Baseball

3/20/2025 |  Shohei Ohtani headlines MLB’s memorable visit to Tokyo (Associated Press (AP)) The defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers opened the 2025 season by sweeping the Chicago Cubs in a two-game series in Japan. Highlights included the return of two-way star Shohei Ohtani to his native country.
He homered in Wednesday’s game. Other Japanese players had a chance to shine as well. Yoshinobu Yamamoto won the opener on the mound, with Shota Imanaga throwing four scoreless innings for Chicago. That was the first all-Japanese starting pitching duel on opening day in major league history. Then prized rookie Roki Sasaki made his debut for the Dodgers in the second game.

3/20/2025 |  Thanks to Ohtani, MLB enjoys huge success in Japan and has momentum heading into 2025 season (Associated Press (AP)) TOKYO (AP) — There was the crack of Shohei Ohtani’s bat, the roars from the Tokyo Dome crowd and the beeps from the credit card machines at the massive merchandise center selling boatloads of Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs gear.
It all must have been music to the ears of Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.

3/19/2025 |  Ohtani and the Dodgers keep the Cubs and their rich history in the shadows in Japan (Associated Press (AP)) TOKYO (AP) — Chicago Cubs fans take pride in being underdogs, a role that ended briefly when they won the World Series in 2016 to end a 107-year drought between championships.
They were right at home in Tokyo facing the Los Angeles Dodgers and megastar Shohei Ohtani in a two-game series to open the Major League Baseball regular season. Chicago dropped the first game 4-1, then allowed a homer by Ohtani in a 6-3 defeat in the second game. 

3/19/2025 |  Shohei Ohtani came home as a national hero, and he didn’t let Japan down at the Tokyo Series (Associated Press (AP)) TOKYO (AP) — Shohei Ohtani’s every step, swing and smile were intensely followed this week during his homecoming at the Tokyo Dome, an event that would make most mortals wilt under the pressure.
The Japanese slugger was introduced before each at-bat to loud roars that continued until a few seconds before the pitch, when the crowd went into a silent trance that’s normally reserved for events like Wimbledon or the Masters. Every mighty hack — even if it produced a foul ball — drew gasps as roughly 42,000 fans waited to see if the national hero would deliver.

3/19/2025 |  Phillies Try to Block NL East Rivals From Analytics Software (Front Office Sports) The Philadelphia Phillies are suing an analytics company and its owner over an alleged contract breach the team claims aids its division rivals. 
The team filed a lawsuit on Friday against Zelus Analytics and its parent company Teamworks Innovations claiming they are attempting to sell components of their platform to teams within their division, violating the agreement they had with the Phillies—and in effect, undermining its competitive advantage.