At points in this young season, the two defending champs have looked extremely vulnerable. Not anymore. The Yomiuri Giants rode a four-game losing streak into the new week, and proceeded to sweep the Carp and BayStars on the road. It … Continued
One of the most important words to know when watching Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) is gaijin, or “foreign player.” It refers to players that have crossed the sea to play in NPB, whether to gain more experience, put off retirement … Continued
Bobby Valentine has an employment list a mile long. Before his current job as the Athletic Director at Sacred Heart University, he served as a Manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Texas Rangers, New York Mets and Boston … Continued
In the absence of our international baseball tours and baseball in general during the COVID-19 pandemic, JapanBall began hosting a series of “Chatter Up!” video calls for its community of international baseball fans. The May 21, 2020 episode of “Chatter … Continued
A month or so ago, my three-year-old son said to me, “I know how to play baseball, daddy. You need a bat and ball and glove. And songs. And lots of people.” He was bang on with what he said, … Continued
Author Rob Fitts has been almost everywhere in the baseball world, including the esteemed paths of Cooperstown and across the sea in the various ballparks of Japan. Now, he gets to add JapanBall’s “Chatter Up!” to that list. Fitts stepped … Continued
The June 26, 2020 episode of JapanBall’s “Chatter Up!” Zoom calls featured Rob Fitts, a historian of Japanese baseball and author of six books on the subject. He is also renowned for his expertise in the area of Japanese baseball … Continued
In the absence of our international baseball tours and baseball in general during the COVID-19 pandemic, JapanBall began hosting a series of “Chatter Up!” video calls for its community of international baseball fans. The June 11, 2020 episode of “Chatter … Continued
The teams have now all faced off against each other, and while one team in each league has started quite strongly, there is still too much baseball to be played to call anyone the clear-cut favorite to run away with … Continued
We now have 9 games in the record books. Obviously not every team can get off to the hot start they desire, but there are some surprising names above water – and others that are already drowning. Let’s start with … Continued