PL MVP Yuki Yanagita and Hawks agree to ¥610 million contract
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks outfielder Yuki Yanagita, who won his second Pacific League MVP award last week, signed a contract worth ¥610 million ($5.9 million) plus incentives for next season on Wednesday. The deal, a ¥40 million increase from his last salary, equals Hideki Matsui's salary ...
Tomoyuki Sugano and Yuki Yanagita win MVP honors in NPB
The Giants ace and Hawks slugger each won the award for the second time.
Hawks sweep Giants again to clinch fourth straight Japan Series title
SoftBank claimed its seventh title since 2011 and did it with a sweep that was even more dominant than the last one.
Giants and Hawks in driver's seat at halfway mark in NPB
Despite the shortened schedule, there's still plenty to look forward to in the 2020 campaign.
Airing games in U.S. only first step in Pacific League's plan to take Japanese baseball abroad
For a nation so famous for its baseball exports — from Hideo Nomo to Shohei Ohtani — Japan hasn’t done a very good job at promoting Nippon Professional Baseball outside its own borders. The Pacific League, the more forward-thinking of NPB’s two leagues, could spark ...
Yasuhiro Ogawa's no-hitter provides major lift for Swallows pitching staff
The Swallows are in desperate need of good results on the mound.
Yuki Yanagita powers Hawks past Eagles in six-game series
With no All-Star Game, Yuki Yanagita held his own personal home run derby last week in Fukuoka. The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles may have arrived from Sendai in first place and with NPB's hottest hitter, Hideto Asamura, but it was Yanagita whose star shone brightest ...
Six players to watch in the Pacific League in 2020
From Hawks outfielder Yuki Yanagita to aspiring Rakuten starter Yuki Matsui, there's plenty of stellar talent to look forward to from the Pa League.
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 ...
2019 Japan Series managers take trip down memory lane on eve of Game 1
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks manager Kimiyasu Kudo admitted to feeling a little bit nostalgic on the eve of this year's Japan Series matchup against the Yomiuri Giants. Kudo was a pitcher for Yomiuri the last time these two clubs vied for the crown. That was in ...
Yuki Yanagita and Yurisbel Gracial each drove in a pair of runs as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks closed to within one game of the Pacific League-leading Saitama Seibu Lions on Sunday with a 6-5 win over the Orix Buffaloes. Yanagita singled in the Hawks' second ...
Solid pitching from Tsuyoshi Wada, big hits from veterans carry Hawks past Buffaloes
Pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada worked six innings, Seiichi Uchikawa doubled in two runs, and Yuki Yanagita homered in his second game back from rehab to lead the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to a 5-1 come-from-behind win over the Orix Buffaloes on Thursday in the Pacific League. Wada ...
