Baseball

As they watched the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks ground the Yomiuri Giants into dust during the Japan Series, fans of the other five Pacific League teams might have been home asking themselves the same question: Could we have done this? The answer is probably not. The Hawks are in a class […]

Chiba – Chiba Lotte Marines pitcher Hirokazu Sawamura said Monday he will exercise his international free agency rights, allowing him to seek a deal with a team in Major League Baseball. “The majors are also among my options if I consider all 42 teams in Japan and the United States,” […]

Fukuoka – It’s possible there were multiple winners Wednesday night at PayPay Dome when Yoshiyuki Kamei’s popup landed in Ukyo Shuto’s glove to end the 2020 Japan Series. The obvious winners were the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, evidenced by the players rushing onto the field as manager Kimiyasu Kudo exchanged elbow […]

Fukuoka – The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks may be in the middle of an epoch-making run in Japanese baseball that could — if other teams can emulate the way they operate on and off the field— cause a shift in the game. That, however, remains to be seen. What we know […]

Fukuoka – The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks may be in the middle of an epoch-making run in Japanese baseball that could — if other teams can emulate the way they operate on and off the field— cause a shift in the game. That, however, remains to be seen. What we know […]

The Yomiuri Giants will let ace right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano move to the major leagues via the posting system should the player request it, an executive from the Central League team said Thursday. Sugano, a two-time winner of the prestigious Eiji Sawamura Award as Japanese professional baseball’s most impressive starting pitcher, […]

Fukuoka – If the sight of Yuki Yanagita holding up his bat while taking a few steps toward first base didn’t tell the story, the sound that filled the stadium surely did. The crack of Yanagita’s bat meeting the ball gave way to the immediate roar of the crowd to […]

After putting Doosan Bears to the sword to clinch their first Korean baseball championship on Tuesday, NC Dinos paid tribute to their owners by celebrating with a replica blade from one of the videogame developer’s most popular titles. The Dinos, who are owned by NCSoft, beat the Bears 4-2 in […]

Fukuoka – The third game of the 2020 Japan Series — which the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks won 4-0 after nearly throwing a combined no-hitter to take a 3-0 lead in the series — almost felt like an actual Japanese baseball game. Almost. Holding a Japan Series in the middle of […]

Fukuoka – Matt Moore and the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks didn’t get their Japan Series no-hitter, but they’ve just about got the title wrapped up. Moore threw seven no-hit innings and the Hawks came within an out of a combined no-hitter in a 4-0 win in Game 3, moving them to […]