Posts

  • How to Follow Asian Professional Baseball

    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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  • BASEBALL DOCUMENTARY: Gary Carter Visits Japan

    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

    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

    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

    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.

    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

    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…

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  • Rethinking the Philadelphia Bobbies 1925 Tour in Japan: ‘Embarrassment to the Nation’ or ‘Great Success’?

    Rethinking the Philadelphia Bobbies 1925 Tour in Japan: ‘Embarrassment to the Nation’ or ‘Great Success’?

    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  Kat Williams discusses the Philadelphia Bobbies 1925 doomed visit to Japan.

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  • Players Are Workers Too: Breaking the Silence and Speaking About Rights

    Players Are Workers Too: Breaking the Silence and Speaking About Rights

    MLB fans are familiar with the MLBPA. Strikes, negotiations, and collective action are deeply etched into the history of American sports. However, in Korean professional baseball (KBO), player rights were long treated as a taboo. Players were stars, yet at the same time they were almost like property of the club. If they spoke up,…

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  • San Jose Asahi’s 1925 Tour of Japan and Korea

    San Jose Asahi’s 1925 Tour of Japan and Korea

    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  Ralph Pearce discusses the Japanese American San Jose Asahi’s 1925 tour of Japan and Korea.

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