Yankees legend Hideki Matsui played seven seasons for the Yankees. It wasn’t until his final one, in 2009, with the addition of lefty ace CC Sabathia, that he managed to get that elusive World Series ring.

Despite pursuing the two biggest Japanese superstars to come over to MLB in the past two years (Yoshinobu Yamamoto last offseason and Roki Sasaki this offseason

Asked whether the success of Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Hideki Matsui, Yu Darvish and others in MLB helped ... He doesn't compare himself to Ohtani. "Shohei is really a baseball player far away from me right now," Morii said, adding a goal was "to get ...

Back home, he's a wellspring of national pride, much like Shohei Ohtani now ... Right-handed pitcher Hideo Nomo preceded him, and Hideki Matsui came just after, both boosting the country's ...

Asked whether the success of Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Hideki Matsui, Yu Darvish and others ... He doesn't compare himself to Ohtani. “Shohei is really a baseball player far away from me ...

Asked whether the success of Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Hideki Matsui, Yu Darvish and others ... He said he doesn't compare himself to Ohtani. "Shohei is really a baseball player far away from ...

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Ichiro debuted in Major League Baseball in 2001 with the Seattle Mariners, the first Japanese position player to span the Pacific and an instant star. Left-handed pitcher Hideo Nomo preceded him, and Hideki Matsui came just after, both boosting the country’s confidence in a period of national malaise.

Hoping to become a two-way player in Major League Baseball just like Shohei Ohtani, 18-year-old Shotaro Morii made the rare decision to bypass Japanese professional baseball entirely and agreed Wednesday to a minor league contract with the Athletics that includes a signing bonus of $1,510,500.

When Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese-born player to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he became the 23rd player born outside the United States (including Puerto Rico, which, though it is a U.

During the gestation period for the place that would become baseball’s sacred shrine, Time Magazine, the New York Times and other periodicals referred to it as the “Baseball Hall of Fame.” Then, when the stately brick building housing the Hall officially opened in 1939,

As the first prominent Japanese position player to have success at the major league level, Suzuki paved the way for future MLB stars like Shohei Ohtani, Hideki Matsui, Seiya Suzuki and Masataka ...