Fighters take no chances after COVID-19 outbreak
There was something different about the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters during pregame warmups Friday at Sapporo Dome. The players were wearing their special Hokkaido appreciation tops — which are predominantly blue this year — with white pants for their matchup with the Tohoku Rakuten ...
Eric Thames' injury mars debut of Giants' high-profile foreign stars
After everything it took for Thames to get to Japan, he’s now heading back to the U.S. for surgery after less than three full innings in NPB.
NPB prepares to go back behind closed doors
Last week began with a crowd of 17,712 at Tokyo Dome for a showdown between the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants, the top two teams in the Central League. There were 15,345 fans present at the Big Egg on Sunday, when the Kyojin faced the ...
Carter Stewart Jr. takes important first step in NPB
Stewart’s day wasn’t groundbreaking, but his career path might be.
Tigers hit ground running as Teruaki Sato continues to excite
Let’s all stand back for a minute and marvel at Teruaki Sato. The Hanshin Tigers rookie is just 15 games into his career and already among the players generating the most buzz in NPB. Sato produced one of the early highlights of the season on Friday ...
BayStars' Daisuke Miura learns wins do not come easily in NPB
On Sunday, he finally won his first game as the team’s manager after coming up short eight times.
NPB returns with flourish as reminders of virus linger
Following an offseason that was shorter than usual, pro baseball returned to Japan over the weekend. There were home runs, super plays in the field, highly anticipated debuts and even fans in the stands. There were also, however, reminders things aren’t quite back to normal ...
Marines punch NPB's final postseason ticket
The Chiba Lotte Marines are in, the Seibu Lions are out and the NPB postseason is set. Lotte punched its ticket with a win over the Lions on Sunday afternoon in what was essentially a playoff game before the playoffs. Needing a win to secure second ...
Three-team race for final spot in Pacific League Climax Series down to wire
There is only one race of real consequence remaining in this NPB season and it’s still too close to call.
Alex Ramirez runs out of time with BayStars
The BayStars will now forge ahead without the manager who has won more than anyone else there in over 20 years.
NPB stars prepare to say goodbye as season winds down
It's retirement season in NPB. As the 2020 campaign begins to wind down, fans across Japan will be saying goodbye to some familiar faces. Hanshin Tigers reliever and former major leaguer Kyuji Fujikawa announced in September that he was calling it quits at the end of ...
Marines soldier on after virus outbreak
What a week it was for the Chiba Lotte Marines. Technically, things got started Oct. 4, when pitcher Daiki Iwashita and a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. Subsequent testing early last week revealed 11 more infections (a total that included seven top-team players), the club ...
