Joe Jackson is one of the greatest hitters in Major League Baseball history. His career batting average of .356 is the third-best in history. However, he was permanently banned for his involvement in fixing games in the 1919 World Series. There are many different opinions and endless debate about whether Jackson actually participated in fixing games. If he wasn’t actually involved, then Jackson would be a tragic hero, and many fans think so. I’m one of them. Now, it was the

This is a sequel to my last column. In my last column, I wrote about my personal analysis of the “rankings in eight batting categories.” Every year, I research each player’s league ranking in eight batting categories: hits, walks, home runs, runs, RBIs, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. I believe that players who achieve the top five in the league in all eight categories can be considered the best hitters in MLB. This is merely one example of wha

I’ ve been steadily conducting various analyses of Major League Baseball records for a long time, but they’ re all based on my own personal preferences. One of these analyses is the “rankings in eight batting categories.” Each year, I examine each player’ s league ranking in eight categories: hits, walks, home runs, runs, RBIs, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. It’ s difficult to achieve high rankings in all eight categories. For example, a player

I was eight years old in 1955. That fall, the New York Yankees came to Japan to play against Japanese professional baseball teams. I watched one of those games live at the stadium and was captivated by the Yankees' play. I became an avid Major League Baseball fan, and the Yankees who visited Japan that time remain unforgettable to me. Among them was Yogi Berra, the legendary catcher whose name will forever be remembered in Major League Baseball history. In August 2017, I vis

In the summer of 2010, while on a road trip around the United States, I stopped in Madison County, Iowa, to see Roseman Bridge, the covered bridge made famous by the novel "The Bridges of Madison County " by Robert James Waller. This is an internationally bestselling novel about the love story between a photographer who comes to Madison County to photograph covered bridges and a local married woman. The 1995 film of the same name based on this novel was also a huge hit, star

It's fair to say that Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are the two most representative superstars in Major League Baseball today. These two players performed remarkably well this year during the 2025 regular season, though both also had their share of disappointments. This time, I'd like to look back on their accomplishments and disappointments. A concise but well-written biography of Aaron Judge by Clayton Geoffreys (2020) A press photo collection of Shohei Ohtani from the firs

Fargo is located in the southeastern part of North Dakota, bordering Canada, in the northern part of the US mainland. It is the largest...

In 1941, Joe DiMaggio set a record of 56-game hitting streak. It is incredible that he had 56 consecutive games with at least one hit in...

I would like to start with the words that Ty Cobb seems to have said. Unfortunately, I have forgotten when and where I read them, so I...