NEWSWORTHY
Naoki Yoshikawa could play key role for 2019 Giants
The Yomiuri Giants are set up to have a lot of star power in their 2019 lineup. Yoshihiro Maru is the two-time reigning Central League MVP, Hayato Sakamoto has been on four Best Nine teams, including last season, and Kazuma Okamoto was an All-Star last ...
Giants go on offseason flurry in effort to revive glory days
The Yomiuri Giants are often referred to as Japan's answer to the New York Yankees — the "Evil Empire" version of the Bronx Bombers anyway — and the offseason they've had makes it easy to see why. After finishing a fourth straight season without winning ...
MLB All-Stars jump on Giants early en route to exhibition victory
The MLB All-Stars prepared for their series against Samurai Japan by giving former Japan manager Tatsunori Hara a rude welcome in his return to the dugout. Washington Nationals rookie sensation Juan Soto drove in a run with an infield double off the Tokyo Dome ceiling ...
The saga of Japan's most storied pro baseball team took a new twist on Tuesday, when former Tatsunori Hara rejoined the Yomiuri Giants as skipper for the third time. The 60-year-old Hara, the skipper of Japan's second World Baseball Classic championship team in 2009, guided ...
Former skipper Tatsunori Hara appears poised to rejoin Giants
Former Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara appeared ready Monday to return to the club as manager next year. Hara, who has been asked by the Central League club to manage next season's campaign, is scheduled to appear at a press conference on Tuesday along with ...
The Yomiuri Giants are looking to bring back Tatsunori Hara for a third stint as manager after Yoshinobu Takahashi steps down at the end of the season, sources close to the matter said Thursday. Hara, 60, ended his second go-round as manager of the Tokyo-based ...
Players become pop idols for female fans
In its long history, Koshien has seen some handsome, flamboyant idol players who were popular among female fans, and not just baseball fanatics, such as Waseda Jitsugyo hurler Daisuke Araki, Kagoshima Jitsugyo pitcher Shoji Sadaoka and Tohoku fireballer Yu Darvish. Tokaidai Sagami slugger Tatsunori ...
Japan's Hall of Fame players deserve own moment in sun
For all the ideas Japanese baseball has lifted from its MLB counterpart in North America, it's surprising a proper Hall of Fame ceremony hasn't been one of them. This year's Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame class was a doozy, including among others, former Hanshin Tigers ...
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 ...
Hideki Matsui elected to Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
Hideki Matsui already has three Central League MVPs, a World Series MVP and a People's Honor Award, and he has played for the most storied teams in both Japan and the United States. "Godzilla" has collected numerous accolades over his long career, but his latest ...
Ex-Giants manager Tatsunori Hara to oversee baseball clinic in Peru in November
Former Yomiuri Giants skipper Tatsunori Hara will lead a Japanese baseball clinic in Peru in November to commemorate 100 years since the establishment of the Peruvian-Japanese Association, organizers said Thursday. Hara, 59, will serve as general manager of a mission under a project of the ...
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 ...
