Baseball / Japanese Baseball Sep 10, 2020
Hawks pitcher Dennis Sarfate facing up to reality career may be over due to injury
by Jason Coskrey
Sarfate isn't retiring yet, he says, but he knows he may have already thrown his last pitch.
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Aug 8, 2020
Hawks reliever Dennis Sarfate says he's played final game in Facebook post
by Jason Coskrey
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks star reliever Dennis Sarfate has played in his last game, according to a post on his Facebook page. The reliever, 39, who returned to the U.S. Friday, revealed he will need hip replacement surgery and doesn't expect to play again. He later said, ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball | Sac Bunts Oct 24, 2019
Hawks display tremendous depth, talent en route to Japan Series three-peat
by Jason Coskrey
The only thing left to do is marvel at the absolute playoff strength of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Simply calling them strong somehow feels inadequate. But the Hawks have rendered the extraordinary so mind-numbingly routine during the last several postseasons, purposeful simplicity is probably the ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Mar 23, 2019
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks closer Dennis Sarfate, who had season-ending hip surgery last April, will begin the 2019 season still undergoing rehab, the team said Saturday. The 37-year-old right-hander was the Pacific League's MVP in 2017 when he established an NPB record with 54 saves. He ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Nov 2, 2018
Hawks closer Yuito Mori prepared well for pressure-packed playoff games
by Kaz Nagatsuka
Hawks closer Yuito Mori was accompanying his two baby children on the way to the parking lot after the team's 5-4 extra-inning win in Game 5 of the Japan Series at Yafuoku Dome on Thursday night. He was certainly a proud dad. Popular star Yuki Yanagita ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Jul 13, 2018
Regular routine keeps Carp reliever Jay Jackson in groove
by Jason Coskrey
Jay Jackson likes being a relief pitcher. He also likes being a relief pitcher in Japan, which is convenient, since the 30-year-old is in the middle of his third season with the Hiroshima Carp. Jackson has seen a lot during his time in NPB, and ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball | NPB NOTEBOOK Apr 22, 2018
Kiyomiya shows off power on farm
by Jason Coskrey
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. The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters rookie hit his first two pro home runs ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Apr 18, 2018
Hawks closer Dennis Sarfate to return to U.S. to have hip examined
Dennis Sarfate, who saved a Japan-record 54 games last season, and left fielder Akira Nakamura were both deactivated on Wednesday by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Sarfate is suffering from stiffness in his right hip and will return to the United States in the coming days ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Nov 20, 2017
SoftBank's Dennis Sarfate, Hiroshima's Yoshihiro Maru win NPB MVP awards
by Jason Coskrey
Dennis Sarfate considers himself a traditionalist, and as such, he might not have cast a ballot for himself, a reliever, in the MVP race. It's probably a good thing he didn't have a say then. Sarfate may or may not have given himself a vote, but ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Nov 9, 2017
Hawks reliever Dennis Sarfate named Matsutaro Shoriki Award recipient
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks closer Dennis Sarfate on Thursday became just the second player to win the prestigious Matsutaro Shoriki Award in 16 years and the first foreign-registered player. The award, sponsored by the Yomiuri Shimbun and named after the man who was the driving force ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball | HIT AND RUN Nov 5, 2017
Masterful Hawks again soar over baseball rivals
by Jason Coskrey
At the end of another NPB season, the Japanese baseball world is again wondering how to beat these Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. After Saturday night's dramatic 11-inning 4-3 sayonara victory over the Yokohama BayStars in Game 6 of the Japan Series clinched another title, the dynastic ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Nov 5, 2017
Hawks capture Japan Series crown on Keizo Kawashima's sayonara single in 11th
by Jason Coskrey
There will be no Game 7. Seiichi Uchikawa, Dennis Sarfate and Keizo Kawashima made sure of that, and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and their fans breathed big sighs of relief before succumbing to the joy and elation of winning the Japan Series. Uchikawa hit a game-tying ...