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November 22, 2024
 

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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
Jan 12, 2005
What's in a name? The good, the bad and the absurd
From the (e-)mail bag, Patrick O'Mara from Washington, D.C., sent the following message: "I'm writing as a new fan to the game; my wife got me into (baseball) this past season, when the Red Sox finally overcame the Yankees. My question is why do they call it the "World" Series?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 5, 2005
Who's who (and where) among '05 foreign players
Happy New Year. Five days into 2005, and the 12 Japan pro baseball teams have spent the offseason wheeling and dealing, acquiring and firing foreign players. Confused about who left and who is left? Following is a team-by-team rundown of who's gone and who's on at this point.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 29, 2004
Eagles hope to soar in first year with acquisition of Iwakuma
Here is my final column of 2004, the most tumultuous year in the history of Japanese pro baseball.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 22, 2004
Iwakuma not the first Japanese pitcher caught in tug-of-war
The on-going tug-of-war between the Orix Buffaloes and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles over pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma reminds me of a somewhat similar situation that occurred a quarter of a century ago in Japanese baseball: the case of another right-handed hurler, Suguru Egawa.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 15, 2004
2005 schedule reflects big changes in Japanese baseball
The 2005 Japan pro baseball schedule was released last week, and one look at the table gives you an idea there will be a whole new ball game next season. Three separate slates were unveiled, one for each of the Central and Pacific Leagues as usual, with Japan's first-ever interleague calendar tacked...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 8, 2004
Skipper Deeble proud of his Aussies in Athens
One of the big baseball stories of 2004 was the winning of the silver medal in the Athens Olympics by Australia, which upset a highly rated Japanese team twice during the Summer Games. The 1-0 and 9-4 victories by the Aussies stunned Japan, which had to settle for bronze, and it also raised the excitement...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 1, 2004
Dodgers coach Colborn feels right at home in Japan
Thrilled to be back in Japan last month as the pitching coach on the 2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Japan Tour was Jim Colborn, former pitching instructor for the Orix BlueWave and currently mentor to the mound staff of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 24, 2004
Lonely days in Fukuoka
The imminent sale of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks baseball team to the Softbank Internet company may yield great results down the road but, right now, the elimination of the "Daiei" name seems to have cast an atmosphere of sabishisa (loneliness) over the city and the entire northern Kyushu area.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 17, 2004
Mound relief almost backfired for MLB pitchers
The visiting Major League Baseball All-Stars left Japan Nov. 14 with a 5-3 series victory over their All-Japan opponents but, ironically, a change in the pitching mounds designed to help the big leaguers for the final three games of the tour almost resulted in disaster for the visitors. Let me explain....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 10, 2004
Ishii, Otsuka do their best to fill shoes of Japan's biggest stars
The organizers of the Major League Baseball All-Star show currently touring Japan were not able to convince Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners or Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees to play in this year's Nichibei yakyu, but the appearance of Japanese pitchers Kazuhisa Ishii and Akinori Otsuka has...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 3, 2004
Stocking of new Sendai team just part of busy NPB offseason
Get ready, fans, for what promises to be a whirlwind, action-packed offseason with an extra-hot hot stove league or, as they say here in Japan, the "hot hibachi" league. Going to be a heckuva offseason.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 27, 2004
Foreign heavy hitters show some 'appeal' during Japan Series
Congratulations to the Seibu Lions on winning their first Japan Series in 12 years.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 16, 2004
Seibu Lions look to have slight edge in Japan Series
The 2004 Japan Series begins Saturday with the Central League champion Chunichi Dragons of Nagoya facing the Pacific League, playoff-winning Seibu Lions, based in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, in the best-of-seven showdown to decide the No. 1 pro baseball team in this country.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 14, 2004
Arias, Petagine, Woods may play musical chairs in offseason
Three foreign players, all first basemen on Central League teams this past season, may be about to embark on a National Football League quarterback-style game of musical chairs.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 6, 2004
Sapporo story: Fighters' first season in Hokkaido a big success
Stage 2 of the Pacific League playoffs begins Wednesday night in Fukuoka, with the regular season first-place finisher Daiei Hawks hosting the second-place Seibu Lions in a best-of-five series.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 29, 2004
Fan power prevails as crisis in Japanese baseball subsides
It appears we will come out of the so-called Japanese baseball crisis with the two-league system intact, six teams each in the Central and Pacific circuits, a new team in Sendai and interleague play in 2005.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 15, 2004
Furuta deserves standing ovation
Yakult Swallows catcher Atsuya Furuta, in my opinion, deserves a round of applause; in fact, a standing ovation, for the job he has done as head of the Nippon Professional Baseball Players Association. I believe he has tirelessly served the players here during the crisis that has gripped Japanese baseball...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 2, 2004
Dragons hoping Ochoa's lucky No. 4 can bring them success
The Chunichi Dragons have won the Central League pennant four times in the past 30 years, and each time the club had a strong foreign player who wore the uniform No. 4 and contributed greatly to the team's championship seasons.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 4, 2004
Pro teams to feel pinch as top Japan players head to Athens
Twenty-five players will be leaving their Central and Pacific League teams this week, headed for Athens and the quest for gold at the Summer Olympics.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 21, 2004
Reversal by owners likely to keep two-league system in place
Two weeks ago, it appeared Japanese pro baseball was surely headed for a 10-team, one-league restructuring for next season.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.

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