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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
Nov 26, 2000
Get ready for the Ichiro onslaught
Hold onto your hats. The contract agreement between the Seattle Mariners and Ichiro (Suzuki) promises to offer an exciting, fun time with a frenzied media circus, possible extra events, increased tourism and brisk souvenir sales, as the former Orix BlueWave outfielder and seven-time Pacific League batting...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 12, 2000
Ichiro, Kinjo are the talk of the town
Talk on the Nagoya Dome field prior to Game 6 of the NTT Communications All-Star Series 2000 on Nov. 9, besides the chaotic U.S. presidential election results, centered around the news that some major league team had offered 14 oku yen ($13,125,000) for the rights to negotiate with soon-to-be-former...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 29, 2000
Hawks' Pedraza found relief in Japan
You wonder why he never made it to the majors. Talking here about Fukuoka Daiei Hawks relief ace Rod Pedraza, the best closer in the Pacific League if not all of Japanese baseball, and one big reason the Hawks have won the PL pennant each of the two years Pedraza has been their game-ender.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 15, 2000
Former Carp farmhand making impact with Mets
It's always nice to see a player from Japan make it in the major leagues, whether it be a Japanese pitcher such as Hideo Nomo or Kazuhiro Sasaki, or a foreigner such as Matt Stairs, Rob Ducey or Lee Stevens getting another shot at the Bigs after spending time in the Central or Pacific Leagues in Dai...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 7, 2000
Catching up on Japanese baseball
With the Sydney Olympics now history, let's take a look at what happened in Japanese pro baseball while most of the sports world focused its attention on Australia and the Summer Games.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 10, 2000
That Fukuoka Dome Japan Series screw-up
While it's pretty much a foregone conclusion the Yomiuri Giants are going to win their first Central League pennant in four years, the Pacific League race is a dandy that threatens to go to the Oct. 9 wire with three teams in the running: the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, Seibu Lions and Nippon Ham Fighters....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 27, 2000
Kinjo: Is he the Central League Ichiro?
Yokohama BayStars cleanup hitter Bobby Rose enjoyed a 10-point lead in this year's Central League batting title race on Friday, Aug. 18. He was ahead of the runnerup, Yomiuri Giants slugger Hideki Matsui, .345 to .335. But the next day, Rose found himself in second place, 39 points behind the new leader,...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 6, 2000
Yankees Day at Tokyo Dome on Sept. 3
The Nippon Ham Fighters have announced their annual Yankees Day promotion will be held on Sunday, Sept. 3, when the team will play host to the Chiba Lotte Marines in a Pacific League game to begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Tokyo Dome. AIWA Co., Ltd., will sponsor the event and, as usual, the Nippon Ham club...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 30, 2000
How many all-star games are enough?
Is one all-star game enough? Are three games too many? Whatever happened to two? Those questions were being bantered about as Japan pro baseball took its weeklong, midsummer regular-season break July 21-27, during which a trio of all-star contests were played, from Tokyo to Nagasaki, with a stop in Kobe....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 16, 2000
Carp's Lopez back where he belongs
One of the happiest foreign players in Japan pro baseball these days is Hiroshima Carp first baseman Luis Lopez. The 1996 and 1997 Central League RBI leader is obviously back where he belongs; hitting .300 and driving in those runs like he did three-four years ago for the Red Helmets.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 2, 2000
Hanshin pinstripes a good fit for Franklin
Micah Franklin shakes hands with Hanshin Tigers official Katsuyoshi Nozaki during a press conference Thursday at the club office in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. I'd like to think Micah Franklin took my advice.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 18, 2000
Giants and 'Maru-chan' a perfect match
Yomiuri Giants first baseman Domingo Martinez last week celebrated his one-year anniversary with the team, and plucking him out of the Mexican League last June and bringing him back to Japan was one of the best things the Giants have ever done.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 4, 2000
Dang! There goes Dingo
Too bad about Dave "Dingo" Nilsson leaving the Chunichi Dragons. He's gone back to his native Australia for treatment of a painful lower back condition, and it appears his Japan career, at least at the varsity level, may have come to an end. What was supposed to have been an exciting season in Japan...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 21, 2000
Bun-chan's pitching reminiscent of Bross
The pitching of Chunichi Dragons right-hander Mel Bunch during the first six weeks of this season reminds me of the way Terry Bross was throwing for the Yakult Swallows during the second half of 1995. If you were here then, you may recall Bross, also in his first year in Japan, posted a 5-5 record through...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 30, 2000
Lotte closer Warren can't get a game in
Perhaps the most frustrated player in Japan pro baseball at present is Chiba Lotte Marines relief ace Brian Warren. With the team off to such a bad start in the 2000 Pacific League pennant race, Warren can't get into many games. As the team's closer, he's been extremely underworked, because Lotte has...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 23, 2000
Battlin' Battle just can't stop winning
Hanshin Tigers third baseman Howard Battle began the 2000 Japan pro baseball season on a 15-game winning streak, and team manager Katsuya Nomura is probably wondering why he sent the former Atlanta Braves player to the farm team following the spring exhibition schedule.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 9, 2000
BayStars' Rose picks right up where he left off with hot bat
How about that start by Yokohama BayStars cleanup hitter Bobby Rose? In the 'Stars first six games of the season, five of which they won, Rose went 14-for-21, belted four home runs, including a grand slam, drove in 12, scored nine, hit four doubles and compiled a .667 batting average, .750 on-base percentage...
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 24, 2000
Cubs, Mets set to make history in Japan
Sports history will be made next Wednesday and Thursday when the first official Major League Baseball games ever to be played outside North America will take place right here in Japan. The New York Mets and Chicago Cubs will square off at the Tokyo Dome to open the Year 2000 National League championship...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 12, 2000
New Fighters skipper Oshima faces foreign slugger dilemma
Nippon Ham Fighters freshman manager Yasunori Oshima will be faced with a dilemma of sorts when the 2000 Pacific League baseball season begins April 1. He's got three quality foreign hitters but, once the exhibition schedule comes to an end, he'll only be able to play two of them. Japanese baseball rules...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 13, 2000
Hey Rockhead, it's time to say it like you mean it
Being from the New York area (northern New Jersey, actually) and a bona-fide Mets fan, I think I'll enter the John Rocker controversy here. This situation is basically on hold after the Atlanta Braves ace relief pitcher testified this past week at a hearing where he appealed a three-month suspension...
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.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
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.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

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