Four-time All-Star catcher, Russell Martin, announced his retirement from baseball on Instagram on May 28. Martin was a free agent since he last played for the Dodgers in 2009. The Dodgers chose him as a third baseman in the 17th round of the 2002 MLB draft. Martin played for teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, and Toronto Blue Jays. The catcher was selected to the All-Star game four times(2007, 2008, 2011, 2015) and won the 2007 Gold Glove Award and Silver Slugger Award. Former Dodgers pitcher Takashi Saito and Yankees pitcher Hiroki Kuroda used to form a battery with him. The 39-year-old hit .248 with 191 homers and 771 RBIs for 14 seasons in his big league career. According to his Instagram, Martin shows an interest in golf in his second chapter. (MLB No.179 KAISPO No.1189)
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The Chicago Cubs' right fielder, Seiya Suzuki, left the game due to injuring his left ring finger. Suzuki started the game against the Cincinnati Reds as a furth batter at Great American Ball Park on May 26. He hurt his left ring finger when he stole the second after his single in the third. In the bottom of the fourth, the outfielder was replaced by Rafael Ortega, although he continued to play, enduring pain. The Cubs are opening a two-game series with the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field following an off-day Friday. The Cub's manager, David Ross, revealed that he did not break any bones after the game. Whether he will participate in the series will depend on his condition before the first game. The 27-year-old player went 1-for-2 and is hitting .245. The Reds gained a sweeping victory over the Cubs, 20-5. (MLB No.178 KAISPO No.1188) Shohei Ohtani shot a leadoff home run to encourage the Angels. Ohtani started the game as the designated leadoff hitter against the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium on May 22. He crashed Cole Irvin's second pitch in the first and launched it into a deep center beyond a fence. His 9th homer of the season reached 150 home runs in his combined professional career in America and Japan. The 27-year-old player hit 48 homers in Nippon Professional Baseball and 102 in the big league. Today Ohtani had an infield hit in his fifth at-bat and went 2-for-5 with an RBI. He became the third Japan-born Major Leaguer to hit 100 homers after Hideki Matsui (175) and Ichiro Suzuki (117). The Angels beat the Athletics, 4-1, to keep the second place behind the Astros in the American League West. (MLB No.177 KAISPO No.1187) The Toronto Blue Jays' lefty, Yusei Kikuchi, had six solid innings. Kikuchi started the game vs. the Seattle Mariners at Rogers Centre on May 16th. Toronto's batters backed Kikuchi with home runs of Bichette and Chapman in the first two innings. The left-hander walked three and struck out six, commanding his four-seam fastball with 97.1 mph and slider. The 30-year-old pitcher allowed only one hit over six frames to beat his former team and improved to 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA. Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels was his high school, Hanamaki Higashi high school junior. He played for eight seasons in NPB before starting his MLB career with the Seattle Mariners in 2019 and made his big league debut as a starting pitcher in the game against the Oakland Athletics at Tokyo Dome, Japan, on March 21st of the same year. The game was a farewell match of an MLB legend, Ichiro Suzuki. Kikuchi joined Toronto with a three-year contract in March. (MLB No.176 KAISPO No.1185) The Los Angeles Angels' Reid Detmers threw a no-hitter in the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Angel Stadium on May 10. The rookie gave up only a walk with two strikeouts to have his first win in MLB. It was the 12th no-hitter in the Angels' history. The Angels, with 18 hits, beat the Rays, 12-0. The left-hander made the second no-hitter game this MLB season following a combined no-hitter by five pitchers of the New York Mets in the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at City Field on April 29. The 22-year-old pitcher was selected by the Angels in the 2020 MLB draft and made his big league debut in 2021. The game was for his 11th MLB start. The Angels lineup supported Detmers from the first inning to make eight runs by the end of the third. Mike Trout shot two homers in the second and eighth. Chad Wallach hit his first home run of the season in the third. Finally, Anthony Rendon homered in his first MLB at-bat as a left-handed hitter to pile up 12 runs when the Rays' outfielder, Brett Phillips, took the mound in the eighth. (MLB No.175 KAISPO No.1183) Ohtani showed his electric two-way performance. Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels started the game against the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher, designated batting third at Fenway Park on May 5. It was his first time taking the mound at the historic stadium. As a pitcher, Ohtani struck out 11 and gave up six hits and no walk in seven scoreless innings with 81 strikes of his 99 pitches, a career-high. Shohei showed spirited pitching with a courageous shout, having a strikeout. The left-handed batter went 2-for-4 with an RBI. In the top of the fourth, he hit a single on a deep fly ball hitting a fence directly on center field. Shohei sharply singled on a line drive that intensely banged the Green Monster in the top of the eighth. The Angels won the game handily, 8-0. The two-way star earned his third win of the season and became the first pitcher to hit in the top four batting order since Babe Ruth in 1919. (MLB No.174 KAISPO No.1182) Incredible college pitcher!! The University of Tennessee pitcher Ben Joyce recorded a 105.5 mph fastball in the game against Auburn on May 1. It was the fastest in college baseball history. In the eighth inning, Joyce broke his own record, which was 104 mph he threw in March against South Carolina. The velocity was almost the same speed as the MLB record of 105.8 mph Aroldis Chapman had in 2010. So, the young right-hander was surprisingly the second-fastest pitcher behind Chapman in baseball history at any level. He allowed only one hit with six strikeouts in four frames in the game. Joyce is now 2-1 with 38 strikeouts and a 1.71 ERA in 21 innings pitched. (MLB No.173 KAISPO No.1181) 5/4/2022 0 Comments Dusty Baker reach 2,000 winsCongratulations!! The Huston Astros' manager, Dusty Baker, became the 12th manager to reach 2,000 wins in the MLB history. The Astros won the game vs. the Seattle Mariners, 4-0 at Minute Maid Park on May 3, giving Baker the memorial win. The 72-year-old manager played for four teams such as the Braves, Dodgers, Giants, and Athletics before being a manager. Baker accumulated the great number of victories, managing five teams such as the Giants, Cubs, Reds, Nationals, and Astros. The Astros he has been managing since 2020, is standing at the second place following the Angels in the American League West this season. The manager is aiming at the World Series Champion for the first time in his managerial career. (MLB No.172 KAISPO No.1180) 5/4/2022 0 Comments That's Why I love BaseballThe Blue Jays fan gave the young Yanks' fan the home run ball by Aaron Judge. MLB is a big dream of many children. (MLB No.171 KAISPO No.1179) Congratulations!! Jason Krizan had his first big league hit. The San Francisco Giant's outfielder, Jason Krizan, started the game against the Washington Nationals as a left fielder, batting eighth at Oracle Park on May 1. Krizan singled on a line drive to right field for the first of his MLB career in front of his wife and young child, who saw the hit. Before joining the Giants, he played in the minor league for eleven years since the Detroit Tigers selected him in the eighth round of the 2011 MLB draft. The 32-year-old rookie was called up from Las Vegas to the MLB for the first time on April 29 because Brandon Belt was placed on the COVID-19 list and made the big league debut on the same day. (MLB No.170 KAISPO No.1178) Congratulations!! The Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodriguez hit his first big league career homer. The 21-year-old player shot the three-run homer on a fly ball that landed on a left-center field in the sixth and made the game 5-0. On May 1st, he started the game against the Miami Marlins as a center fielder, batting seventh at loanDepot Park. The Dominican player made his MLB debut this season. The Mariners beat the Marlins, 7-3. (MLB No.169 KAISPO No.1177) |
AuthorHidefumi Kai Archives
April 2023
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