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August 15, 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
Jul 2, 2006
Desperate Giants bring in Japan veteran Arias from Mexico
Not sure what to make of the Yomiuri Giants signing infielder George Arias just three days prior to the June 30 Japan pro baseball deadline for acquiring new foreign players.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 25, 2006
Giants looking to bring in late comers with 'Heat Up' ticket promotion at Tokyo Dome
Discounts for tickets to Yomiuri Giants home games?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 18, 2006
Swallows embracing contribution from first baseman Riggs
The 1991 World Series champion Minnesota Twins had the "homer hankies" waved by fans at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 11, 2006
Gaijin superstars nothing foreign to Sanyo All-Star Series
Continuing here from last week's column about Japan's upcoming Sanyo All-Star Series, this time with the focus on foreign players. There is a limit to how many gaikokujin can be included on the 28-man Central and Pacific League rosters, but with a bit of leeway.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 4, 2006
Everything you need to know about Japan's All-Star Games
Fan balloting is under way for the 2006 Japan Pro Baseball Sanyo All-Star Series to be played next month.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 28, 2006
Lack of power not hurting Hillman's Fighters
The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters American manager Trey Hillman says the most exciting time of his 3 1/2 seasons at the helm of the Pacific League club is right now.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 21, 2006
Zuleta defends his actions after being plunked by Kanemura
It was Sunday, April 16. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters were playing in Kyushu. Hawks slugger Julio Zuleta was at the plate when Fighters right-hander Satoru Kanemura delivered a pitch that sailed inside and nailed Zuleta in the middle of his 197-cm frame.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 14, 2006
The interleague season: Japanese baseball's 'wild card'
Japan pro baseball does not have a "wild card" team that gets into postseason playoffs as do the American and National Leagues, but the koryu-sen (interleague) period that got under way May 9 may be considered the Japanese version of a wild card in the sense that anything can happen.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 7, 2006
Giants pitcher Powell: 'Best month I ever had'
Congratulations to Yomiuri Giants pitcher Jeremy Powell on being named Central League Pitcher of the Month for April. Powell won all four of his starts on successive Tuesdays, April 4, 11, 18 and 25, finishing the month with a league-leading 1.03 ERA, two shutouts and three complete games.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 30, 2006
Recalling lady umpire Perry Barber and Cooperstown cookies
Reader Dennis McCormick from Hyogo Prefecture recently wrote to ask, "Do you remember about 15 years ago an American woman umpire came to Japan and worked a few Japanese games in the Kansai area? I don't recall her name, but I was surprised when I found out she was not a regular umpire in one of the...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 23, 2006
Giants hope Glover has golden touch
In last week's column, I mentioned five key players who have triggered the phenomenal start this season by the Yomiuri Giants: second baseman Makoto Kosaka, outfielder Kenji Yano, first sacker Lee Seung Yeop, starting pitcher Jeremy "J.P." Powell and closer Kiyoshi Toyoda.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 16, 2006
Return of Hara, revamped roster have Giants off to fast start
The Yomiuri Giants are off to a great start in the 2006 Central League pennant race, winning 11 of their first 13 games (with one tie) and taking the early lead in the CL standings.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 9, 2006
Pa League needs to know 'summer game' no fun in snow
A request this week to the Pacific League to please move back next season's Opening Day closer to where it belongs -- in April. I know the Pa League likes to begin play a week earlier than its Central League cousin, but is it going to start the 2007 season on March 24? This year, it began on Saturday,...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 2, 2006
How it all began for Baseball Bullet-In 30 years ago
Believe it or not, it was 30 years ago this week when the "Baseball Bullet-In" first appeared in the pages of The Japan Times. I was 27 years old and still a student at Sophia University on Tokyo when the first column ran on April 4, 1976.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 30, 2006
Hawks hoping to get over playoff hump
CHIBA LOTTE MARINES -- Manager Bobby Valentine's club won it all last season and will no doubt be a contender for the Pacific League again. The lineup is solid with veterans Kazuya Fukuura (6 home runs, 72 RBIs, .300 average in 2005) at first base and Koichi Hori (7, 46, .305) at second, National Team...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 30, 2006
Yakult looking to get back on top of CL
HANSHIN TIGERS -- The Tigers seem to be taking turns finishing in fourth and first place every other year. Fourth in 2002 and 2004, first in 2003 and 2005, and if not careful, they could drop to the second division in 2006.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 26, 2006
Ambassador Schieffer still fond of baseball in role as diplomat
Over the years, several people have been called "baseball ambassadors" for their efforts in fostering friendly relations between Japan and the United
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 19, 2006
LaRocca provides even more punch to lineup of Swallows
The Hanshin Tigers have their "JFK" pitching relay, but now the Tokyo Yakult Swallows can counter with their "LIRR" quartet of sluggers. No, it's not the Long Island Railroad, but second baseman Greg LaRocca, third sacker Akinori Iwamura, left fielder Alex Ramirez and first baseman Adam Riggs.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 12, 2006
Lefebvre has Team China improving
A few paragraphs to start off this week's column about Jim Lefebvre, manager of the China National Team which competed last weekend against Japan, Korea and Taiwan in the Asia Round of the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 5, 2006
Attention divided between WBC and NPB preseason
Kind of a strange atmosphere in Japan's yakyu world this week with the World Baseball Classic attracting a lot of attention, as it should but, at the same time, the 12 Central and Pacific League teams have concluded their spring training camps and are into the exhibition season, preparing for Opening...
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

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

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

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