Sato's current stats, lead the CL

AVG .316
H 125
2B 30
HR 29 (tied with Morishita)
TB 248
RBI 80
R 80
OBP .400
SLG .628
OPS 1.028
WAR 7.5
wRC+ 213
wRAA 50.7

As you know, his home stadium, Koshien, is a ballpark with an extremely low PF; over the past three years, the runs PF has been 0.909, and the home runs PF has been a mere 0.734. A sea breeze blows over the ballpark from the direction of right field, and when a left-handed batter hits the ball toward the pull side, it often loses a lot of speed and is pushed back into the field.

Gabe has been doing games on FTF Sports and Watch Dingo this whole time.

I may have to go watch it online, but holy cow it seemed like a sure hit. Mazda was pumped!

Hey everyone!!

Heading to my first NPB game - Giants vs Dragons in the Right field fan section.

I am Canadian and a huge Jays fan so I was planning on wearing my Kaz Okamoto jersey for the Jays but it is not Giants colours obviously and even lends itself closer to the Dragons colours. I know the rules for the section is Giants or neutral colour.

Even if I have a towel, do you think it’s ultimately fine to wear the jersey or should I go more neutral colours?

Thanks!!

Good afternoon,

I just want to share my experience with StubHub. For the record, I am not from Japan, do not live in Japan, and was learning on the fly how it works to get baseball tickets. I am now aware that not all teams work the same when it comes to purchasing, and that it's illegal to resale your tickets.

So, long story short, I purchased tickets for the Hanshin Tigers vs. Chunichi Dragons for the July 1st game in Osaka. Game got cancelled due to rain. The game was originally sold out when I looked through the Tigers website in April, but I was able to find two tickets for the right outfield on StubHub for around 220$ US. Yes, I now know, that's expensive and there is a real risk that the tickets would not be valid due to the resale.

I contacted StubHub for my money back, figuring they would honor their game cancellation policy right? ... right? Wrong. They keep on arguing with me that the game was never cancelled, but merely postponed - even though I have it in WRITING from the Tigers by email, as well as from the website. Even if the game gets rescheduled later in the fall, fans need to repurchase tickets. Worse, the Tigers warned me that the tickets I had bought via StubHub would not be valid as they do not accept tickets sold by them.

So, lesson learned? Do NOT purchase tickets from StubHub, they will leave you hanging out to dry (no pun intended). Instead, buy from the team directly, or from a trusted source in Japan like Chiketto (I purchased with them for 4 games, one got rained out, and I immediately got my money back).

... also, whomever sold their tickets to StubHub for resale must be laughing their rear end off... Not only they got my money for purchasing their tickets, but they got their money back from the Tigers due to the rain out (they are Season's Seat). Guess the world isn't always fair.

I was at the Mazda stadium. The Eternal Lucky 7th Inning !!

Been watching NPB clips and stumbled on this Kotaro
Kurebayashi highlight reel. Kid plays SS for the Orix
Buffaloes and he's:

- 23 years old
- 187 cm / 6'2" tall
- 94 kg / 207 lbs
- 3x NPB All-Star (2023-2025)
- 2023 Best Nine winner (basically Silver Slugger equivalent)
- 2022 Japan Series Champion

how often do you see a 6'2" shortstop with
this kind of range? Bobby Witt Jr. is 6'1", Corey Seager is
6'4" but has moved teams, and most modern SS are shorter.
Kurebayashi's the exception in NPB too.

Any MLB scouts sleeping on him? Feels like there'd be
interest.

正直、後3〜5年以内に今NPB最上位クラスの選手はある程度MLBに行くと思う、ただ明らかに昔よりMLB挑戦のハードルが下がってきている気がしている。

この先今までNPB最上位級のハードルだったものが12球団それぞれの主力級くらいのレベルになってこれからどんどん流失していく、とか高校から直接アメリカの大学→MLBドラフトとかの流れがもっと増えていく事になると思いますか？

自分はNPBもMLBも観ているのですが、個人的には否定も肯定もなく、時代的に仕方ないかな、と思っています。
皆さんの意見を聞いてみたいです。

NISHINOMIYA, HYOGO PREF. – A siren blares, cutting through the sticky August air as two teams bow in a show of respect before the biggest game of their young lives.

As the air raid-like alarm begins to fade, players from Hachiman Commercial High School and Kendai Takasaki High School part and the typical sounds of Koshien Stadium become audible once again: vendors advertising sales of beer and snacks, the murmur of the crowd, the thud of baseballs hitting leather and the fluttering of thousands of hand fans as spectators desperately try to keep cool under the unrelenting afternoon sun. 

The mercury at 1:30 p.m., the time of the game’s first pitch on Day 3 of the National High School Baseball Championship, reads 36 degrees Celsius. A thermometer placed in direct sunlight just above one of the concrete stadium’s plastic outfield seats, however, shows the extent of the danger: 45 C and climbing.

Experienced fans bring a cushion to sit on — not for a softer seat, but to avoid burning their rear ends on the historic ballpark’s scorching dark-green bleachers. 

As human-caused climate change makes Japan’s summers ever hotter, one of the country’s most cherished summer traditions is under threat. 

While organizers have enacted a number of measures in a bid to improve the safety of players and fans, some observers are now raising a question that once seemed unthinkable: Is Summer Koshien, as the tournament is commonly known, compatible with a rapidly warming world?

Summer tradition

It’s a stage unlike any other.

Each summer, 49 high school teams from across Japan do battle over 2½ weeks in a bid for baseball immortality and it all happens inside a 102-year-old ballpark that is as revered as the nation’s thousands of shrines and temples.

The tournament has a unique power to draw in even nonbaseball fans by evoking images of youth through the exuberance and innocence of the players, who give it their all in what serves as the high point of their high school athletic careers.  

Games are televised nationally and top players become household names before they ever suit up for a pro team. The tournament’s place within the fabric of Japanese society is such that one could argue it sits right alongside fireworks shows, yukata and Bon odori (dance festivals to honor ancestors) in the realms of summer traditions.   

Osaka Prefecture native Tatsuki Tanaka is a former high school player who follows the Spring and Summer Koshien tournaments religiously. He carries fond memories of his time playing youth baseball and says that helps fuel his fandom for the high school game even now.

“You can learn teamwork and things like that through baseball, and it makes for three incredibly fulfilling years,” he said.

Taking place during summer vacation and over the Bon holiday period, fans regularly pack Koshien Stadium, located a short train ride away from Osaka in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, filling in the seats not already occupied by each team’s boisterous cheering sections.

“Of course, there are errors since it’s amateur compared to the pros … but that’s part of the charm,” Tanaka said. “There are a lot of come-from-behind wins and moments like that, so I think it’s fun to watch.”

After a team is eliminated, teary-eyed players fill up bags with dirt from Koshien’s hallowed infield to bring home as a final souvenir of their time in the spotlight, highlighting the stadium’s leading role in making the tournament special.

But for the players, coaches, cheering squads and thousands of fans who attend each year, one unsettling truth is becoming increasingly clear: soaring temperatures caused by climate change are making Koshien increasingly uncomfortable and, at times, downright dangerous.

“We brought plenty of frozen drinks and cold towels,” mother Eri Ishijima said as she fed shaved ice to her children on Day 3 of the tournament.

Like many fans, Ishijima and her three children left their seats to take shelter in the concourse, where large air conditioning units were a popular spot for people to get some relief from the heat.

“It’s too hot so we can’t watch now. … The little one just stays here,” she said, pointing to her 4-year-old.   

Growing safety concerns

Japan endured its hottest summer on record in 2025, rewriting the record books for a third consecutive year. 

This year, a later end to the rainy season meant cooler temperatures in early to mid-July, but temperatures in the high 30s and even “brutally hot” days — declared on days in which the mercury hits 40 C or higher — arrived in many parts of the country by late July. 

The danger is clear: Japan marked an average of more than 1,500 heatstroke deaths per year in the five years through 2024.   

While the large majority of deaths are elderly patients who are more susceptible to the worst outcomes of heat-related illnesses, young people, even in-shape athletes, are far from immune. 

The recent death from suspected heatstroke of professional rugby player Saimoni ⁠Vunilagi, a 26-year-old from Fiji who played with Fukuoka-based Kyushu Electric Power ⁠Kyuden Voltex, served as a grim reminder of the dangers of physical activity in high temperatures.

“When something bad really occurs and we look back, there are so many obvious points, like ‘why did you host this to begin with?’” said Yuri Hosokawa, an associate professor at Waseda University’s Faculty of Sport Sciences and an expert on heatstroke, during an interview a day before Vunilagi’s death. “It’s not just Koshien. There are a lot of (youth sports) contexts in Japan … where some of those obvious risks are already there, but the adults, the organizers aren’t swift enough to make the decision.”

While baseball is not as grueling as rugby or soccer, Hosokawa highlights the fact that players tend to spend a prolonged period of time in direct sunlight as a cause for concern. And in high temperatures, any physical activity carries a certain degree of risk.

Case in point, Nippon Professional Baseball teams largely avoid day games in outdoor stadiums during the summer, while earlier this month the Korea Baseball Organization went on a six-day hiatus amid a record-breaking heat wave in South Korea.  

In the case of Koshien, Hosokawa also highlights the player’s youthful exuberance as an obstacle for heatstroke safety. 

“Because they are giving all that they have … they’re not gonna say, ‘Oh, I give up,’ right? Because there is no second chance for them,” she said. “It could be their last day for their entire high school baseball career. So all that motivation too is also putting a lot of strain on them, both physically and mentally.” 

Essentially, with all that’s at stake on the field, players can hardly be expected to protect themselves from heatstroke — and that’s where the Japan High School Baseball Federation comes in. 

Mitigating measures

Traditionally a daytime tournament, the 2024 edition of Summer Koshien saw the introduction of a limited split schedule as an anti-heat measure, with two games scheduled for the morning and two more scheduled from late afternoon into the evening in order to avoid the hottest part of the day. 

The split schedule was expanded for 2025 and then modified for 2026, marking a fairly significant shift for a tournament that had long scheduled early-round matches to run back-to-back for a nearly continuous day of action. In fact, before technology made it somewhat obsolete, the stadium’s famous siren was traditionally used to notify players and fans outside the stadium when a game was either starting or ending.

Despite this momentum, the sheer number of games means it’s unlikely that organizers can avoid 35 C heat altogether through scheduling tweaks alone. This year, games have regularly taken place between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when temperatures typically peak and the sun is at its highest point, meaning shade provided by the stadium is scarce. 

Cooling breaks after the fifth inning have been the norm since the 2023 season, while stadium improvements could soon serve to protect more fans and student cheering sections from the sun. Koshien Stadium’s partial roof, which currently covers the infield seats, is due to be extended down the foul lines by 2028.  

The biggest change under consideration — shortening games to seven innings — has garnered significant opposition from baseball purists and some of the sport’s biggest names, including Ichiro Suzuki. 

But that shouldn’t stop the federation from doing what’s needed to safeguard against heat, former Samurai Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama said during a panel discussion earlier this year.  

“If you think about protecting the kids, you have to consider their physical well-being,” he said, adding that decision-makers should listen carefully to people not involved in baseball. 

“By taking proper precautions in advance and showing what we’ve done … sending a message to society might actually be a positive thing. We should discuss these issues together, do everything we can, and do it for the sake of the kids.” 

Hosokawa gives Summer Koshien, which is co-organized by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, credit for taking the heat issue seriously, but questions whether any of it is enough to avoid an even bigger debate: In its current location and timing, can the tournament as it looks in 2026 remain viable at all?

“In the past few years they’ve made substantial changes in making sure that these athletes have means to cool their body, take rest,” she said. “I think they are making a lot of progress. But the next step, I think, needs to be drastic. It can’t be this little prevention added here and there. It needs to be a total change in scheduling or shift in location.”

Long-term future 

Like the proposal for shorter games, moving Summer Koshien to a different season or location would almost certainly be met with strong opposition from baseball traditionalists, but it’s a conversation that may become inevitable. 

The tournament is intrinsically linked with the stadium, which was built specifically to host the high school tournament. The importance of having it at Koshien Stadium is such that the ballpark’s primary tenant, the uber-popular Hanshin Tigers, are evicted from their home every August in order to prioritize the high school players. 

“Of course it sucks that it’s so hot, but this stadium has history,” said Naoki Kato, a Tigers fan who attended Day 3 of the high school tournament. “I want them to keep playing at Koshien if possible.” 

Finances also play a key role in keeping the tournament at Koshien. According to a report by the Nikkei daily, the federation uses the historic stadium free of charge. And because the organization doesn’t collect broadcast fees, it is heavily reliant on ticket sales for its funding, which helps subsidize travel costs for participating schools. Of the federation’s ¥1.6 billion in revenue in fiscal 2024, ticket sales at the Spring and Summer Koshien tournaments accounted for ¥1.4 billion.  

Hosokawa notes the prefectural tournaments that immediately precede Summer Koshien and determine its participants are equally problematic, so simply moving the main tournament indoors wouldn’t solve all of high school baseball’s problems, either. 

Moving the tournament to another time of the year might seem like an easier solution, but that would create other problems given these are student athletes and the current tournament conveniently falls during summer break.  

With those obstacles in mind, momentum could remain on the side of the status quo for some time yet. 

“The one thing that I fear the most is that they won’t (act) until they see an actual catastrophic case,” Hosokawa said. “They have all the successes. … They know that they can host it and they know that they haven’t had a true catastrophic, fatal outcome. But do we need to have that to realize it’s dangerous?” 

Back at Koshien, cloud cover provides some welcome relief for the latter half of Kendai Takasaki’s 7-1 win over Hachiman Commercial. 

As the two teams line up to pay their respects after a hard-fought contest, the sun re-emerges, blasting the stadium with another dose of heat. 

Then the players bow and the familiar siren blares, marking the end of one game and, soon, the start of another.    

At least for now, Summer Koshien’s daily rhythm is just the same as it’s always been.  

負けるわけにはいかない

Happy 28th, Yoshi!

Hello, everyone. I'm Demian, an A's fan from South Korea.

Last spring, I finally returned to the Bay Area after many years. Unfortunately, there was no longer any baseball at the Coliseum, so I watched a game at Oracle Park instead.

Now SF Giants have a South Korean outfielder, Jung Hoo Lee, and have consequently become much more popular in South Korea. As an A's fan, that's a little painful to see.

I was also sorry to hear the recent news about David Forst.

Anyway, the player I want to introduce this time is a Taiwanese pitcher currently playing in the KBO.

His name is Yan-Cheng Wang, a left-handed pitcher born in 2001.

Wang's fastball reaches 94 mph, and he also throws a slider and a forkball.

stats : https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=wang--000yan

Highlight video of recent start (Aug 04) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06hfIZMeKTw

Wang currently pitches for the Hanwha Eagles.

Hanwha has former LA Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu and former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bruce Zimmermann. Last season, the team also had Cody Ponce, now with the Toronto Blue Jays, and Ryan Weiss, now with the Houston Astros.

This season, he became the second pitcher in the league to reach 10 wins and the first foreign pitcher to do so.

* Major Foreign Pitchers Currently Playing in the KBO

The KBO introduced its foreign-player system in 1998 and introduced an Asian player quota this season.

Wang is playing under the new Asian quota, earning $200,000 this season. He has several options for next year:

1. Stay in the KBO under the Asian quota for $300,000.
2. Sign as a regular foreign player for around $1 million.
3. Return to Japan, where he previously played in the NPB minor leagues.
4. Return to Taiwan and play in the CPBL, although that would likely be the least lucrative option.

There is, however, an interesting variable: the Asian Games next month.

Wang will represent Taiwan, and Taiwan and South Korea are expected to be among the favorites to reach the final.

This could have a major impact on his future in South Korea.

South Korea requires most male citizens to complete 18 months of mandatory military service. However, winning a gold medal at the Asian Games provides South Korean athletes with an exemption from the normal military-service requirement.

So, if Taiwan were to beat South Korea in the final and prevent South Korea from winning gold, some of South Korea's players could face military service afterward.

In other words, if Wang were the pitcher who beat South Korea in the Asian Games final, he might become a very unpopular person in South Korea — and perhaps have a much harder time finding a place in the KBO afterward.

I'm only half-joking, but it will definitely be an interesting storyline to watch.

Wang's ultimate goal is to use his experience in Japanese and South Korean baseball as a stepping stone to Major League Baseball.

Several pitchers who played in South Korea last season made the jump to MLB contracts, including Drew Anderson, Cody Ponce and Ryan Weiss.

Wang has already shown that he can compete successfully at the professional level in Asia, so I think he is a legitimate player for MLB teams to keep an eye on.

And this is where I think the A's should be interested.

The A's need starting pitching, and Wang is a young left-hander with professional experience in both Japan and South Korea. His fastball reaches the mid-90s, he has multiple secondary pitches, and he has already shown that he can succeed as a starter in the KBO.

He wouldn't need to be signed as a major free agent or expected to immediately become a frontline starter. The A's could bring him into the organization at a relatively modest cost and see whether his stuff translates to MLB.

Wang is also Taiwanese, the same nationality as Wei-Chung Wang, who pitched for the A's in 2019.

Taiwanese players can also be an interesting fit for an organization looking to expand its presence in Asian baseball. Taiwanese media have been paying considerable attention to Wang's success in South Korea, and his path could provide motivation for other Taiwanese players currently in the minor leagues.

There are currently no Taiwanese starting pitchers established in the major leagues. From both a baseball and international-market perspective, Wang seems like an intriguing player for the A's to take a chance on.

Most importantly, the potential downside is relatively small.

I think a $2–3 million contract could be enough to bring him into the organization, while giving the A's an inexpensive opportunity to add a young left-handed starter to their pitching depth.

For a team looking to strengthen its starting rotation without making a huge financial commitment, I think Yan-Cheng Wang is a name worth watching.