The REAL first Japanese player to play in the majors is currently on a book tour of the US. He'll be in L.A. July 6th and 7th. He's also going to Fresno, San Francisco, and San Jose full schedule here:http://www.robfitts.com/mashi/

They don't show it, but his appearance on July 6th will be at the Japan American Society of Southern California, 5700 Wilshire, Suite 100 at 7pm.

First there was Nomo, now Iwakuma:

Hisashi Iwakuma tosses no-hitter in Mariners 3-0 win over Orioles

SEATTLE (AP) -- Hisashi Iwakuma became the second Japanese-born pitcher in major league history to throw a no-hitter, leading the Seattle Mariners to a 3-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.

The right-hander struck out seven and walked three in the fourth no-hitter this season and first by an American League pitcher in nearly three years. Hideo Nomo threw big league two no-nos after starting his career in his home country of Japan.

''I was aware of it obviously, but I felt it real deep in my heart in the ninth inning,'' Iwakuma said through a translator. ''Just focusing on one hitter at a time and I'm glad I got it done.''

Philadelphia's Cole Hamels - prior to his trade to Texas - Washington's Max Scherzer and San Francisco's Chris Heston all tossed no-hitters this season.

gaijinmark wrote:

First there was Nomo, now Iwakuma: Hisashi Iwakuma tosses no-hitter in Mariners 3-0 win over Orioles

Quote:

Hideo Nomo threw big league two no-nos after starting his career in his home country of Japan.

And Nomo's first was in Colorado, of all places... His second was in his first start for the BoSox.

Former Dodger Takashi "Sammy" Saito calling it a career:

Takashi Saito to retire at seasons' end

SENDAI – The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles�f former major league All-Star closer Takashi Saito announced Monday he will retire at the end of the season.

�gThe way things stand, I�fm not able to contribute on the first team,�h the 45-year-old Saito said at a press conference. �gIn many ways, I thought this was the time to leave.

�gPhysically, it is very difficult. On days (in the minors) when I�fve pitched on consecutive days, I have not been able to shake the previous day�fs fatigue.�h

Saito has made just two appearances this season for the Eagles, and has not pitched since April. He has pitched in 11 games on the farm team.

The Sendai native launched his 24-year career out of Tohoku Fukushi University in 1992 with the Taiyo Whales, now the Yokohama BayStars. In 1998, the righty won 13 games to help the club to its first Japan Series title in 38 years.

After returning from the majors in 2013, he won his second Japan Series with his hometown Eagles, pitching in 30 games with a 3-0 record, four saves and a 2.36 ERA.

�gMore than the wins and championships, what sticks with me are the difficulties,�h said Saito, who pitched seven seasons in the majors after his career appeared to be finished in Japan.

Saito turned to closing in 2001 but was cut loose by the BayStars after the 2005 season, signing a minor-league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers the next year and looked an unlikely candidate to ever pitch in the majors.

Although a popular player in the Dodgers�f 2006 camp, Saito did not make the team out of spring training, but bullpen injuries led to his being called up. He was eventually promoted to closer, saving 24 games.

Saito earned 39 saves in 2007 to make the National League All-Star team and bounced around four more teams before leaving the majors in 2012 with 84 saves, a 21-15 record and a 2.34 ERA.

With Boston in 2009, Saito was a teammate with rookie right-hander Junichi Tazawa — who was making the difficult transition from Japanese corporate league ball to the majors.

�gHe (Saito) was so important to me that you could say if he hadn�ft been there, I wouldn�ft be the pitcher I am,�h said Tazawa, who since has established himself as Boston�fs setup man.

�gIt is sad, but he will always be my mentor. Hopefully, he will continue to give me advice about baseball and life and other things.�h

Asked about his future, Saito said he can�ft see himself leaving the game.

�gThere are so many things I want to do,�h he said. �gBut outside of baseball, I can�ft think of anything.�h

Better watch out Dodgers, the Giants are only a game and a half back and as well as the Pirates and Cubs are playing the wild card won't be coming out of the West.

Mike Fiers no-hits Dodgers

HOUSTON – Mike Fiers has pitched the second no-hitter in the major leagues in nine days, leading the Houston Astros to a 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

Fiers (6-9) struck out Justin Turner on his 134th pitch to end it and threw his glove high into the air for his first career complete game and the fifth no-hitter in the big leagues this season. Seattle's Hisashi Iwakuma tossed a no-no on Aug 12.

Fiers said his exhaustion didn't hit him until he threw his last pitch.

"After I got that last out everything kind of hit me," he said. "Once you're in that moment you don't feel anything really. You're going off adrenaline at that point."

Astros executive Nolan Ryan, who threw a record seven no-hitters, applauded from a suite as Fiers was mobbed by his teammates near the mound after finishing the 11th gem in Astros history.

gaijinmark wrote:

Better watch out Dodgers, the Giants are only a game and a half back and as well as the Pirates and Cubs are playing the wild card won't be coming out of the West.

Dodgers have been reeling after the bullpen blew another lead (4-1) in Oakland on Tuesday.

Dodgers should be running away in the NL West if not for their bullpen.

Dodgers get no hit again, losing to the Cubs, 2-0.

On a happier note, Japan comes back from a 10-2 to win the Little League World Series, 18-11, over Pennsylvania, their third in the past four years and fifth in the past seven.

https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/japan-rallies--scores-18-runs-to-win-little-league-world-series-003540841.html

bmwracer wrote:

On a happier note, Japan comes back from a 10-2 to win the Little League World Series, 18-11, over Pennsylvania, their third in the past four years and fifth in the past seven. https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/japan-rallies--scores-18-runs-to-win-little-league-world-series-003540841.html

I watched the LLWS game. A guy I went to high school with was one of the umpires. They only get to do it once so for LL umpires to be selected is quite an honor.

Nomo and Koufax have nothing to worry about. Some pretty shoddy fielding as well, but then you have to remind yourself these are just 12 year old kids.

They're showing the old show "Home Run Derby" from 1959/60 on channel 56.4 Saturdays and Sundays at 6pm. The first show tonight was Henry Aaron vs. Duke Snider.

At the start of the show the host, Mark Scott, says, "Fellas, you're playing for the big money, $2,000 for the winner and $1,000 for the loser." He was NOT trying to be facetious or sarcastic.

gaijinmark wrote:

At the start of the show the host, Mark Scott, says, "Fellas, you're playing for the big money, $2,000 for the winner and $1,000 for the loser." He was NOT trying to be facetious or sarcastic.

Haha.

Wonder what that is in 2015 dollars...?

EDIT: $2000 in 1960 is $15,973.61 in 2015 and $1000 in 1960 is $7986.80 using this: http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.htm

Yogi Berra dead at 90


(CNN)—Yogi Berra, the baseball legend known as much for his on-the-field historic streak as his unintentionally humorous malapropisms, has died.

He died Tuesday night, the Yogi Berra Museum said. He was 90.

Berra was one of the greatest catchers in baseball history. But it is for his sometimes mystifying utterances, or Yogisms, that he is most widely known.

Perhaps his most famous observation was, "It ain't over 'til it's over." It was pure Yogi -- at once blindingly obvious, yet beyond that a call to courage, an exhortation never to give up until the ballgame's final out.

Berra was the backbone of a New York Yankees dynasty that won 10 World Series championships -- the most in the sport's history.

Born Lawrence Peter Berra, the son of Italian immigrants, one version is that he earned the nickname "Yogi" from a childhood friend who said the snake charmer in a movie looked like Berra.

He dropped out of school in the 8th grade to help support his family by playing baseball, then later served in the U.S. Navy.

His early years on the field weren't so successful.

"My first two years, I was awful. I was terrible," Berra told CNN in a 2003 interview.

He said his fingers were so short that they had to be painted just to be more visible to pitchers.

He holds several World Series records, including most games by a catcher (63); hits (71); times on a winning team (10); first in at bats, first in doubles, second in RBI's, third in home runs and walks, and hit the first pinch hit home run in World Series history in 1947.

As much a source of folk wisdom as he was a competitor, Berra' colorful, disjointed turns of phrase made him one of the most quoted Americans since Mark Twain.
Among his contributions to the vernacular: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it," and "It's deja vu, all over again."
"I really don't know why I say them," he once told CNN. "It just comes out."

His lovable persona led to him being the inspiration for the cartoon character Yogi Bear.

After his record--breaking run with the Yankees, Berra became the team's manager in 1964 -- only to be fired after losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

So he joined the nearby New York Mets as a player and coach.

Berra was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.

Three years later, he was fired by the Mets and later re-hired as manager of the Yankees.

He was fired once again, by the Yankees owner, George Steinbrenner, in 1985, after just 22 games. But Steinbrenner fired Berra through an emissary rather than in person, leading to a rift between the two men that lasted nearly 15 years.

Berra finished his baseball career in 1992 as a coach for the Houston Astros.

"It was fun," he reminisced at the opening of the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in New Jersey. "If I had to do it over, I'd do it again."

Max Scherzer throws his 2nd no hitter of 2015

NEW YORK -- Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer struggled to find words after joining some of baseball's immortals. That's because Scherzer had just become the sixth pitcher in major league history to throw two no-hitters in a season when he completed the feat against the New York Mets on Saturday night in a 2-0 victory. He previously had no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 20.

Scherzer joined Roy Halladay (2010), Nolan Ryan (1973), Virgil Trucks (1952), Allie Reynolds (1951) and Johnny Vander Meer (1938) in throwing two no-hitters within a season. (Halladay's second came in the Division Series.)

"Guys, I'm speechless about that," Scherzer said. "I don't know what to say. You go out there and try to have as much success as possible. You try to accomplish as much as you can and do everything you can. ... To have that happen twice in a season, it's special. And when you start talking about the history of the game, you can't even really think about that. That's why I'm speechless."

Scherzer nearly produced a perfect game. Third baseman Yunel Escobar's skipped throw to first base on Kevin Plawecki's leadoff grounder in the sixth inning resulted in an error. Scherzer faced only 28 batters in the game.

"I threw a slider, and I know it was a ground ball there," Scherzer said. "I had my back turned, so I didn't see what happened. I just saw it short-hopped him. It's just a play that didn't get made. Yuni goes out there and competes as hard as anybody. I'm sure he doesn't feel great about it. Look, we're major leaguers. We go out there -- and, especially him -- he competes. He battles through injuries. I have nothing but the utmost respect for him. The play just didn't get made."

Scherzer struck out 17, matching Ryan's no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers on July 15, 1973, for the most strikeouts in a no-hitter in major league history.

The Mets have been no-hit twice this season. San Francisco's Chris Heston no-hit the Mets on June 9.

Scherzer's 17 strikeouts fell one shy of the Nationals/Expos record for a game, which was established by Bill Gullickson on Sept. 10, 1980, with Montreal against the Chicago Cubs.

Speaking of pitchers, last game of the season, Ichiro pitched the bottom of the 8th for the Marlins against the Phillies:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1w6TmCIo1s

Ichiro ended the year hitting .229, probably the end of the line, next stop Cooperstown.

gaijinmark wrote:

Ichiro ended the year hitting .229, probably the end of the line.

Then again, maybe not.

Ichiro re-signs with Marlins for one year

MIAMI -- Ichiro Suzuki has signed a one-year contract to remain with the Miami Marlins and try to reach the 3,000-hit milestone in the majors.

Suzuki, who turns 42 on Oct. 22, is tied for 33rd on the hits list with 2,935. He had 91 in 153 games for the Marlins this season but batted a career-low .229, dropping his career average to .314.

His slugging percentage this year was .279, the lowest among all major league players with more than 300 at-bats. But injuries to other outfielders -- including slugger Giancarlo Stanton -- made him an everyday player.

Suzuki, a 10-time Gold Glove Award winner, pitched for the first time in his 15-year major league career in the Marlins' season finale Sunday, throwing one inning at Philadelphia.

Suzuki had 1,278 hits in nine professional seasons in Japan. His new deal was announced Tuesday.

Dodgers manage to even up the series with the Mets with a 5-2 win.

Where were those runs for Kershaw yesterday?

Odd coincidence, but Kershaw blew up in the seventh inning again, just like he did in the two games against the Cardinals last year... You've gotta think that's playing on his mind.

Elimination game for the Dodgers and Mets tomorrow.

The biggest game in Zach Greinke's career, I think.

Dodgers eliminated from the playoffs again.

But it's a simple game. Just do what Kawasaki says:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-AIna_Dvpo

Mets go up 2-0 with a 4-1 win over the Cubs.

gaijinmark wrote:

But it's a simple game. Just do what Kawasaki says:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-AIna_Dvpo

They're laughing at him, but in his own way Kawasaki is breaking the game down in basic terms. When he says, "Just swing" it's the same as "see ball, hit ball'. When he says, "Just catch" it's the same as "see ball, catch ball". It's a simple game but people insist on making it hard. The Dodgers proved that in the game against the Mets when they went to that shift and left third base open. That run probably cost them the season.
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