NEWSWORTHY
Koshien: Annual event has provided a century of thrills
Ah, Koshien. The 100th National High School Baseball Tournament gets underway on Sunday at historic Koshien Stadium near Kobe. Organized by the Japan High School Baseball Federation in association with the prestigious Asahi Shimbun, the tourney is the largest sporting event in Japan, on par ...
Exhibition honoring 150 years of Japan-U.S. baseball history to be shown in Washington
An exhibition that traces 150 years of Japan-U.S. baseball ties is being held at the Japanese Embassy in Washington. The main purpose of the event, which runs through Aug. 10 at the embassy's Japan Information & Culture Center, is to show Americans how baseball became ...
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks chairman Sadaharu Oh, whose 868 home runs are the most by a professional baseball player, said Friday he has married for a second time. "This is the 10th year we've been living together, so it's time to draw the line and make ...
Hall of Famer Sachio Kinugasa, whose 2,215 consecutive games played remain a Japan pro baseball record, died of colon cancer Monday at 71, an informed source said. Nicknamed "Iron Man," Kinugasa played for the Hiroshima Carp from 1965 to 1987 and was the Central League's ...
Hall of Fame skipper Tatsunori Hara reflects on Alex Ramirez's guts, father's advice
On the day of his induction into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, Tatsunori Hara gave praise to one of his former players, current Yokohama BayStars manager Alex Ramirez. Ramirez, the only foreign-born player to join Japan's iconic 2,000-hit club, has called Hara, his skipper ...
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 ...
Hawks, BayStars get ready for pivotal Game 6
One day after a win that made the Japan Series an actual, well, series, the Yokohama BayStars were back on the field in Fukuoka on Friday night. The odds of either of those things happening after the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks opened up a 3-0 lead ...
Hawks capture Pacific League pennant
There shouldn't have been any questions about which team was the best in the Pacific League this season. Still, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks went out and made it official just in case. Yuki Yanagita hit a two-run home run in the fourth and had an RBI ...
Giants enduring historic losing streak
In their 83 years of existence, the Yomiuri Giants have never had a stretch quite this bad. The rapidly sinking Kyojin reached new depths on Wednesday night after Shingo Ishikawa struck out to end a 3-0 loss to the Seibu Lions at MetLife Dome. It ...
Buck Martinez looks back on inaugural WBC, remains pleased with global growth of game
Former Team USA skipper Buck Martinez said he recalls everything from the game in Anaheim, California, where his team and manager Sadaharu Oh's Japan squad squared off in the second round of the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006. "I recall me exchanging the lineup ...
Legend Nagashima rekindles memories of an unforgettable life in baseball
It was good seeing former Yomiuri Giants third baseman and manager Shigeo Nagashima visiting the team's spring training camp in Miyazaki earlier this month. He just turned 81 this past week and is visibly handicapped by a stroke suffered in 2004 that limits movement ...
