An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
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 [...]
Aoki was posted by the Tokyo Swallows today. MLB teams will be able to submit bids as soon as it is officially announced that Aoki is available through the posting system. A four-day window will then follow in which teams can submit their bids. If no bids are submitted during that time, then Aoki will [...]
Chiba legend, and all-around-good-guy, Bobby Valentine, is reportedly about to assume control of the dugout at Fenway Park. After a ponderous perusal of several possible Terry Francona replacements, Valentine has emerged as the front-runner and looks set to take over once contract terms are settled. We spent a day hanging with Mr. Valentine back during [...]
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 [...]
It seems like Norichika Aoki has formally requested to be posted to the majors during the upcoming off-season. Several teams are apparently interested. Whether or not the team will actually post him is questionable, especially since he’s not going to earn his international free agency until the 2013 season. That fact alone could indicate that [...]
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 [...]
Ryozo Kato, NPB commissioner and former Japanese ambassador to the United States (2001-08), is thinking big about the future of Japanese baseball, the dominance of the US in the baseball world, and how to grow baseball as a worldwide sport. Japan Times sports writer, Jason Coskrey, fills us in on what was said at a recent [...]
Former Swallows reliever Ryota Igarashi is in Port St. Lucie with the Mets, where he was interviewed for a piece about him in the New York Daily News yesterday. Among the article’s gems: During his 11-year career with the Yakult Swallows, Igarashi would wear a WWE-style mask and take on the persona of “Swallows Man.” A photo [...]
Robert Whiting wrote about the remarkable equalizing power of athletes such as Matsui, Ichiro, and Matsuzaka in the FCCJ. A choice selection from the article: Then there was also the fact that every year during spring training, Matsui took the Yankees-beat writers out to dinner, perhaps the only Yankee in the history of the franchise [...]
