The Netherlands shrugged off nerves to stun Cuba 4-2 in the opening game of the World Baseball Classic on Wednesday in Taiwan. The Dutch scored three runs in the sixth inning in Taichung to sink Cuba, who featured players from Major League Baseball on their team for the first time. […]
Australia and South Korea aiming for strong start in Pool B opener at World Baseball Classic
There is no looking past the task at hand for either Australia or South Korea when they square off in the opening game in Pool B of the World Baseball Classic on Thursday. Both have ambitions of at least reaching the quarterfinals — even if the points they’re trying to […]
Shohei Ohtani ready to lead powerful Japan at World Baseball Classic
Shohei Ohtani looked up at the stands from the hero interview podium at Kyocera Dome Osaka and smiled. Ohtani had just hit two home runs, including one, incredibly, from one knee to straightaway center, in Samurai Japan’s win over the Hanshin Tigers in a warmup for the World Baseball Classic. […]
Murakami and Yoshida power Japan to final WBC warmup victory
Osaka – Munetaka Murakami blasted a three-run first-inning homer and Masataka Yoshida drove in four runs as Samurai Japan cruised into the World Baseball Classic on a 9-1 win over the defending Japan Series champion Orix Buffaloes in its final warmup game Tuesday. The 23-year-old Murakami, who last year became […]
Tim Atherton still gets ‘chills’ pitching for Australia
Tim Atherton has been pitching for Australia for over a decade and is among the most respected figures in the nation’s tight-knit baseball community. In 2017 he pitched in the World Baseball Classic. Two years later, Atherton threw 5⅓ scoreless innings to help the Aussies topple the United States during […]
Former MLB star Park Chan-ho wants kids to learn from Shohei Ohtani
Osaka – Former pitching star Park Chan-ho, one of Japanese Baseball Hall of Famer Hideo Nomo’s first MLB teammates, wants youngsters, especially in his native South Korea, to learn from Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani and Japan’s approach to the sport. Park, in Osaka as an analyst for World […]
Shohei Ohtani thrills fans with two homers as Japan beats Hanshin in WBC warmup
Osaka – Shohei Ohtani hit a pair of three-run home runs and Lars Nootbaar had two hits in their first Samurai Japan game before the World Baseball Classic, an 8-1 win over the Hanshin Tigers on Monday. With MLB players unable to participate in earlier games due to tournament rules, […]
Japan players to watch besides Shohei Ohtani during 2023 WBC
There will be plenty of attention on the superstar players of the Samurai Japan roster during the World Baseball Classic. Everyone knows what players like Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish can do. There are also a lot of fans eager to see pitchers Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and slugger […]
Japan players to watch besides Shohei Ohtani during 2023 World Baseball Classic
There will be plenty of attention on the superstar players of the Samurai Japan roster during the World Baseball Classic. Everyone knows what players like Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish can do. There are also a lot of fans eager to see pitchers Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and slugger […]
Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida arrives to complete Samurai Japan’s WBC roster
Osaka – Masataka Yoshida, the last missing piece in manager Hideki Kuriyama’s World Baseball Classic puzzle, took part in his first practice with Samurai Japan on Sunday, just four days before the team plays its first Pool B game. The new Boston Red Sox outfielder, who made the unprecedented step […]