Baseball

Mesa, Arizona – Shohei Ohtani made an impressive pitching debut at spring training on Friday, striking out five batters in 1⅔ innings in the Los Angeles Angels’ 7-3 win over the Oakland Athletics. The Angels clocked Ohtani’s fastball at 100 miles per hour (161 kph) as the Japanese two-way star […]

Los Angeles – The California Department of Public Health gave baseball teams and fans cause for spring fever Friday when it announced that spectators can return to the state’s baseball stadiums in gradually increasing numbers starting on opening day as the coronavirus pandemic subsides. Since the state’s five MLB teams […]

Up to 10,000 spectators will be admitted for games at this month’s prestigious spring invitational high school baseball tournament, organizers announced Thursday. A year after it canceled the tournament at iconic Koshien Stadium outside Osaka for the first time, the Japan High School Baseball Federation will sanction the event in […]

Tempe, Arizona – Shohei Ohtani crushed a monster two-run homer Wednesday to help lift the Los Angeles Angels to a 6-2 spring training win over the Texas Rangers. The 143-meter blast, which cleared the batter’s eye screen behind center field, continues an impressive spring for the two-way star, who is […]

Tempe, Arizona – The Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani, who is expected to return to his two-way role in 2021, singled twice against the Chicago White Sox on Monday during a spring training exhibition game in Tempe, Arizona. The teams finished tied at 4-4 in the five-inning game at Tempe […]

Peoria , Arizona – Just over four months after he was stabbed in the lower back, San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Pham expressed joy just to be able to take the field again. Pham went hitless in two at-bats out of the cleanup spot in the Padres’ Cactus League opener […]

Urasoe, Okinawa Pref. – Former New York Yankee Masahiro Tanaka will open the season as the second starting pitcher in the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles rotation, manager Kazuhisa Ishii said Saturday. Tanaka, who returned to the Pacific League club this year for the first time since his 2013 MVP season, […]

In an era long before pro ballplayers ached to move to Japan to boost their careers back home, Greg “Boomer” Wells went from exile to icon, as the nation’s baseball community adopted him and made him a member of its close-knit family. Sold by the Minnesota Twins to the Hankyu […]

Peoria, Arizona – Outfielder Shogo Akiyama will leave Cincinnati Reds spring training in Goodyear, Arizona, to tend to a personal matter, a team official said Friday. The official noted the matter is not COVID-19 related, but no further details were provided. It is unclear when Akiyama is expected to rejoin […]

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has approved a plan to allow 30% capacity at home games for the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians to begin the 2021 season. Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati (12,695 maximum capacity) and Progressive Field in Cleveland (10,512) will be allowed to host fans with detailed social […]