Baseball / MLB Jan 7, 2020
Shogo Akiyama clinches three-year, $21 million deal with Reds
Outfielder Shogo Akiyama on Monday agreed to a $21 million, three-year deal with the Cincinnati Reds, the only major league team that hasn't had a player born in Japan. Akiyama, 31, became a free agent after his ninth season with the Seibu Lions, where he ...
Baseball / MLB Dec 31, 2019
Seibu Lions outfielder Shogo Akiyama has agreed to a three-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds, according to a report released Monday on MLB.com. Initial reporting on the deal, which has not yet been announced by the National League club, indicates that its total value will ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball | Sac Bunts Nov 11, 2019
Trio's MLB dreams may impact Samurai Japan's gold medal quest
by Jason Coskrey
The Hiroshima Carp's Ryosuke Kikuchi, quite possibly the most dynamic defensive second baseman in the world (at least in the conversation), could be playing in MLB next season. So too could the Yokohama BayStars' slugging captain Yoshitomo Tsutsugo and free agent outfielder Shogo Akiyama, one ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Oct 31, 2019
Hawks' Nobuhiro Matsuda receives seventh straight Golden Glove
by Jason Coskrey
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 ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Oct 29, 2019
Lions outfielder Shogo Akiyama to file for international free agency
Seibu Lions outfielder Shogo Akiyama said Tuesday he will file for international free agency in order to pursue a career in the major leagues. The 31-year-old Akiyama declared his intention at the Japan national team's training camp in Okinawa ahead of the upcoming Premier12 international ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Sep 25, 2019
Lions repeat as Pacific League champions
by Jason Coskrey
The Seibu Lions lost their best pitcher and one of their best hitters off last year's Pacific League title winner. As for the PL pennant, they're going to hold on to that a little while longer. The Seibu batters roared at the plate as usual, Zach ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Aug 20, 2019
Shogo Akiyama drove in two runs to give the Seibu Lions the lead in a 4-2 victory over the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on Tuesday. Akiyama turned a one-run deficit into a one-run lead in the bottom of the fifth on a bases-loaded single off ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Jul 6, 2019
Right-hander Keisuke Honda threw 7-1/3 solid innings Saturday as the Seibu Lions hammered the Chiba Lotte Marines 5-0 in the Pacific League. Honda (4-3) gave up seven hits and hit a batter, while striking out one at Zozo Marine Stadium. The fourth-year hurler did not ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Apr 6, 2019
Tomoya Mori leads Lions' hit parade with 4-for-5 performance against Fighters
by Jason Coskrey
Opener, closer, middleman, it's all the same to the Seibu Lions' lineup. When the Lions' bats are roaring, it doesn't matter who is on the mound or when they get there, they're going to get hit. Hard. Shogo Akiyama and Tomoya Mori keyed the five-run third ...
Baseball Nov 10, 2018
Samurai Japan's Yuki Yanagita wields powerful bat in Game 2 victory over MLB All-Stars
by Jason Coskrey
There were stars from both MLB and NPB playing under the bright lights at Tokyo Dome on Saturday night. Then there was Yuki Yanagita, who was in a league of his own. Yanagita hit a two-run home run and drove in four runs overall to lead ...
Baseball / Japanese Baseball Sep 28, 2018
Lions rally past Hawks, move closer to Pacific League pennant
Shogo Akiyama provided the late-game heroics, blasting a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, as the Seibu Lions came from behind to beat the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 7-5 and move another step closer to the Pacific League pennant. The win over the second-place ...