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Wayne Graczyk
Wayne Graczyk has written the "Baseball Bullet-In" column in The Japan Times since 1976. A native of New Jersey, he came to Japan in 1969 with the U.S. Air Force and is a 1977 graduate of Tokyo's Sophia University. Wayne was the long-time (1977-2004) sports editor of the Tokyo Weekender newspaper, he covers Yomiuri Giants baseball games for Nippon TV and, since 1976, he has compiled the Japan Pro Baseball Fan Handbook & Media Guide. He is a member of the Tokyo Sportswriters Club and the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan. Notice Wayne Graczyk, the baseball columnist for The Japan Times for the past 40 years, passed away at the age of 68 on April 19. His final column was posted on April 8. Readers can continue to access his coverage of Japanese baseball through the online archives.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 6, 2007
Skipper Oya deserves credit for BayStars' surge
Japan pro baseball's hottest team through the middle of Golden Week was the Yokohama BayStars, riding a five-game winning streak and standing in first place, albeit by percentage points, in the Central League pennant race.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 22, 2007
Dragons' Woods has real shot at 50 home runs this season
Tyrone Woods says he has always been a slow starter.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 15, 2007
Igawa may learn hard way how tough New York fans can be
New York Yankees lefty pitcher Kei Igawa made a less-than-spectacular major league debut at home on April 7, giving up seven runs in five innings against the Baltimore Orioles, though he was bailed out and saved from taking a loss by Alex Rodriguez, whose "sayonara" grand slam eventually won it for the...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 8, 2007
Nice debut for 'Dice-K', Eagles day games, MLB events
Nice major league debut for "Dice-K," eh?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 1, 2007
More Japanese players in MLB means more games on TV
Here comes MLB 2007 with Opening Day this week and, as you might have expected, extensive coverage of games on Japanese TV featuring teams with favorite son players -- the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 25, 2007
Dragons primed for another title run
March 30 is Opening Day for Japan's Central League, and there is a new anticipation as the CL enters its first year with postseason playoffs on the docket.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 18, 2007
Hawks poised to give Oh pennant
The 2007 Pacific League season opens March 24, and it promises to be another exciting campaign leading to the loop's "Climax Series" of postseason playoffs involving the top three finishers in October.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 11, 2007
Signing of Matsuzaka likely helping interest in Japanese baseball grow overseas
I thought there was going to be an increased interest in Japanese baseball in other countries, particularly in North America, after Hideo Nomo made it big with the Los Angeles Dodgers 12 years ago in 1995.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 4, 2007
New stadium in Hiroshima looking good for 2009 season
The city of Hiroshima recently unveiled plans and an artist's conception image of a new baseball stadium to be built for the Carp. The facility is expected to open in time for the 2009 season, and it promises to be one of the best ballparks in Japan -- or anywhere else, for that matter.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 25, 2007
Fernandez knuckler the buzz at Carp camp in Miyazaki
MIYAZAKI -- You know it is spring training time upon arrival at the small airport in this quaint city in southeast Kyushu. Banners hang almost everywhere bearing the logos of five Japan pro baseball teams whose camps are in session in Miyazaki Prefecture: the Yomiuri Giants, Hiroshima Carp, Fukuoka SoftBank...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 18, 2007
Tuffy and Nori: Will they be comeback players of the year?
Former teammates Tuffy Rhodes and Norihiro Nakamura are trying out with Japanese baseball clubs in an effort to extend their careers, and the spring camps of the Orix Buffaloes and Chunichi Dragons have become more interesting with focus on their comeback attempts.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 11, 2007
Ft. Myers getting ready for 'Dice-K' and Japanese media
Sportswriter David Dorsey of the Ft. Myers News-Press in Florida is getting ready to work the Boston Red Sox spring training camp in that town. He will be joined by a bevy of reporters and photographers from the various Japanese media there to cover the Daisuke Matsuzaka circus and lefty reliever Hideki...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 4, 2007
Hope springs eternal as Japan pro teams start training rituals
The 12 Japan pro baseball teams opened their 2007 spring camps on Thursday. By rule, players are not allowed to work out in uniform until that date and, unlike major leaguers getting ready to go to Florida and Arizona, all the Central and Pacific League clubs break camp on the same day.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 28, 2007
The rundown on foreign players in Japan for 2007 season
Spring training camps open for the 12 Japan pro baseball teams on Thursday, Feb. 1, and the Pacific and Central Leagues will welcome a total of 64 foreigners in uniform.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 21, 2007
Carp manager Brown confident of his team's success in 2007
Hiroshima Carp manager Marty Brown arrived back in Japan on Jan. 9 after a short winter break to get ready for the long 2007 pro baseball season.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 14, 2007
Kudo, Big Unit proof there is no quit in players in their 40s
The Yokohama BayStars decide to take 43-year-old pitcher Kimiyasu Kudo instead of cash as compensation from the Yomiuri Giants after the Kyojin signed a former Yokohama player, free-agent hurler Ken Kadokura.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 7, 2007
A busy couple of weeks in baseball despite the holidays
Happy New Year to all Baseball Bullet-In readers, and best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2007.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 24, 2006
Best Christmas gift might be cable or satellite TV
If you have not yet found that Christmas gift for the baseball fan in your family, an idea might be to get him or her a cable and satellite TV dish, tuner and service if you do not already have it. Otherwise, that fan will be watching fewer Japanese games in 2007 if your household has only terrestrial...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 17, 2006
Japan's top stars keep going, but they keep coming too
So, Daisuke Matsuzaka has signed with the Boston Red Sox, Akinori Iwamura has left the Tokyo Yakult Swallows for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Kei Igawa will be wearing the pinstripes of the New York Yankees rather than those of the Hanshin Tigers.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 10, 2006
Setting it straight about Matsuzaka's free agency status
As the deadline (Dec. 14) approaches for the Boston Red Sox to sign posted Seibu Lions Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, let me clarify -- once and for all -- one key point seemingly misunderstood by many.

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