Jason Coskrey - The Japan Times

November 24, 2024

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Jason Coskrey

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Jason Coskrey

Jason Coskrey is a sports writer for The Japan Times. His primary focus is Japanese baseball, but he has also covered soccer, American football, boxing and basketball. He previously worked for the Marietta Daily Journal in Marietta, Ga. A native of Detroit, he is a graduate of the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

May 4, 2015

Giants still looking for more power from cleanup hitters

Hall of Famer Shigeo Nagashima was the 25th player in the history of the Yomiuri Giants to hit fourth in the Kyojin's starting lineup, according to the team's records. Sadaharu Oh was the 28th, and Hideki Matsui the 62nd. Taishi Ota, in the cleanup role for the past four games, is the 81st.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK

May 2, 2015

Nippon Ham's Yoshikawa off to resurgent start

When Yu Darvish left for the major leagues after the 2011 season, the prevailing thought was the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' pitching staff would be a rudderless ship.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Apr 30, 2015

Murata stays hot at plate as Giants defeat Dragons

The Yomiuri Giants may have a new power-hitting third baseman on the way, but Shuichi Murata wants to show everyone the old model is still working just fine.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Apr 24, 2015

Swallows' Balentien makes season debut, leaves with possible injury after fifth inning

Wladimir Balentien scored from second on a single in the second inning, motoring around third past the waving arm of base coach Kazuki Fukuchi, who urged him forward, to cross home plate for the first time this season.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Apr 21, 2015

Lions' Togame records first home victory since July 2013

Ken Togame waited a long time for another win at home. Actually, it'd been a while since he'd won anywhere else either.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

Apr 20, 2015

Saito stumbles again in quest to find success as pro

Yuki Saito has spent most of the past two seasons off the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' ichi-gun roster and with the farm team. His poor showing so far this year makes one wonder just how many days he'll spend with the top team going forward.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

Apr 13, 2015

Swallows pitchers off to hot start on mound this year

The Tokyo Yakult Swallows' pitchers were unlikely candidates to flirt with history, the good kind at least, when the season began March 27. Not when they were coming off a 2014 in which they posted the worst ERA in Japan among starters, relievers, and, unsurprisingly, overall as a team.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Apr 11, 2015

Taguchi passes debut test with flying colors as Giants down Swallows

If the pressure of making his NPB debut at Tokyo Dome in front of 42,870 fans got to Yomiuri Giants left-hander Kazuto Taguchi, the 19-year-old didn't let it show — on the mound or at the plate.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Apr 10, 2015

Hatakeyama's 11th-inning homer carries Swallows past Giants

There were funky uniforms on both sides, and a slew of great plays in the outfield. In the end, it was Kazuhiro Hatakeyama and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows who put their stamp on the first round of a colorful battle for Tokyo supremacy.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Apr 7, 2015

Mendoza tames Lions as Fighters stretch winning streak to six

Luis Mendoza had a hard time against the Seibu Lions in 2014. In their first meeting this year, it was Mendoza, who got a helping hand from Sho Nakata and Kensuke Tanaka, and left standing as the king of the Tokyo Jungle.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

Apr 6, 2015

Abe serves as security blanket after Giants' slow start

It seemed, on the surface at least, to be with a palpable sense of early-season panic that Shinnosuke Abe was back behind the plate for the Yomiuri Giants during their series against the Hanshin Tigers over the weekend.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Apr 5, 2015

Tigers' Gomez out for encore after good opening act

When Mauro Gomez was done hitting in the cage during batting practice on both Friday and Saturday at Tokyo Dome, where the Hanshin Tigers were taking on the rival Yomiuri Giants in a weekend series, instead of heading back to the clubhouse, he went behind the cage for a little more soft toss.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Apr 3, 2015

Tigers battery provides spark against struggling Giants

Ryutaro Umeno did most of the damage early, Randy Messenger did the heavy lifting late, and the Hanshin Tigers batterymates helped make sure their team's fans were the ones still cheering after the final out.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

Apr 3, 2015

Releasing stubborn Gourriel best move for BayStars

The lasting image of Yulieski Gourriel's 62-game tenure with the Yokohama BayStars may have come after the Cuban star's very first ichi-gun game in the team's pinstriped uniform.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball

Mar 27, 2015

Giants edge BayStars in 2015 season opener

Yomiuri manager Tatsunori Hara assured the media everything was all right during spring training as the Giants sputtered to six straight losses at the end of the exhibition season. The games began to count on Friday and for one night, opening night, at least, everything really was OK in Yomiuri Land....

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / 2015 JAPANESE BASEBALL PREVIEW

Mar 26, 2015

Buffaloes, Hawks best in PL

The second of a two-part NPB Preview.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / 2015 JAPANESE BASEBALL PREVIEW

Mar 25, 2015

Carp hoping Kuroda can be final piece in title puzzle

Part of the Carp's slogan for 2015 is 'Red Rising,' and that's exactly what the club has been doing the past few years. Hiroshima has increased its win total in each of the past four seasons.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK

Mar 23, 2015

Cepeda hoping hard work pays off in second year in Japan

While much of the media horde tasked with covering the Yomiuri Giants has spent the spring either breathlessly reporting on every nuance of Shinnosuke Abe's transition from catcher to first base or peppering manager Tatsunori Hara about what's wrong with the club, Frederich Cepeda has been off to the...

Japan Times

BASEBALL

Mar 21, 2015

Jeter, Matsui bring star power to charity event

Hideki Matsui stepped into the batter's box for old times' sake and, with former New York Yankees teammate Derek Jeter watching, capped a special day by sending a ball over the fence and into the right-field seats at Tokyo Dome. One more home run for Godzilla on a day full of them for Tohoku.

Japan Times

BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN

Mar 21, 2015

Fighters' Hermida excited about new challenge

Jeremy Hermida hit a grand slam the very first time he stepped in the batter's box in the major leagues, becoming the first player since Bill Duggleby in 1898 to achieve that particular feat. That day, Aug. 31, 2005, has been followed by a series of ups and downs, a winding career path that has led the...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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