Today the Nippon Series started in the Yahoo Dome in Fukuoka, home of the Softbank Hawks. Trailing 3-0, the DeNA BayStars scored a run in the fifth inning, but the Softbank Hawks countered with seven runs in the bottom of that inning to deal the team from Yokohama a decisive blow as the Hawks won…
Dutchie Rick van den Hurk’s team, the Softbank Hawks, that had clinched a spot in the Nippon Series already, will face the Yokohama DeNA BayStars that beat the Hiroshima Toyo Carp 9-3 today. The Nippon Series, the championship series of the Japanese NPB, will start coming Saturday, October 28. The Yokohama DeNA BayStars started the Climax…
Wladimir “Coco” Balentien, the slugger from Curaçao reached the 32 home run plateau last weekend, for the second time in his career. In the game of his Yakult Swallows vs the Chunichi Dragons, Balentien contributed to the 7-5 win with a three-run, game-tying home run, his only hit of the game. So far, Coco only has…
It is generally known that high school pitchers in Japan are abused at times. Back-to-back-to-back 100+ pitch games are no exception. To prevent this from happening the Japanese High School Baseball Federation has decided to introduce a tiebreak system. According to Japan’s biggest newspaper, the Yomiuri Shimbun, the federation, known as Nihon Koyaren, underlines the…
In a six-inning, 108-pitch outing, Rick van den Hurk clinched his thirteenth victory of the NPB season in a 4-1 victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters. The Softbank Hawks, who clinched the Pacific League pennant last week, gave Van den Hurk enough run support. The Fighters took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when…
Today the Softbank Hawks clinched the Pacific League title by beating the Seibu Lions 7-3. By winning the Pacific League, the Hawks will have a bye in the first round of the playoffs. As the Softbank Hawks beat the Seibu Lions, the latter team was eliminated from clinching the Pacific League. The Hawks started the…
Roger Bernadina, who recently joined the 20-20 club in the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization), has drawn attention from the Yomiuri Giants. The famous club from Tokyo with the most NPB championships under its belt, sent a scout to Korea to watch several players, and Bernadina is one of them. The scout couldn’t come at a…
Dutch pitcher of the Softbank Hawks, Rick van den Hurk, has clinched his ninth victory today with a 5-1 win over the lowly Orix Buffaloes. Rick lasted eight innings on the mound and threw 119 pitches to accomplish the feat. Rick gave up a run in the first inning when Yoshida Masanori scored on Masahiro…
Manny Ramirez, who signed a deal in January to play with the Kochi Fighting Dogs of the Japanese independent Shikoku Island League, has extended his contract with the club through the end of the 2017 season. The previous contract ran until the end of the month of July. There are players who never want to quit…
After an easy win vs Cuba, team Kingdom of the Netherlands did not stand a chance vs Japan. The team was outscored 7-3 and outhit 12-5. Except for the ninth inning, the Dutch did not take advantage of the few situations with runners in scoring position and were kept in check by the Japanese pitching….
