Last Friday, July 24, Rick van den Hurk pitched his sixth game for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks of the Japanese highest baseball league, the NPB. Due to my vacation I didn’t notice. Even though it is old news, the way Rick, currently the best Dutch export “product” to Japan, kept the Orix Buffaloes in check is…
Dutchies in Japan Both Rick van den Hurk and Wladimir Balentien played a rehab game with the Ni-Gun teams (farm teams) of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. In a 7-0 win over the Orix Buffaloes, Rick van den Hurk pitched seven innings in which he allowed two hits, walked three and…
A great performance by the Samurai Japan team. Jeremy Guthrie pitched five innings for the MLB All-Stars. In those five innings he allowed four runs on five hits (two homeruns). Guthrie struck out three and walked two. After a 1-2-3 first inning, he gave up a two run homerun to Hayato Sakamoto of the Yomiuri…
In the Tokyo Dome the MLB All-Stars and the Samurai Japan met each other for game two of the Japan All-Star Series. You can imagine that Hisashi Iwakuma wanted to shine in his hometown Tokyo. But the pitcher of the Seattle Mariners did everything but shine. Though he got through the first inning relatively…
