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Osamu Higashio
is a former Japanese baseball player who played in the Japanese professional leagues from 1969–1988, being remembered as one of the leading Japanese pitchers in the 1980s. He also was manager of the Seibu Lions from 1995 to 2001. Professional career Higashio was a star in the Koshien high school baseball tournament, helping his team advance to the semi-finals in the spring of 1968. He was drafted in the first round by the Nishitetsu Lions (the current Saitama Seibu Lions) later that year. He lost confidence in his pitching ability after seeing the high level of pitching in the Pacific League, and requested the team to convert him to a position player. The team accepted his request, but quickly withdrew it when the Black Mist Scandal erupted in the 1969 off-season. The ace of the Lions pitching staff, Masaaki Ikenaga, was banished from the professional leagues because of the scandal, and Higashio was forced into pitching a full year in the Lions starting rotation. His inexper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. The pitcher is often considered the most important player on the defensive side of the game, and as such is situated at the right end of the defensive spectrum. There are many different types of pitchers, such as the starting pitcher, relief pitcher, middle reliever, lefty specialist, setup man, and the closer. Traditionally, the pitcher also bats. Starting in 1973 with the American League(and later the National League) and spreading to further leagues throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the hitting duties of the pitcher have generally been given over to the position of designated hitter, a cause of some controversy. The Japanese Central Le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kintetsu Buffaloes
The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Stadium, and later in Osaka Dome. Although the team won four Pacific League championships, they lost all four Japan Series in which they played. The team's batting lineup was known as ''Itemae Dasen'' ( いてまえ打線). Logo design A stylized buffalo's head with angry-looking red eyes (designed by Okamoto Taro), or "Buffaloes" in red script, outlined with white. Another logo featured the "Buffaloes" in red script, while also featuring Buffie, the Buffaloes mascot. Franchise history The team was founded in 1949 and began play in 1950 in the newly organized NPB. Owned by Kinki Nippon Railway Co. (later known as Kintetsu Railway), the franchise was known as the Kintetsu Pearls from 1950-1958, Kintetsu Buffalo from 1959-1961, the Kinte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riko Higashio
is a Japanese professional golfer and former member of the LPGA Tour. Amateur career Higashio was born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As a teenager, she won the 1993 Japan Amateur Championship and the 1994 Japan Junior Championship. Higashio first attended Nihon University in Tokyo. She accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, United States, where she played for the Florida Gators women's golf team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 1996 to 1998. Higashio won four tournaments as a college golfer. She was recognized as the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Freshman of the Year in 1996, and was a first-team All-SEC selection in 1996, 1997 and 1998, an honorable mention All-American in 1996, and a first-team All-American in 1998. She was also honored as a member of the National Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar Team and graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2013 World Baseball Classic
The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike the two previous WBCs, which consisted of the same sixteen countries, only the twelve countries that won at least one game in the 2009 WBC were guaranteed a berth in the main tournament. The automatic qualifiers were Australia, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, South Korea, the United States, and Venezuela. Four qualification brackets were held in late 2012 and respectively won by Canada, Taiwan, Spain, and Brazil, who joined the WBC as the final four teams (the latter two making their Classic debuts). As in the 2006 tournament, the first round had a round-robin format, which led to South Korea being eliminated on a run difference tiebreaker. Venezuela also failed to advance out of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese National Baseball Team
The is the national team representing Japan in international baseball competitions. It won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009, as well as WBSC Premier12 in 2019. The team is currently ranked 1st in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The team has participated in every Summer Olympic Games since the first demonstration tournament in 1984, through when baseball was discontinued following the 2008 Beijing Games. Until 2000, the team was made up exclusively of amateur players. Since the 2000 Summer Olympics, the team has been composed of players from Nippon Professional Baseball. The team that played in the 2006 World Baseball Classic included Japanese players from Major League Baseball as well. The team won the 2006 Classic. It played at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, as it had qualified through the Asian Baseball Championship in 2007. Unlike the WBC roster, the Olympic team was composed exclusively of NPB players (though it included one amateur playe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokyo Apache
Tokyo Apache (東京アパッチ) was a Japanese basketball club, based in the city of Tokyo, Kantō Region. They played in the bj league, the top-level Japanese professional League. Their home games were played at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium II, located at Shibuya, Tokyo. History Early years (2004–2010) The club was founded in June 2004, but their first season in the bj league, was the 2005–2006 season. The team made the playoffs in the inaugural season topping the Niigata Albirex in the 3rd place game. On June 1, 2010 the organization was acquired by a subsidiary of Evolution Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based investment management advisor. Conor Neu has been named the Apache's General Manager, while office manager, Daijiro Kusakabe, will continue to face the league for the team. Earthquake and tsunami disaster relief effort After the Great Tohoku quake and subsequent tsunami on March 11, 2011, the Tokyo Apache suspended the remainder of its 2010–2011 seas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yui Tomori , an alternate name for the Okinawa Urban Monorail
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Yui may refer to: People *Yui (name), a Japanese name *Yui (singer) (born 1987), Japanese singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actress *Yui people or Ibi, a Timucuan-speaking people in what now is Georgia, United States Places *Yui, Shizuoka, a former town located in Shizuoka, Japan *Yui Station, a railway station on the Tōkaidō Main Line in Shizuoka Other *YUI Library, an open-source JavaScript and CSS library *''Corrector Yui'', a 1999 magical girl series *Yui Rail The , also known as , is a monorail line serving the cities of Naha, Okinawa, Naha and Urasoe, Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa, Japan. Operated by , it opened on 10 August 2003, and is the only public rail system in Okinawa Prefecture. Yui Rail is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fumiya Nishiguchi
, (born September 26, 1972) is a Japanese baseball player. He is a right-handed pitcher in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball for the Saitama Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway, wh .... Career statistics ''Bold indicates league leader; statistics current as of December 25, 2013'' External links * 1972 births Living people People from Wakayama (city) Japanese baseball players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Seibu Lions players Saitama Seibu Lions players Nippon Professional Baseball MVP Award winners Japanese baseball coaches Nippon Professional Baseball coaches {{japan-baseball-pitcher-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daisuke Matsuzaka
is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher, who pitched professionally for 23 seasons, 16 of them in NPB, 7 in MLB. He is currently a baseball color commentator, critic, reporter, and YouTuber. Daisuke is nicknamed in Japan and "Dice-K" in the United States by ''The Boston Globe'' and ''USA Today''. He played for the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Saitama Seibu Lions, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Matsuzaka was selected the MVP of the inaugural and the second World Baseball Classic, and is an Olympic bronze medalist. He is the first player to have won both a World Series and a World Baseball Classic. Early life Matsuzaka was born on September 13, 1980, in Aomori, Aomori Prefecture. He was named after Japanese high school star pitcher Daisuke Araki. Growing up in Koto, Tokyo, he studied kendo from the age of five to nine and began playing organized baseball when he was in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shinji Mori
Shinji Mori ( ja, 森 慎二, September 12, 1974 – June 28, 2017) was a right-handed pitcher in professional baseball. Career From -, he played for the Seibu Lions in Nippon Professional Baseball. After the 2005 season, he was acquired by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays through the posting system. Originally slated to compete for the Devil Ray's closer job during the MLB season, he tore the labrum in his shoulder and missed the entire season. He was subsequently released by the Devil Rays. Returning to Japan, in 2009 Mori joined the Ishikawa Million Stars of the semi-pro Baseball Challenge League as a pitcher-coach. After retiring from playing, he took over as the manager of the Million Stars in 2010, staying through the 2014 season. He returned to active duty as a player in 2013, and was the Million Stars' player-manager in 2013–2014. On June 25, 2017, Mori was hospitalized in Fukuoka Hospital, and after three days, on June 28, 2017, Mori died of sepsis caused by infection wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kazuo Matsui
is a Japanese retired professional baseball player who played as a shortstop and is the current manager of the Saitama Seibu Lions. He is a switch-hitter. Matsui signed with the New York Mets on December 17, 2003, becoming the first Japanese infielder to sign with a Major League Baseball team. Early life He graduated from the PL Academy Senior High School in Osaka, a school nationally renowned for its baseball program. The only appearance Matsui made at the National High School Baseball Championship Tournament was in his second year at PL Academy. Though Matsui was considered to be the PL Academy's ace starting pitcher, injuries limited him to playing only in the quarter-final game, where he allowed two runs during 2 innings. Professional career Seibu Lions Matsui was chosen third overall by the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League in the 1994 Japanese League Draft, where he would wear number 32. In 1996, his third season, he became a regular starter a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orestes Destrade
Orestes Destrade Cucuas (born May 8, 1962) is a Cuban former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Florida Marlins. Destrade also played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Seibu Lions. He is now a broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Rays. He was nicknamed The Big O. Biography Destrade was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, but emigrated to the United States with his family at the age of six. During his youth, he played in the Khoury League at Tamiami Park in Miami. He graduated from Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, and later attended Florida College. Professional baseball career After college, he played many seasons in the minor leagues before his career at the major league level. Destrade was called up in September 1987 with the New York Yankees. He played in with the Pittsburgh Pirates (where he was the victim of pitcher Randy Johnson's first major league strikeout), and and f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
