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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
Dec 14, 2013
Major roster overhaul raises outlook for Hawks
The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have been one of the most active among the Japanese pro baseball teams in making preparations for big improvement in 2014. It is clear the team management is viewing its fourth-place finish in 2013 as unacceptable and, judging by its wheeling-and-dealing this off-season, the...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 30, 2013
Expect greater influx of Latinos in NPB
Fan Dayan Viera was born in Cuba and currently lives in Miami, Florida. He emailed to say, "As a Cuban, I wonder if Japanese teams will be taking advantage of the new policy change where Cuban players are going to be allowed to play in foreign leagues without needing to defect from Cuba."
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 16, 2013
Asia Series lacking gravitas it once had
What do you make of the Asia Series currently being played in Taichung, Taiwan? The tournament, begun in 2005, has gone from an official spectacle featuring the champion teams from the Asian countries where high-level baseball is played, to an exhibition series including non-Asian entrants and where...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 2, 2013
Prolific hitter Murton no lock for NPB return
Will Matt Murton return for a fifth season with the Hanshin Tigers?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 19, 2013
Tanishige to become rare player-manager for Dragons
Kind of a surprise was the announcement last week that Motonobu Tanishige was named the new manager of the Chunichi Dragons.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 5, 2013
Playoff drought finally ends for Hiroshima after 22 years
Every once in a while, it's nice to see a team that does not usually qualify for postseason play make it into the playoffs.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 14, 2013
Lessons on ballpark seating etiquette for Japanese baseball
Whose side are you on? Or, rather, which side are you on?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 31, 2013
Injuries affecting competition for batting, homer titles
As the 2013 Japan pro baseball season enters its final month, recent injuries to the leading hitter in the Central League batting race and the Pacific League's top home run hitter have thrown wide open the competition for those titles.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 17, 2013
Seibu Dome gives fans a fun game-viewing experience
Have you been to a Lions game lately at Seibu Dome?
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 3, 2013
Bass still standard by which foreign players measured
Over the years I've been asked, "Who is the No. 1 foreigner to have played in Japanese baseball?"
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 20, 2013
Teams jockeying for playoff position to battle Giants, Tigers
At the All-Star break for the 2013 NPB season, the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers appear to have a lock on finishing in first and second place in the Central League pennant race. Unless there is total meltdown by one of them, we will be seeing them in the postseason Climax Series come October.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 6, 2013
Several NPB pitchers keeping hitters in check despite altered baseball
OK, so now we know the ball used in Japanese pro baseball games has been changed again and, in spite of the fact there was no initial announcement by NPB, everyone seems happy about the change — except maybe the pitchers.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 16, 2013
Former Hiroshima star Hopkins now an orthopedic surgeon
Gail Hopkins, the first baseman on the 1975 Hiroshima Carp Central League championship team, returned to Japan last month for some business and reminiscing about his days with the team.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 9, 2013
2014 NPB season-opening series in California appears unlikely
Reader and fan of Japanese baseball Leon DeHaven in Arizona wants to know if the proposed 2014 season-opening series between the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers in Southern California (Baseball Bullet-In, April 28) is still going to happen. "I'm ready to rent a room in Anaheim," he wrote in an email....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 19, 2013
Carp looking to turn things around after disappointing start
There were high hopes for the Hiroshima Carp heading into the 2013 NPB season but, almost a third of the way into the schedule, the results so far might well be described as a still wait-and-see situation.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 5, 2013
Antics of 'Animal' hard to forget more than 25 years later
He wasn't the best foreigner to ever play in Japanese baseball, but Brad "The Animal" Lesley was surely one of the most colorful and unforgettable characters to ever put on the uniform of a Central or Pacific League team.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 28, 2013
First regular-season NPB games in U.S. nearly set
What do you make of the idea to have the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers open the 2014 Japanese baseball season in the U.S.?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 21, 2013
Slow pace of NPB games an ongoing problem
In response to my column of March 17, a couple of readers have come in with suggestions on how to pick up the notoriously slow pace of Japanese baseball games. From the Bay Area, fan Mike Colegate sent the following e-mail.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 14, 2013
Power numbers increasing in NPB this season
Happy days are here again — or so it would appear — for the hitters in Japanese baseball. The ball is flying once more, as shown by the number of home runs being hit in the early going this season. No one is saying anything, but the long ball has apparently snuck back into the game here after two...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 7, 2013
Fate of Seibu Lions uncertain with talk of possible sale
Will the Saitama Seibu Lions be sold?
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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By Kathryn Wortley

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