As I’ve done in years past, it is time for me to get more baseball literate. Recently I have told myself that I am not allowed to buy any more new (or used) baseball books until I read the ones I have. Here are some that I will maybe never get completely through, but will…
It is that time of year again. After welcoming in 9 new guys via the draft, the team has to part ways with roughly the same number of men. At present, only one will be retiring, while the rest are likely to be looking for work elsewhere. And for a couple of these, that “elsewhere”…
Unlike most teams, Hanshin manager Akihiro Yano did not divulge the team’s direction as to which player they would enter the sweepstakes for in Round 1 of the draft, which took place on Monday, October 26 in Tokyo (but mainly via online meetings). The team has not yet finished cutting unneeded players, but typically by…
Sources: Daily / Sponichi / Sponichi With the 2020 Amateur Draft coming in less than a week, the Hanshin Tigers have started to declare their intentions concerning players’ contracts for 2021. Among the players not being offered new deals in 2021 are veterans and fan-favourites Kosuke Fukudome (OF, 43) and Atsushi Nohmi (LHP, 41). Fukudome…
Japanese baseball fans, the wait is almost over. On the same day that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced an end to the nationwide state of emergency, Commissioner Atsushi Saito made an official announcement about the start of the season. All twelve teams will open the 2020 season in empty stadiums on Friday, June 19. This…
Sources: Daily Sports (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) The Hanshin Tigers returned to the field on Wednesday after nearly three weeks of inactivity. Workouts have been staggered and limited to fewer players than usual. After having three players test positive for COVID-19 at the end of March (off the field), extra precautionary measures are being…
Sources: Daily / Sponichi / Daily Hanshin outfielder Hayata Itoh, who tested positive for COVID-19 on March 26, was released from hospital on April 5th, becoming the first of the three hospitalized Tigers to be discharged. He will spend an indefinite period in isolation in his home, and had this to say through the team:…
To no one’s surprise, really, the NPB season has been further delayed due to the continued spread of the coronavirus in Japan, especially in the Tokyo area. Today (April 4) marked the first day in which there were over 100 new cases reported in the nation’s capital alone, and most of them cannot be traced…
Source: Sponichi Hanshin Tigers pitcher Shintaro Fujinami underwent a PCR test for COVID-19 at an Osaka hospital on March 26, and it came back positive. He is the first NPB player to be diagnosed. In the days prior to his test, he complained of having lost his sense of smell, and went to several hospitals…
Sources: Sanspo / Nikkan All 12 NPB club presidents gathered in Tokyo with a team of experts and have agreed to make preparations to start the regular season on April 24. It was the fourth such gathering, and while the season was first rescheduled to begin on April 10, it has now been determined that…