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 ...
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 ...
Three players from the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, who won their second straight Japan Series last weekend, were among the Golden Glove winners announced Thursday by Nippon Professional Baseball. Catcher Takuya Kai, third baseman Nobuhiro Matsuda and outfielder Yuki Yanagita were named as the recipients at ...
MVP Takuya’s ‘Kai Cannon’ key to Hawks’ Japan Series conquest
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks must've known something was off. Hiroshima Carp shortstop Kosuke Tanaka, who had led off Game 6 of the Japan Series with a single, had taken off as Hawks starter Rick van den Hurk pitched to Ryosuke Kikuchi and was ruled to ...
Dramatic Series ride for SoftBank
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks wrapped up the Japan Series against the Hiroshima Carp on Saturday at Mazda Stadium, achieving back-to-back NPB championships with a 2-0 Game 6 win. The Pacific League club did not win away in the series' first two games, but proved that ...
Hawks shut out Carp in Game 6, capture back-to-back Japan Series crowns
The Heisei Era in Japan is set to end when Emperor Akihito abdicates next year on April 30. Pinning down the end of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks' current era of dominance in Japanese baseball is going to take a little bit more time. Because as they ...
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks moved to within one win of the Japan Series on Saturday when they whipped the Seibu Lions 8-2 in Game 4 of the Pacific League Climax Series Final Stage. The Hawks have won three of the four games played at MetLife ...
PL ends scoreless tie in fifth, wraps up two-game NPB All-Star Series sweep
The Pacific League completed a two-game sweep of the NPB All-Star Series with a 5-1 win over the Central League on Saturday night. While both teams scored early in the PL's 7-6 win Friday at Kyocera Dome, the 13,760 spectators at Kumamoto Fujisakidai Stadium did ...
Giants pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano and six others named to All-Star teams via player voting
Yomiuri Giants right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano was among seven players added Thursday to the Central and Pacific League All-Star teams through player voting. Sugano was selected to the All-Star roster for the seventh time after receiving 385 votes from his NPB colleagues. The 28-year-old leads the ...
Samurai Japan skipper Atsunori Inaba begins preparations for March series against Australia
Atsunori Inaba managed a team of young players in his first tournament in charge of Samurai Japan. In March, he'll get his first chance to step into the dugout with the top team. Inaba will lead Samurai Japan against Australia in the two-game Enos Samurai ...
