Baseball

1/20/2025 |  Ichiro is about to get his Hall of Fame moment. For Japan, he’s more than just a baseball star (Associated Press (AP)) TOKYO (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball, but he’s much more than that in Japan.
Back home, he’s a wellspring of national pride, much like Shohei Ohtani now. His triumphs across the Pacific buoyed the nation as Japan’s economy sputtered through the so-called lost decades of the 1990s and into the 2000s.
“He healed the wounds in Japan’s national psyche,” Kiyoteru Tsutsui, professor of sociology at Stanford University, told The Associated Press.

1/17/2025 |  Shohei Ohtani is donating $500,000 to help firefighters and others affected by the LA wildfires (Associated Press (AP)) LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is donating $500,000 to help firefighters and animals forced to flee the deadly wildfires around the region.
Ohtani announced his intention on Instagram, with LA Strong in white lettering against a black background.
“We’ll be donating $500,000 to help those firefighters and those forced to live in shelter to help animals in need,” he wrote. 

1/17/2025 |  Baseball Hall of Fame: CBS Sports voters discuss where they land on PEDs, Félix Hernández and more (CBS Sports) Next Tuesday (Jan. 21), the results of the balloting for the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame class will be revealed. CBS Sports has two first-time voters who took part in the process. Mike Axisa's ballot can be viewed here while Matt Snyder's can be viewed here. There are similarities to the ballots, of course, but there are some differences as well. 

1/16/2025 |  Texas Rangers will stream broadcasts after seasons of difficult access to games (Associated Press (AP)) The Texas Rangers are making their regional game broadcasts available directly to consumers in a streaming package they say is the first step in providing multiple viewing options after several seasons of access issues.
The MLB team announced Wednesday that it entered into a multiyear agreement with A Parent Media Co. Inc. (APMC) to stream Rangers regional games on the Victory+ service starting this year.

1/16/2025 |  Shotaro Morii, 18-year-old 2-way player, bypasses Japanese baseball to sign with Athletics (Associated Press (AP)) 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.