bmwracer wrote:

Dodgers eliminated from the playoffs again.

Now at 27 years and counting since their last World Series. For anybody under the age of 30 the term "World Champion Dodgers" is something they have no memory of.

Another betting scandal in Japanese sports, but this time it's baseball:

Two more Giants involved in baseball gambling

The Yomiuri Giants professional baseball team was dealt another blow Wednesday as an investigative panel set up by Nippon Professional Baseball said two more Yomiuri Giants pitchers had bet on baseball games.

The announcement that Shoki Kasahara, 24, and Ryuya Matsumoto, 22, had gambled on baseball games follows the revelation on Oct. 5 that 32-year-old fellow Giants pitcher Satoshi Fukuda had engaged in gambling.

Betting on baseball games in Japan, which is illegal, has long been a key revenue source for the nation�fs yakuza.

Article 180 of the Professional Baseball Agreement, which every player must sign with NPB, specifically bans players from gambling on ball games and associating with the yakuza.

Kasahara bet on 10 professional baseball games between April and October last year, in addition to another 10 to 20 games. He also gambled on senior high school baseball games between April and August last year, the panel headed by lawyer Motonari Otsuru said.

Kasahara, the No. 5 pick in the 2009 draft, pitched in 26 games last year, but the panel said that the games on which he bet last year did not include any Giants games.

Matsumoto bet on more than 10 professional baseball games between June and October last year.

A source at NPB said both pitchers have admitted to involvement in baseball gambling.

�gThis is extremely regrettable,�h said NPB Commissioner Katsuhiko Kumazaki. �gBaseball has become a fixture thanks to the support it has had for a long time from many fans.�h

�gCulturally, baseball is the property of the public and we do our best and put all our effort into keeping it wholesome.�h

The panel said an acquaintance of Kasahara�fs, whom the pitcher had introduced to Fukuda, turned out to be a regular gambler on baseball games.

Fukuda and the acquaintance bet on some 10 professional baseball games in August and September this year and on senior high school and Major League Baseball games between May and September this year, the panel said.

Matsumoto was the No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft, but has not pitched on the top team.

The investigative panel will make a final report on the scandal within a month.

Cubs are swept out of the playoffs by the Mets... Wow.

So much for that "prediction" from Back to the Future II.

After the way the Mets steamrollered the Cubs who had a regular season record 5 games better than the Dodgers all those people that wanted Don Mattingly's head on a stick last week might want to rethink their position.

The Dodgers put up a lot stiffer fight than the Cubs did.

gaijinmark wrote:

After the way the Mets steamrollered the Cubs who had a regular season record 5 games better than the Dodgers all those people that wanted Don Mattingly's head on a stick last week might want to rethink their position.

Or not.

Mattingly out as Dodgers manager

Don Mattingly is out as Dodgers manager, a mutual decision.

With Mattingly, the Dodgers won three consecutive National League West championships for the first time in franchise history. But even with baseball's biggest payroll the club never advanced to the World Series, losing in the division series twice and league championship series once.

A person with knowledge of negotiations between the Dodgers and Mattingly, who still had one year remaining on his contract, said the parting was amicable.

Calls to Mattingly and his agent were not immediately returned and the Dodgers have not made an official comment.

Mattingly managed the Dodgers for five seasons, accumulating an overall record of 446-363, a .551 winning percentage.

Mattingly wishes to continue managing, a person close to him said Thursday morning. The Miami Marlins are looking for a manager and are known to be interested. The San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals and Seattle Mariners also have managing vacancies.

Among the names already surfacing as possible Dodgers candidates are three in-house candidates: team coaches Tim Wallach and Ron Roenicke, plus Gabe Kapler, the club's director of player development. Chicago Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez and former Padres manager Bud Black are also considered possibilities.

It's settled: The Royals vs. the Mets.

Go Royals!

He's going from the Ferrari to the '79 Toyota:

Mattingly hired as Marlins' new manager

It seemed like an obvious fit from the moment Don Mattingly and the Dodgers parted ways and now the marriage is actually happening, as Molly Knight of Vice Sports reports that the Marlins have signed Mattingly to a four-year contract to be their new manager.

Mattingly had a 446-363 (.551) record in five seasons as Dodgers manager, including three straight NL West division titles, but the team found little success in the playoffs. Earlier this month Mattingly and the Dodgers parted ways in surprisingly amicable fashion, at least publicly. He�fs still under contract with Los Angeles for 2016.

It seems clear now that the Dodgers wanted to move on from Mattingly and he had the Marlins job more or less in his back pocket. Of course, given how often the Marlins and owner Jeffrey Loria fire managers–Mattingly will be their eighth since 2010!–he�fs taking quite a leap of faith that it�fll be a long-term job rather than a short-term gig followed by a paid vacation. Just ask Ozzie Guillen. Or Mike Redmond.

gaijinmark wrote:

given how often the Marlins and owner Jeffrey Loria fire managers–Mattingly will be their eighth since 2010!

Channeling George Steinbrenner?

Meanwhile in Japan, the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks repeated as champions beating the Yakult Swallows 4 games to 1.

It was a bit of a renaissance for Yakult. Their first time back in the Japan Series since 2001 during the halcyon days of Furuta, Ishii, and Nomura.

Royals beat the Mets 7-2 in 12 innings, win the World Series 4 games to 1.

Interestingly, ever game Kansas City won at some point they were behind and had to comeback for the victory.

gaijinmark wrote:

Royals beat the Mets 7-2 in 12 innings, win the World Series 4 games to 1. Interestingly, ever game Kansas City won at some point they were behind and had to comeback for the victory.

No surprise: The Royals were solid, patient, and aggressive... Very well-coached.

If the team stays intact, you've got to think they'll be there again in 2016.

Just a follow-up on those three Giants pitchers caught gambling:

Three Yomiuri Giants pitchers banned for gambling on baseball

TOKYO -- Nippon Professional Baseball has banned three Yomiuri Giants pitchers indefinitely after they were found to have bet on baseball games.

Yomiuri pitchers Satoshi Fukuda, Shoki Kasahara and Ryuya Matsumoto all admitted to betting on games during questioning by police. The three were not involved in any game-fixing or betting on their own team.

NPB commissioner Katsuhiko Kumazaki announced the decision on Tuesday. The Giants were also fined 10 million yen ($81,000).

Professional players in Japan can be banned for a definite period, indefinitely or permanently. NPB's charter stipulates that the commissioner can lift indefinite bans can be lifted after five years if a player appeals after maintaining good conduct.

The Giants said they have terminated the contracts of the three players. Gambling on sports is illegal in Japan and is a violation of NPB's charter

Dodgers hire Dave Roberts as manager

The Los Angeles Dodgers have hired former player Dave Roberts to replace Don Mattingly as the team's manager, a league source confirmed to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.

Although the Dodgers have decided on Roberts and he has agreed to take the job, a baseball source said the two sides were still working out the final contract details as of Sunday night. The Dodgers are expected to make an announcement later on Monday and introduce Roberts on Dec. 1.

Roberts, 43, is a former Dodgers outfielder who played for the team from 2002 to 2004. He also played for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants during a 10-year big league career that ended in 2008. Roberts was a career .266 hitter with 243 steals, and he played in the postseason four times.

He is perhaps best known for his stolen base in the 2004 playoffs, which sparked the Red Sox to an elusive World Series championship.

In the American League Championship Series, Boston was three outs from being swept by the New York Yankees. Roberts pinch ran after Kevin Millar drew a leadoff walk from Mariano Rivera. Then Roberts stole second and scored on Bill Mueller's single.

Boston won 6-4 in 12 innings then became the first team in major league history to overcome a 3-0 deficit and win a postseason series. Roberts did not play as the Red Sox swept St. Louis for their first championship since 1918, but he will always be beloved in Boston because of that one play.

Roberts was the Padres' bench coach the past two seasons and managed one game in 2015 -- a 9-1 loss -- on an interim basis after Bud Black was fired and before Pat Murphy could arrive from the minor leagues to take over for the rest of the season.

Roberts survived a bout of Hodgkin lymphoma that was diagnosed in March 2010 and joined the Padres as first-base coach in 2011.

Earlier this fall, he interviewed for the Seattle Mariners' managerial opening before the job went to Scott Servais.

Roberts will succeed Mattingly, who mutually parted ways with the Dodgers last month after five years that included winning three consecutive National League West titles but never reaching the World Series. A week after the parting, Mattingly signed a four-year contract to manage the Miami Marlins.

Roberts, whose father is African-American and mother is Japanese, will be the first minority manager in the storied franchise's history.

Dodgers have apparently signed Hisashi Iwakuma to a three-year contract....?

If true, he'll be the only right-handed starter for the Dodgers.

bmwracer wrote:

Dodgers have apparently signed Hisashi Iwakuma to a three-year contract....? If true, he'll be the only right-handed starter for the Dodgers.

Iwakuma apparently flunked his physical with the Dodgers and re-signed with the Mariners.

For the second year in a row someone the Dodgers traded away gets elected to the Hall of Fame.

Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza elected to Cooperstown

The National Baseball Hall of Fame has two new members. Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza have both been voted into the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America, it was announced Wednesday evening.

Induction weekend will be held July 22-25 this summer, at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The induction ceremony itself will be held Sunday, July 24, at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Griffey was elected in his first year on the ballot. He received 99.32 percent of the vote, the highest total in history. Tom Seaver was the all-time leader at 98.84 percent. Nolan Ryan (98.79 percent), Cal Ripken Jr. (98.53 percent), and Ty Cobb (98.23 percent) round out the top five.

Piazza, meanwhile, appeared on 83.0 percent of the ballots. This was his fourth year on the ballot and his support increased with each passing year. Piazza appeared on 57.8 percent of the ballots in 2013, 62.2 percent in 2014, and 69.9 percent in 2015. Seventy-five percent is needed for induction.

Griffey, now 46, was the best and most exciting player in baseball for much of the 1990s. He spent the vast majority of his career with the Mariners and Reds, and, during his peak from 1991-98, Griffey hit .304/.386/.596 (157 OPS+) while averaging 39 home runs, 14 stolen bases, and 110 RBI per season.

During his 22-season career Griffey amassed 2,781 hits and 630 home runs. He is sixth on the all-time home run list, trailing only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Alex Rodriguez (687), and Willie Mays (660). Griffey is a career .284/.370/.538 (136 OPS+) hitter who went 13 All-Star Games, including 11 consecutively from 1990-2000. He was also the 1997 AL MVP.

Piazza, now 47, is the greatest power-hitting catcher in baseball history. He retired as a career .308/.377/.545 (142 OPS+) hitter with 2,127 hits, 427 home runs, and 1,335 RBI. Piazza was a 12-time All-Star and ranks first among all catchers in home runs, slugging percentage, and OPS+.

Both Tim Raines and Jeff Bagwell appeared to be on track for induction this year based on the 213 public ballots collected by Ryan Thibodaux before the Hall of Fame announcement. Both players fell short of induction, however. Raines appeared on 69.8 percent of the ballots while Bagwell appeared on 71.6 percent.

Here are the players that got at least 40% of the vote:

Ken Griffey Jr. - 99.3 percent
Mike Piazza - 83.0 percent

Jeff Bagwell - 71.6 percent
Tim Raines - 69.8 percent
Trevor Hoffman - 67.3 percent
Curt Schilling - 52.3 percent
Roger Clemens - 45.2 percent
Barry Bonds - 44.3 percent
Edgar Martinez - 43.4 percent
Mike Mussina - 43.0 percent
Alan Trammell - 40.9 percent

Sad to see Piazza enter the Hall as a Met instead of a Dodger... Dodger/Fox management screwed him.

If you've got about 2 1/2 hours to spare, Nomo's no-hitter against the Rockies, play-by-play from Vin Scully and Ross Porter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv2_wo2l72A

gaijinmark wrote:

If you've got about 2 1/2 hours to spare, Nomo's no-hitter against the Rockies, play-by-play from Vin Scully and Ross Porter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv2_wo2l72A

Coo...l!

20 years ago... Wow.

I posted this yesterday but for some reason, looks like it got deleted

So, take 2:

Kazuhiro Kiyohara arrested on drug charge

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Tokyo police on Tuesday arrested former pro baseball player Kazuhiro Kiyohara, 48, on suspicion of possessing stimulant drugs.

The former Seibu Lions and Yomiuri Giants slugger is accused of possessing roughly 0.1 grams of the illegal substance at his apartment in Tokyo's Minato Ward, where he was arrested while home alone at about 8:45 p.m.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Kiyohara did not resist arrest and has admitted that the drugs belong to him. Police say they will look into the source of the narcotics and investigate by urine analysis to determine if Kiyohara had been using any himself.

A star since his high school days at baseball powerhouse PL Gakuen in Osaka, which he helped lead to two national championships, Kiyohara was Seibu's top draft pick and turned in a Rookie of the Year performance in 1986 with 31 home runs.

Over his 22-season career, the power-hitting first baseman won the Japan Series six times with the Lions and twice more with the Yomiuri Giants, where he played for nine years after signing as a free agent ahead of the 1997 season.

Kiyohara, who retired in 2008, ranks fifth in Nippon Pro Baseball history with 525 career home runs and comes in sixth all-time with 1,530 RBIs.