Baseball

Phoenix – Reigning American League MVP Shohei Ohtani welcomed the approval of a new rule that will make his work as a two-way batting and pitching star much easier. “This kind of movement didn’t happen during my time in Japan,” Ohtani said after MLBannounced the approval of its new “Amended […]

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association formally announced an amended designated hitter rule that has been approved for the 2022 season. Dubbed the “Shohei Ohtani rule,” it allows a starting pitcher who begins the game while batting for himself to remain in the contest as the designated hitter […]

PEORIA, Arizona – Right-hander Yu Darvish will take the mound on opening day for the second straight year, and the third time in his career, the San Diego Padres said Thursday. Japan will have two opening day pitchers in the majors for the third time with Darvish facing the Arizona […]

Sapporo – Tsuyoshi Shinjo, whose managing tenure has been highlighted by attention-grabbing stunts, earned his first win Thursday in the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters’ 6-2 victory over the Seibu Lions. Shinjo, whose registered name with Nippon Professional Baseball this season is “BIGBOSS” and who made news outside Japan by entering […]

Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture – Osaka Toin High School, a powerhouse known for producing numerous pro baseball stars, captured Japan’s spring invitational championship for the fourth time on Thursday. Osaka Toin beat Shiga Prefecture’s Omi High School 18-1 in the final of the 94th edition of the spring invitational at Koshien […]

Mesa, Arizona – Seiya Suzuki registered a memorable first hit in a Chicago Cubs uniform on Wednesday, homering in an 8-5 spring training win over the Seattle Mariners. The 27-year-old Suzuki launched a two-run shot high over the left-center field fence in the fourth at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona, […]

Akira Nakamura went 3-for-4 with an RBI on Wednesday as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks came back to beat the Chiba Lotte Marines 4-3 and register their fifth straight win to open the season. The Pacific League leaders went ahead 2-0 after Lotte outfielder Hiromi Oka failed to get his glove […]

First baseman Albert Pujols won three MVP awards in his 11 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, and after 10 seasons in Southern California, Pujols is returning to St. Louis. Several media outlets reported Sunday night that Pujols and the Cardinals have settled on a one-year contract that is worth […]

Anyone wondering if Tsuyoshi Shinjo would tone down his incandescent personality at the start of the NPB season had the question answered before the first pitch. The new Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager made an entrance on opening day that was more WrestleMania than pro baseball. Whether or not NPB […]

Sendai – The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles won Japan’s first extra-inning regular-season game in two years Sunday when Kazuki Tanaka’s routine fly fell for an 11th-inning RBI double to clinch a 6-5 Pacific League win over the Chiba Lotte Marines. For the first time since the start of the coronavirus […]