Baseball

Kobe – It had to be Yuhei Nakamura. If the Tokyo Yakult Swallows were going to finish off an already stunning season with a Japan Series championship, it was only fitting Nakamura, the team’s longtime catcher, ended up on the podium as the MVP when it was all said and […]

Kobe – The Tokyo Yakult Swallows overcame the best pitcher in Japan to become the best team in Japan. Pinch hitter Shingo Kawabata hit a bloop single to left to bring in the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th, and reliever Scott McGough closed out an entertaining Japan […]

Adam Jones is at the point in his career where an elimination game conjures up a feeling of finality beyond just the particular game or series in question. Jones has been in the game a long time, making his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2006, and he knows […]

Adam Jones spoiled the title celebration the Tokyo Yakult Swallows were planning to have on manager Shingo Takatsu’s birthday, but he did give his fellow former major leaguer a gift. A ticket to Kobe for Game 6. Jones hit a tiebreaking pinch-hit home run to lead off the top of […]

Masanori Ishikawa joined the Tokyo Yakult Swallows two decades ago through a now-abolished free signing system at the 2001 draft — about a month after the Swallows defeated the Kintetsu Buffaloes in the Japan Series. There have been a lot of changes — in both baseball and the world as […]

LOS ANGELES – The Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to a one-year free agent contract with left-handed hitter Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported Wednesday. The deal involving the 29-year-old first baseman and outfielder is reportedly worth $4 million and is pending a physical. Tsutsugo signed with the Pirates in […]

Even though the 2021 Japan Series features some of NPB’s top rising stars, 41-year-old Tokyo Yakult Swallows pitcher Masanori Ishikawa proved it’s not just a young man’s game. Ishikawa leaned on two decades of experience and a sinker batters kept swinging over to throw six solid frames and help the […]

Thousands of umbrellas bobbed up and down to the rhythm of “Tokyo Ondo,” creating a glittering canopy in the stands at Tokyo Dome as the stadium lights reflected off plastic umbrella panels while the familiar melody rang out across the stadium before the top of the seventh in Game 3 […]

New York – Major League Baseball announced its third annual All-MLB teams Tuesday, with Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani making the first team as a designated hitter and second as a pitcher. The 27-year-old, who won the American League MVP Award unanimously last week, was a top hitter […]

Offense finally made an appearance in the Japan Series in Game 3 — after two games dominated by pitching — and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows had more of it. Domingo Santana struck the biggest blow of a back-and-forth contest with a two-run home run in the seventh and the Swallows […]