Asian Baseball History and Culture is Our Passion
Posts
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How to Follow Asian Professional Baseball
So how can English speakers follow Asian baseball? There are now numerous ways to track professional baseball in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan even if you don’t read the native languages. Let’s look at each country in turn.
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Murder, Espionage, and Baseball: The 1934 All-American Tour of Japan
by Robert K. Fitts Every Tuesday morning we will post an article from SABR’s award-winning books Nichibei Yakyu: Volumes I and II. Each will present a different chapter in the long history of US-Japan baseball relations. This week Rob Fitts writes about Babe Ruth and the ALL Americans’ 1934 visit to Japan. Katsusuke Nagasaki’s breath billowed as…
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The School in Korea That Has Produced the Most MLB Players: The History of Gwangju Ilgo
by Taein Chun Gwangju Jeil High School, known as Gwangju Ilgo, is located in Gwangju Metropolitan City in the southwestern region of Korea and is the school that has produced the greatest number of Major League Baseball players in the country. In the early 2000s, Jae Weong[c1] Seo of the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers,…
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Herb Hunter’s Dream Tour: A Rabbit, Two Leftys, and an Iron Horse Visit a Dangerous Japan in 1931
by Dennis Snelling Every Tuesday morning we will post an article from SABR’s award-winning books Nichibei Yakyu: Volumes I and II. Each will present a different chapter in the long history of US-Japan baseball relations. This week Dennis Snelling tells us about the 1931 Major League tour of Japan. It was a tour initially framed by…
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BASEBALL DOCUMENTARY: Gary Carter Visits Japan
This 1982 documentary on Gary Carter’s visit to Japan is dated and at times cringy by today’s standards but is nevertheless interesting and contains some great footage of Japanese baseball from the 1982 season.
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A New League called Baseball United Begins Play in Dubai
By Carter Cromwell DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Birthed just three and a half years ago, Baseball United took a major step toward adulthood this November. Formed to bring professional baseball to a region with little exposure to the game, Dubai-based Baseball United had staged a two-game showcase in November 2023 involving several former Major League…
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Ty Cobb’s Last Hurrah: The 1928 Japan Tour
by Tom Hawthorn Every Tuesday morning we will post an article from SABR’s award-winning books Nichibei Yakyu: Volumes I and II. Each will present a different chapter in the long history of US-Japan baseball relations. This week Tom Hawthorn tells us about Ty Cobb’s visit to Japan. On an off-day on the road in Cleveland, Tyrus…
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Gentle Black Giants — Negro Leaguers in Japan: 1927 Philadelphia Royal Giants Tour
Every Tuesday morning we will post an article from SABR’s award-winning books Nichibei Yakyu: Volumes I and II. Each will present a different chapter in the long history of US-Japan baseball relations. This week Bill Staples Jr discusses the Philadelphia Royal Giants 1927 visit to Japan.
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Join Rob Fitts at Japan Society on December 9 at 7pm for a discussion about Japanese baseball.
Author Robert Fitts will talk about his new book In the Japanese Ballpark: Behind the Scenes of Nippon Professional Baseball and highlight key differences between the American and Japanese games. A cocktail reception and book signing will follow. Fitts is the author of 11 books on Japanese baseball and is the curatorial consultant to the…
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A Brief History of International Exchange in Korean Baseball
by Jongho Kim Professional sports in Korea began in earnest in the 1980s. At the time, Korea had industrialized, and the economy was more stable than before, but the country was still under military rule. Before the voices for democracy and press freedom grew stronger, President Chun Doo-hwan’s government fostered the sports industry to divert…
