An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
Yakult, Tokyo’s parent company, surprised many when it decided to post Norichika Aoki after the 2011 season. Why? Aoki won’t have the service time to earn international free agency until partway through the 2013 season, so most Tokyo fans were expecting another year at Jingu Stadium for the team’s perennial Golden Glove, Best Nine and [...]
On this day in 1982, Norichika Aoki was born in Miyazaki Prefecture. He was acquired by the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in the fourth round of the 2003 amateur draft after a standout tenure playing for Waseda University. Aoki went on to make an immediate impression in the minors during his rookie year, and he became [...]
Norichika Aoki (29), Tokyo’s decorated center fielder, will now have 30 days to negotiate with the team that recently bid the highest through the posting system. The winning bid, which was immediately accepted by Tokyo, was $2.5 million. The name of the winning team, which has exclusive negotiating rights, has not been divulged. The bidding [...]
Bio Norichika Aoki hails from Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, and is one of the most-loved players on the Tokyo Swallows roster. After helping Waseda University win the Tokyo Big6 Championships four semesters in a row, Aoki was drafted fourth by Tokyo in the first round of the 2003 draft. The outfielder didn’t see much first team [...]
I’m starting an irregular tradition, although there are better things, even on this site, I could be doing with my time. I’m giving our loyal and friendly readers, which would be you, something to talk about on a day with no game. I’m going to pathetically brag, in the hope that you will one up [...]
