Japan Baseball Weekly

MLB.com researcher and reporter Sarah Langs joins as we rank the top 10 Japanese players in major league history, then Jim and John chat about camps, Samurai Japan and handle some HighHeat!!

Jim and John put a tidy bow on the panel conversation from the previous episode, discuss the opening of training camps, examine the crop of new skippers, chat about Samurai Japan and the WBC, and handle some HighHeat!!

Former Yakult outfielder and current Swallows international scout Aaron Guiel; former L.A. Dodgers GM and COO of Field of Dreams Movie Site, among other projects, Dan Evans; former player, Fighters skipper and Texas Rangers manager Trey Hillman; writer Jim Allen form the panel, with John E. Gibson is the moderator, for our second panel discussion show!!

Jim and John discuss the posted players making the jump to the major leagues, look at a couple of big free-agent moves, opine about the MVPs and top rookies, hit on an unruly rule as well as the Ohtani Rule and touch on one note about the NPB-style Rule 5 Draft.

Jason Coskrey joins Jim and John as we wrap up the Japan Series, look back at the season and discuss some free agents and international moves before closing things out with some HighHeat.

The Buffaloes Are The Best, Win Japan Series, West Wing, Notes | Jim and John discuss the Orix Buffaloes and their run to a Japan Series championship, our West Wing segment from Michael Westbay examines the two-year career of Hanshin Tigers star slugger Teruaki Sato and we hit a couple of notes. The details of the West Wing study info Teruaki Sato can be found here . The data, in Tab Separated Val...

Jim and John break down the biggest moments from the first two games of the Japan Series, highlight some of the players taken atop the recent draft and close things out by handing some HighHeat.

Jim and John offer their impressions of each game of the second stage of the CLCS and PLCS, make our predictions for the Japan Series rematch between the defending champion Yakult Swallows and the Orix Buffaloes, look at late-game team performances, and handle some HighHeat.

Jim and John break down an interview with our guest this week, Yakult Swallows international adviser Tony Barnette, we offer our takes on the first round of the CLCS and PLCS, discuss the second-round matchups and look at managerial changes.

Jim and John discuss the final-day finish that ends with the Buffaloes joining the Swallows as back-to-back pennant winners, we discuss Hiroshima skipper Shinji Sasaoka and Lotte manager Tadahito Iguchi both stepping down, Hanshin turning its “back” to the future with new skipper Akinobu Okada, BIGBOSS going back to his name and Roki rocks in final appearance.

Brian O'Grady of Seibu is the guest, Jim and John discuss the playoff races in the Central and Pacific leagues, and present some intriguing pitch-count data.

CL And PL Playoff Races, Murakami, Unruly Rules, Rock N Roki, Itoi Out | Jim and John look at the tight playoff races in the Central and Pacific leagues, discuss the Triple Crown season for Munetaka Murakami, look at possible rule changes for Japanese baseball now the major leagues have adopted drastic new limitations, go Rockin' with Roki and comment on Yoshio Itoi's retirement announcement.

Aaron Guiel is the guest, we look at the races in both leagues, discuss the new NPB Rule 5-type draft, briefly touch on the Kosuke Fukudome retirement announcement and handle some HighHeat.

We feature Part II of an interview with special guest Trey Hillman, former Nippon Ham skipper, deliver our Mini Trax power rankings segment, examine the races in the Central and Pacific leagues, go over the top performers of August and go rocking with Roki.

Claudio Rodriguez sits in for John, former Nippon Ham skipper Trey Hillman is the special guest (Part I), we look at the no-hitter Fighters righty Cody Ponce tossed to beat SoftBank, the races in the Central and Pacific leagues and go rocking with Roki.

Michael Westbay has his West Wing segment focusing on BayStars closer Yamasaki, we look at the races in the Central and Pacific leagues and quickly look at the top MVP candidates in both leagues.

Orix pitcher Jacob Waguespack is the guest, we look at the races in the Central and Pacific leagues hit our Rok N with Roki segment and close it out with some HighHeat.

We briefly pay homage to Vin Scully, discuss the races in both the PL and CL, look at the top performers for July, hit our Rok N with Roki segment and handle as much HighHeat as we can.

Jantzen Witte of the Seibu Lions is the guest, we look back at the two-game All-Star series, go through the three hottest and coldest NPB teams in July in our Mini Trax power rankings segment and handle some HighHeat to close things out.

Former Hanshin Tigers star Matt Murton is the guest, we talk about the ASGs coming up this week, discuss Dragons player development, Jim has WBC notes, we touch on the recent near no-no and handle some HighHeat to close things out.

We start by paying homage to Shohei Ohtani, then feature a chat with former NPB slugger Greg Boomer Wells, Jim offers some numbers on first-pitch takers and first-pitch swingers, we look at the standings in both leagues, especially the bullpen-led Lions, before closing things out with some HighHeat.

Former NPB slugger Craig Brazell is the guest, Michael Westbay comes on for his West Wing segment, we calmly discuss the Koji Chikamoto hitting streak coming to an end, touch on Takeya Okawari-kun Nakamura taking over as the all-time NPB strikeout leader among hitters and handle some HighHeat.

Ryan McBroom of the Carp is the guest, we look at Shogo Akiyama joining Hiroshima, Mini Trax power rankings segment, top June performers, we go Rockin with Roki & discuss Koji Chikamoto hitting safely in 29 consecutive games.

Michael Westbay makes a cameo appearance, we look at the progress of the new managers, BIGBOSS, the ANTI- BIGBOSS and Fujimoto, discuss the NPB return of Shogo Akiyama, go Rockin with Roki & handle some HighHeat.

Mark Simon of Sports Info Solutions is the guest, we discuss the latest no-hitter and what might be behind the flurry of no-nos this season, look at the conversion of the Dragons' Akira Neo to pitcher and Yakult skipper Shingo Takatsu's new deal.