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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.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 7, 2007
Pivotal seasons for Alex Ramirez & Marc Kroon
Neither of their teams made the Central League Climax Series, but the 2007 season has been a pivotal one for Yakult Swallows slugger Alex Ramirez and Yokohama BayStars reliever Marc Kroon. The contracts of both expire at the end of the current dragging out season, and there is doubt whether either club...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 23, 2007
Nomura deserves credit for making Eagles respectable
A few words of praise this week for the 2007 performance of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 16, 2007
Hillman's decision to leave Fighters comes as a shocker
The announcement last week by Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Trey Hillman that he would step down at the end of the season came as a shocker.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 9, 2007
Wild card quotes and oddities from Japanese baseball
Hanshin Tigers relief pitcher Jeff Williams remarked back in June, "This is a great year for the Central League to start a playoff system."
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 2, 2007
Central League makeup schedule to include pivotal games
Japan's Central League announced its schedule of make-up games to be played between Sept. 27 and Oct. 6, and the calendar is loaded with matchups that will decide the seeds for the postseason playoffs. Included are two Yomiuri Giants home games that were never even on the docket and one game at Nagoya...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 26, 2007
Greisinger brings back Yakult memories of Bross & Hodges
Every once in a while, the Yakult Swallows come up with an outstanding American pitcher who takes to Japan and Japanese baseball right away, becoming a league leader and an All-Star.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 19, 2007
Kuwata, Igawa, Furuta share uncertain future as players
Too bad about the career of Masumi Kuwata apparently coming to an end after he was designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but success pitching in the major leagues for the 39-year-old right-hander was really a long shot, made even longer because of the ankle injury he had in a spring training...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 12, 2007
Foreign players showing the way among stats leaders
Don't look now, but foreign players could possibly sweep the six offensive titles in Japanese baseball this season. Through games of Aug. 10, non-Japanese names were on top of four of the categories and right behind in the other two.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 5, 2007
Coolbaugh's death reminds everyone to stay alert at ballpark
You read about the recent tragedy involving Mike Coolbaugh, the minor league Tulsa Drillers first coach who died after being hit by a line drive off the bat of one of his players. I never met Mike but knew his brother Scott, who played third base for the Hanshin Tigers in 1995.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 22, 2007
Ochoa making a splash in return to Japan with Carp
"He looks good in red, doesn't he?" asked Hiroshima Carp manager Marty Brown about his new center fielder, Alex Ochoa, prior to a game at Tokyo Dome last week.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 15, 2007
Baseball oddity: a pitcher winning and losing the same game
How can one player be the winning and losing pitcher in the same game?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 8, 2007
Stuffing of All-Star ballot boxes goes back at least 50 years
Were you surprised to see eight members of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles elected to the 2007 Pacific League All-Star team by fan balloting?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 1, 2007
Ten foreign players come on board before June 30 deadline
The deadline for Japanese pro baseball teams to sign new foreign players came and went on June 30, and nine of the 12 clubs wound up acquiring a total of 10 fresh faces from abroad after the regular season began in late March and before the final cutoff date.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 24, 2007
NPB's quirky, difficult interleague season a work in progress
The 2007 Nippon Professional Baseball interleague season wraps up this weekend, except for a few previously rained out games that will be made up on Monday and Tuesday. Then the regular Central and Pacific League schedules resume on Friday and continue through the remainder of the season.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 17, 2007
'American Pastime' is poignant drama
The DVD of the movie "American Pastime" belongs on your shelf next to some of the more contemporary baseball flicks such as "Field of Dreams," "A League of Their Own," "For Love of the Game," "The Rookie," "Bull Durham" and "Mr. Baseball."
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 10, 2007
Remembering Clete Boyer — and the Taiyo Whales
Sad news came across last week about the death of Clete Boyer, the New York Yankees' slick-fielding third baseman from the glory days of the early 1960s. Most obituaries failed to mention that Boyer, who died June 4 in Atlanta at the age of 70, ended his playing career in Japan with the then-Taiyo Whales...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 3, 2007
Yamasaki comes off the 'scrap heap' to lead Rakuten surge
Break up the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 27, 2007
MLB should eliminate 'rookie' label for Japanese veterans
Last week an Associated Press photo appeared in these pages with a caption that began, "Boston Red Sox rookie hurler Daisuke Matsuzaka . . . "
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 20, 2007
Book on Brooklyn Dodgers triggers memory of a cold case
It was 1955. I was 7 years old and living in northern New Jersey and just getting interested in baseball.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 13, 2007
5,000 victories, throwback uniforms and the oiribukuro
In commemoration of their 5,000th victory in the history of the franchise, the Yomiuri Giants will wear throwback uniforms during some interleague games next month.
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.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

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