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1 week ago | 
japantimes.co.jp | Jason Coskrey
Yomiuri Giants star slugger Kazuma Okamoto will likely be out of action for an extended period after suffering a left elbow injury in a collision with the Hanshin Tigers’ Takumu Nakano during Tuesday night’s game at Tokyo Dome. The two players crashed into each other as Okamoto attempted to make a catch at first base while Nakano was running down the line. The Giants said Okamoto suffered muscle damage in his left elbow.
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1 week ago | 
japantimes.co.jp | Jason Coskrey
Teruaki Sato gave Hanshin Tigers fans an early 2025 highlight when he homered off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell, a two-time Cy Young winner, during an exhibition at Tokyo Dome in March. While undoubtedly a cool moment for Tigers fans, it was the type of thing that tends to fade from memory once the pennant race gets underway.
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2 weeks ago | 
japantimes.co.jp | Jason Coskrey
Around this time last year, Japanese horse racing held its collective breath as a decadeslong ambition suddenly flickered into possibility. Forever Young, the horse many believed was Japan’s best chance yet to win the Kentucky Derby, had thundered down the stretch in the iconic race and reached the finish line at almost the same moment as two other horses. Some fans may have hoped for the best during the several minutes it took to determine the order after the dramatic three-way photo finish.
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3 weeks ago | 
japantimes.co.jp | Jason Coskrey
Shohei Ohtani is a dad. The baseball superstar and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, have welcomed a baby girl to their family, he said in an announcement on Instagram on Saturday afternoon (Sunday morning in Japan). "I am so grateful to my loving wife who gave birth to our healthy beautiful daughter," he said in the post, which features a picture of a baby's feet and his dog, Dekopin.
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4 weeks ago | 
japantimes.co.jp | Jason Coskrey
Jackie Robinson Day arrived earlier in Japan than in North America, and for DeNA BayStars pitcher Andre Jackson, the stars almost aligned perfectly on Tuesday night. Jackson pitched on the date that annually honors Robinson, who broke the MLB color barrier when he made his historic debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. He also did it while wearing No. 42, Robinson’s iconic number. Jackson pitched well, too, holding the Yomiuri Giants to a single run over six innings.
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1 month ago | 
japantimes.co.jp | Jason Coskrey
When, at the behest of MLB, the Pitching Ninja account and its plethora of gifs of “filthy” and “disgusting” pitches (as Rob Friedman, the man behind the account, famously refers to them) went dark on what was then known as Twitter in April 2018, it caused an uproar. Fans were apoplectic, MLB players, past and present, voiced their support for the account and many people took MLB to task for its part in the Twitter ban.
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1 month ago | 
japantimes.co.jp | Jason Coskrey
Tony Blanco, a gregarious slugger who hit 181 home runs and won a batting title during his eight seasons in Japan, was buried on Thursday in the Dominican Republic following a memorial service as the nation continues to mourn the over 200 people who died when the roof of a popular nightclub collapsed early on Tuesday. Family, friends and fans gathered to say their final goodbyes to the 44-year-old during the service, which took place in a city near the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo.
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1 month ago | 
japantimes.co.jp | Jason Coskrey
The 2025 NPB season is a little over a week old, and a pair of rookie players with a lot riding on their shoulders are off to fast starts. Seibu Lions outfielder Seiya Watanabe has hit the ground running with a .407 average that ranks third among all NPB players. Watanabe had multihit performances in four of his first seven games, including going 3-for-3 in a win over the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on Friday night. “I’ve got some confidence in this part of my game,” he told Nikkan Sports on Friday.
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1 month ago | 
japantimes.co.jp | Jason Coskrey
There were over 65,000 people in the stands and millions more watching from elsewhere when Damar Hamlin nearly died during an NFL game. Hamlin, a safety for the Buffalo Bills, collapsed when he suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2, 2022. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the survival rate for cardiac arrests that occur outside of a hospital is less than 12%. Luckily everything else went right for Hamlin that night.
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1 month ago | 
japantimes.co.jp | Jason Coskrey
The Yomiuri Giants went on a shopping spree in the offseason to strengthen the team ahead of its Central League title defense and bolster its chances of winning the Japan Series for the first time since 2012. While it's far too early to make any sweeping proclamations about the impact the new players will have on a season that began on Friday, their first impressions on Giants fans could not have gone much better.
