Category: Baseball

The Giants couldn’t close the gap with the Tigers, even in their head-to-head matchups, and the thread already had a resigned mood of just locking down 2nd place, with posts like “Might as well root for the Tigers too, just to keep 2nd safe.” Talk then shifted to comparing Japanese players’ home run totals over the years, with posters venting that — aside from Okamoto — Oshima and Sasaki’s 8 homers are the team’s best this season, and grumbling that the young players simply aren’t developing.

*This article is compiled from excerpts and summaries of the 5ch (Hello!Project board) thread “Giants Acting Manager 112.”

In Pacific League play on August 23, the Chiba Lotte Marines edged the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters 3-2 to notch their third straight win. Fujiwara went 3-for-3 including a leadoff home run, Ogawa delivered the go-ahead RBI, and Jackson picked up his 9th win of the season. Meanwhile, on 5ch it was the usual free-for-all — Fighters fans getting mocked as “Ham-kasu” (“Ham-trash”), digs about SoftBank’s sign-stealing scandal getting dragged in for no reason, and worries that the Fighters have basically become a one-man Reyes show.

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Source: nikkansports.com / Original article here

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Baseball] Pacific League: M 3-2 F [8/23] — Lotte wins 3rd straight, Fujiwara homers leadoff + 3 hits, Ogawa’s go-ahead RBI, Jackson’s 9th win, Nippon-Ham drops another.”

In the live-thread for the Giants–Carp game, Hiroshima catcher Mochimaru’s shaky pitch framing repeatedly came under fire, while fans also voiced frustration over Giants starter Mori’s inconsistent command of the strike zone. Thread regulars also reacted to Yahoo!’s live update describing a groundout to third as “just making contact, nothing more,” and the game was picked apart from every angle.

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Giants Acting Manager 111”.

The Dodgers rallied to beat the Pirates 4-3, extending their winning streak to five games. Starter Tarik Skubal, making his first appearance since being traded to the team, earned his first win with 11 strikeouts over 7 innings on 106 pitches, while Shohei Ohtani went hitless in three at-bats with two walks.

The thread debated the relative value of walks versus hits, trading numbers back and forth over Ohtani’s batting average with runners in scoring position and his OPS in close-and-late situations.

Published 8/23 (Sun) 10:59 — TBS NEWS DIG, Powered by JNN

■MLB: Dodgers 4-3 Pirates (Dodger Stadium, August 23 Japan time)

The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani (32) started at home against the Pirates, batting leadoff as DH. He went hitless in three at-bats with two walks and two strikeouts. Starter Tarik Skubal (29) allowed three runs in the first inning, but the Dodgers closed to within one run in the 4th on back-to-back RBI hits from Teoscar Hernández (33) and A. Thomas (26). In the 5th, a two-run RBI hit from Kyle Tucker (29) put the Dodgers ahead for good. Skubal shut out the Pirates from the 2nd inning on, throwing 7 innings on 106 pitches with 5 hits allowed, 11 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 3 runs (3 earned) to pick up his first win since joining the team, as the Dodgers claimed their fifth straight win.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment & Sports News+) thread “[Then Again, Ohtani…] Dodgers rally for their 5th straight win! Starter Skubal dazzles with 11 K’s for his first win since the trade — Shohei Ohtani goes hitless.”

DeNA’s Shintaro Fujinami made his first appearance in a month against the Yomiuri Giants on August 20, but the outing fell apart: he lasted only into the 3rd inning, giving up 4 hits and 3 runs before being pulled, and his demotion to the minors soon followed. On 5ch, opinions clashed head-on over the cause of his control problems — some blame lingering damage from being overworked under manager Tomoaki Kanemoto during his Hanshin days, when he was forced to throw over 160 pitches in a game, while others say it simply comes down to a lack of ability.

DeNA’s Shintaro Fujinami falls apart in first start in a month… heading to the minors. Is he now at risk of being “left out of next season’s plans”?

In a game where the team was going for a series sweep, it turned into a betrayal on the mound. DeNA’s Shintaro Fujinami was knocked out on August 20, 2026 against the Giants after just 2⅓ innings, giving up 4 hits and 3 runs — his shortest outing of the season. He also struggled with his ongoing control issues, walking 4 batters.

■ “Right now, Fujinami’s control isn’t the only unstable thing…”

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Baseball] DeNA’s Shintaro Fujinami falls apart in first start in a month… demoted to minors, control issues persist and fastball velocity drops. Is he now at risk of being “left out of next season’s plans”?“

A post by Kohei Morimoto, a former captain of Chiben Wakayama, explaining “why almost nobody quits the baseball team” went viral on X (formerly Twitter). On 5ch, users debated the team’s selective entry process—given that it fields only around 40 players a year while most Koshien regulars carry rosters of about 100—compared it to the old PL Gakuen powerhouse, and discussed how well its graduates have actually fared in professional baseball.

At the summer Koshien tournament, Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama) won a hard-fought battle against Kenei Takasaki (Gunma) to claim its fourth championship, tying for sixth-most all-time.

While many Koshien regulars carry rosters of around 100 players, Chiben Wakayama’s team hovers at roughly 40 each year. They put in some of the heaviest training loads in the country, yet almost all of the players stick it out for all three years.

Kohei Morimoto, who served as Chiben Wakayama’s team captain in 2004, laid out his own firsthand explanation in an X post titled “Why Almost Nobody Quits the Chiben Wakayama Baseball Team.”

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports News+) thread “[High School Baseball] Chiben Wakayama Former Captain’s Post on “Why Almost Nobody Quits the Team” Sparks Reaction: “I Relate to This So Much”.”

Chiben Wakayama and Kendai Takasaki faced off in the Koshien final — and as it turns out, both schools have been visited and coached by Ichiro. He sent a message saying, “Two schools I’ve worked with ended up meeting in the final. One of my dreams has come true, and I’m deeply moved.”

The thread saw a mix of cool skepticism (“isn’t it just a coincidence he happened to be connected to these two schools?”) and a tally showing that, of the 11 schools Ichiro has coached, Chiben Wakayama is the only one to ever reach Koshien. The discussion spun off into debate over whether he’s “strategically picking powerhouse schools” or whether “it’s just the media reporting on it after the fact.”

◇108th National High School Baseball Championship Final — Chiben Wakayama 4–3 Kendai Takasaki (August 22, 2026, Koshien)

Ichiro (52), who serves as Special Assistant to the Chairman and Instructor for the Mariners, sent a message on the 22nd to both schools

that fought a hard-fought battle in the 108th National High School Baseball Championship final at Koshien: Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama) and Kendai Takasaki (Gunma).

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

11AnonymousAug 22, 2026 19:12

Wasn't he just goofing around playing baseball with high school girls?

64AnonymousAug 22, 2026 20:03

Re: #11
He's been visiting all sorts of schools ever since he got his amateur coaching license. It's only for a day, so it really depends on how much of Ichiro's mindset the kids can soak up in that time.

Asahikawa Higashi High School (never been to Koshien)

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment & Sports Express+) thread “[High School Baseball] Ichiro Sends Message to Chiben Wakayama and Kendai Takasaki: “Two Schools I’ve Worked With Meet in the Final… One of My Dreams Has Come True”.”

A pitching WAR ranking posted on a 5ch live-discussion board sparked buzz after it showed Shohei Ohtani sitting at 26th (3.0) — trailing not only league-leading Misiorowski (5.5) but also fellow DH-only player Alvarez.

The thread split over whether continuing the two-way career still makes sense, given Ohtani currently falls short of the qualifying threshold in both hitting and pitching, with talk spilling over into his run of consecutive 30-homer seasons alongside players like Schwarber, and the state of his knee.

*This article is compiled as excerpts and a summary from the 5ch (Live Coverage G) thread “[Sad News] Shohei Ohtani Now Completely Out of the Running for Both the Cy Young and MVP lolololololololololololololololololol.”

Moments after Chiben Wakayama beat Kendai Takasaki 4–3 to claim their fourth summer Koshien title — and first in five years — Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund posted a congratulatory message on social media, setting off a buzz in 5ch’s live-thread community.

Why would a soccer club react to a high school baseball final? Theories flew across the thread, from a shared tiger-stripe uniform connection and rumors of past exchanges between the two clubs, to suspicions that the whole thing was staged.

The final of the 108th National High School Baseball Championship was held on August 22, with Chiben Wakayama (Wakayama) edging out Kendai Takasaki (Gunma) 4–3,

claiming their fourth title and first in five years. After the hard-fought game, a congratulatory message arrived for Chiben Wakayama from an unexpected source, catching fans off guard.

The message to the hard-hitting Chiben squad — now tied with PL Gakuen for four summer titles — came from none other than Borussia Dortmund, a powerhouse of Germany’s top soccer division.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

*This article was compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread [High School Baseball] Five Minutes After Chiben Wakayama’s Fourth Summer Title in Five Years, German Soccer Powerhouse Dortmund Sends Congratulations.

In the August 22 Giants-Carp game, the Giants cruised to a 5-0 win, extending their winning streak. Starting pitcher Yamato Daiki picked up his first professional win as a starter, backed by a two-run homer from Matsumoto Go and a timely hit from Nakayama. The thread lit up with a mix of questions about the manager’s lineup choices and praise for Daiki’s big day.

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Source: nikkansports.com / Original article here

*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment & Sports Speed+) thread “[Baseball] CL G 5-0 C [8/22] Giants win again, Daiki gets first career win in first start, Matsumoto’s 3rd HR (2-run), Nakayama’s timely hit, Carp shut out for 2nd straight game.”