Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks manager Kimiyasu Kudo won the Shoriki award for the fourth time in his career and his third time as a manager on Wednesday. The Matsutaro Shoriki Award is named after the visionary owner of the Yomiuri Shimbun who was the driving force ...
Hawks' Nobuhiro Matsuda receives seventh straight Golden Glove
It's awards season in Japanese baseball and just like at the end of the actual season, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks are front and center. Four players from the recently crowned three-time defending Japan Series champions, the most of any team, were recognized on Thursday when ...
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks will change the name of their baseball stadium to the PayPay Dome next season, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. SoftBank Group Corp., the largest shareholder of smartphone payment app provider PayPay Corp., hopes to promote its subsidiary's cashless services ...
Hawks display tremendous depth, talent en route to Japan Series three-peat
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 ...
Hawks sweep Giants to win third straight Japan Series
The end of the NPB season in 2019 looks a lot like it did last year... and in 2017, 2015 and 2014 too. They all finished with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks at the top of Japanese baseball. Yurisbel Gracial hit a three-run home run, veteran pitcher ...
Hawks hammer Giants in Game 3, move within win of third consecutive Japan Series crown
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks should be able to taste it now. They've dominated this Japan Series through three games and now the big payoff is just around the corner. Alfredo Despaigne drove in three runs, Yurisbel Gracial homered and Rick van den Hurk did his ...
'Mood-maker' Matsuda lifting Hawks' spirits
Nobuhiro Matsuda, the lively and exuberant soul who plays third base for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, is often referred to as the team's "mood-maker." You can remember the game is supposed to be fun as Matsuda hops around on one leg in the batter's box, ...
Ace Kodai Senga stellar again for Hawks in Japan Series opener
Every team had a shot at Kodai Senga. Even the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, who ultimately ended up with him, passed on the right-hander a few times during the 2010 draft before taking him as a fourth-choice developmental player. Oh how he has developed. Fast-forward almost a decade ...
Kodai Senga, Yurisbel Gracial lead Hawks past Giants in Japan Series opener
Kodai Senga gave the Yomiuri Giants chances early on as he worked his way into Game 1 of this year's Japan Series. Once the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks ace finally got going, however, the Giants' hopes faded with each retired batter. Senga outdueled Shun Yamaguchi in a ...
Blockbuster matchup: Hawks' Kodai Senga vs. Giants' Shun Yamaguchi in Japan Series opener
Shortly before the end of the Japan Series managers' meeting the skippers of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Yomiuri Giants were asked to name their starters for Game 1. Hawks manager Kimiyasu Kudo spoke first, grabbing a mic and stating simply with no hesitation, "For ...
2019 Japan Series managers take trip down memory lane on eve of Game 1
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks manager Kimiyasu Kudo admitted to feeling a little bit nostalgic on the eve of this year's Japan Series matchup against the Yomiuri Giants. Kudo was a pitcher for Yomiuri the last time these two clubs vied for the crown. That was in ...
Kenta Imamiya's three home runs propelled the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to a 9-3 win over the Seibu Lions in Game 4 of the Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage on Sunday. The Hawks clinched the final stage four games to one, marking the second straight ...
