely hotel room in Fort Myers, Florida, that was a long way from his native Navojoa, which lies on the southern tip of Sonora, a Mexican state that shares its...

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Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?