An in-depth look at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Jingu Stadium, the Central League, and Japanese Pro Baseball
As announced yesterday, we have a new friend. Orlando Roman has signed a deal to pitch for the Swallows during the 2012 season. ¡Bienvenido a Tokio, Señor Román! Call me crazy, but looking over his numbers from the past several years, it seems like there’s a bit of a climate-linked variable in terms of how [...]
It’s official. The rumors that we reported earlier this month were the real deal. The Swallows now have a little extra competition brewing in the starting rotation. Meet Orlando Roman. The 33-year-old RHP has significant minor league experience in North America with the New York Mets, Baltimore, and Toronto. He has also spent time in Mexico [...]
There were rumblings back on December 27th in the Japanese press, just after the team went public with their successful acquisition of outfielder Lastings Milledge, that Tokyo was in the market for a starting pitcher import. Patrick Newman over at NPB Tracker, thanks in part to a helpful tweet, has once again tipped us off [...]
Bio Born April 5th, 1985 in Bradenton, Florida, Lastings Darnell Milledge was a standout baseball player from a young age and hit the national stage in elementary school when he helped his Little League team, Manatee East, reach the finals of the national tournament in 1997. Manatee East lost in the finals when Milledge was [...]
Just a quick roundup of three recent news tidbits: 1. Rob Smaal, staff writer for the Asahi, recently wrote about the unlikely connection between former Swallows shortstop, Dave Hilton, and one of Japan’s best living authors, Haruki Murakami. Apparently Murakami, a Swallows fan, was at Jingu on Opening Day of the 1978 season, and Hilton’s [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
