This column takes a highly critical stance toward Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers' leadership. It may well offend or anger not only Ohtani and the Dodgers' front office but also some of their fans. Some might even feel the urge to shout at me, "Who do you think you are—an amateur spouting off like that!" I am fully aware of these risks, yet there is something I feel compelled to say—speaking both as a devoted Major League Baseball fan of 71 years and as a medical do

Shohei Ohtani, who had long been reported to be dealing with issues involving his left knee, neck, and right biceps, was finally placed on the Injured List (IL) on September 11. This development has sparked a wide range of opinions in both the United States and Japan. Some argue that the decision to put him on the IL came too late. Photograph of Shohei Ohtani featured on the cover of an interview book by Yuta Ishida (in Japanese; Bungeishunju Ltd., 2024) So, when should Ohta

This year, 2026, Shohei Ohtani's low home run count has become a major topic of discussion in both Japan and the US. In 2024, Ohtani hit a league-leading 54 home runs, and in 2025, he hit a career-high 55 home runs, ranking second in the league. It's fair to say that everyone recognized Ohtani as a hitter capable of hitting many home runs. However, as of the end of May 2026, Ohtani’s home run count is only 10. If he continues at this pace, he will finish the season with 27

Seiya Suzuki, a Japanese Major League Baseball player who has been playing for the Chicago Cubs since 2022, is a renowned player in Japanese professional baseball, having achieved the league’s top batting average twice and the league’s highest on-base percentage twice. Furthermore, he has achieved a batting average of .300 or higher and 25 or more home runs for six consecutive years in Japanese professional baseball. This is a record achieved by only three players in Japanese

Munetaka Murakami, a talented hitter who played in Japanese Professional baseball, will be playing for the Chicago White Sox starting this year. I imagine that baseball fans in the United States don't know much about what kind of baseball player Munetaka Murakami is. So, I'd like to talk about him from my own personal perspective. A magazine featuring all 56 home runs hit by Munetaka Murakami in 2022 (in Japanese, 2022, TAKARAJIMASHA, INC., Tokyo, Japan) When talking about

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

Since this year’s MLB schedule ended, several new managerial and coaching appointments have been announced. Some of these announcements have been what I consider to be rare or bold, such as Kurt Suzuki being named the new manager of the Los Angeles Angels and Tony Vitello being named the new manager of the San Francisco Giants. Kurt Suzuki, who played as a catcher in the major leagues for 16 years, retired in 2022, only three years ago, and he's still young at 42. It's fair

This year, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers was selected as the 2025 National League MVP, unanimously so. As a huge Shohei Ohtani fan, I was thrilled by the result, but I was also surprised. I thought that while Shohei Ohtani might be selected, it wouldn't be a unanimous vote, and that it would be a close race between him and Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies. While Shohei Ohtani, a two-way player, led in metrics like OPS and WAR, he didn’t win any of the th

This year, in 2025, I was both amazed and deeply impressed by what Seattle Mariners catcher and switch-hitter Cal Raleigh accomplished. In 1970, Johnny Bench set the record for most home runs by a catcher in a single season with 45. In 2021, Salvador Pérez, who surpassed Bench's record, had 48 home runs. Cal Raleigh has now achieved the incredible feat of breaking that record with 60 home runs. His 60 home runs also surpassed Ken Griffey Jr.'s previous record of 56 in 1997 a

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

In the summer of 2011, I was driving around the US, mainly in Alabama and Mississippi, but I decided to take a quick trip to Texas as...

All home run leaders (the players with the most home runs in each season in each league) naturally possess incredible power. But are there any home run leaders who also possess incredible speed? To explore this, I looked at players who were both home run leaders and triples leaders (the players with the most triples in each season in each league), as well as players who were both home run leaders and stolen base leaders (the players with the most stolen bases in each season i

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...

It's amazing that Shohei Ohtani achieved 50-50 (50 or more home runs, 50 or more stolen bases) in 2024, because no one in the long...