Hideki Matsui appears on Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for first time
Former big leaguer Hideki Matsui, iron man Tomoaki Kanemoto and former Japan manager Hiroki Kokubo were placed on the 2018 ballot for the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday. Catcher Kenji Johjima, infielder Takuro Ishii and first baseman Alex Cabrera are the other three ...
Samurai Japan manager Kokubo reflects on 'treasure' of leading team
Japan skipper Hiroki Kokubo said Thursday the experience of having managed the national side for 3½ years will be his life's treasure, even though the team failed to reclaim the World Baseball Classic title. "Of course it's disappointing that we could not achieve our ...
Backstop Kobayashi plays big role for Japan
There's a thanklessness to catching in baseball. Catchers do a lot of the dirty work, and their efforts end up being both extremely challenging and easy for the casual observer to accidentally overlook. A catcher has many jobs, to lead pitchers, know opposing batters' strengths ...
Panamanian-born Chen returns to mound to honor Chinese ancestors
This isn't the first time that ex-major league pitcher Bruce Chen has donned a national team jersey to play in the World Baseball Classic. The left-hander competed for his native Panama in the first two tournaments in 2006 and 2009. Now the 39-year-old is back ...
Right-hander Nao Higashihama combined with five pitchers for a four-hit shutout as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks blanked the Japan national team 2-0 in a practice game on Saturday. Hiroshima Carp infielder Ryosuke Kikuchi, a member of the 28-man Samurai Japan squad preparing for the March ...
Samurai Japan opens training camp ahead of World Baseball Classic
Japan manager Hiroki Kokubo and all of his players, except Houston Astros outfielder Norichika Aoki, opened training camp in Miyazaki on Thursday in preparation for next month's World Baseball Classic. Aoki, the only major leaguer on the Japan roster for the March 6-22 tournament, will ...
Otani's samurai spirit turned out to be double-edged sword
For four years, Shohei Otani burned to help Samurai Japan reclaim the World Baseball Classic title it booted away in San Francisco in 2013, but the fire that empowered the slugging pitcher came at a cost. The pitcher hurt his right ankle during October's Japan ...
Japan manager Kokubo decides faith in team worth more than flexibility
Japan manager Hiroki Kokubo is banking on team-building rather than flexibility as he heads into the World Baseball Classic next month. On Sunday, Kokubo clarified the seemingly peculiar choice of naming only one active pitcher on his roster as a member of the team's replacement ...
Shohei Otani will be taken off the 28-man roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic, Samurai Japan skipper Hiroki Kokubo said Friday. Otani will be replaced with another starting pitcher on the final roster, which must be submitted by Monday's deadline. "The condition (of his ankle) ...
Otani better off skipping World Baseball Classic than risking injury
There is no reason for Shohei Otani to participate in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Otani is easily the most popular name on the Samurai Japan roster and the anticipation, from fans in and outside Japan, of him playing in the WBC has been building ...
Japan fills out team for World Baseball Classic
Samurai Japan mostly filled out its roster for the 2017 World Baseball Classic on Tuesday, adding eight players, but no major leaguers, to the 19 names released in December. The new players bring the roster up to 27, leaving one spot to be filled. "My tension ...
Tanaka, Iwakuma the dream ticket for Japan's WBC roster
Samurai Japan added the first major league player to its roster for the World Baseball Classic on Wednesday, when Houston Astros outfielder Norichika Aoki signed up for his third WBC. The move was a boost for manager Hiroki Kokubo's team and likely a welcome addition ...
