Japan Baseball Weekly

Jim Allen and John E. Gibson go over a chat with two-time CL homer king Netali Soto of Yokohama, talk about the BayStars, the Seibu Lions repeating in the PL, discuss the Climax Series matchups, the retirement of Shinnosuke Abe, the notion of Shingo Takatsu taking over as Yakult skipper and then handle some HighHeat.

Jim Allen and John E. Gibson unpack a chat with slugger Ernesto Mejia, look at the Lions, discuss the Central League-clinching Yomiuri Giants, the retirement of Hanshin star pitcher Randy Messenger, briefly hit on Rakuten skipper Yosuke Hiraishi and then handle some HighHeat.

Jim Allen and special guest Jason Coskrey discuss a recent pregame powwow with DeNA skipper Alex Ramirez, talk about the BayStars, the playoff chases in both leagues, take a quick look at the second no-no of the season, this one by Yudai Ono of the Dragons, examine the recent high number of guys either stepping away suddenly or being blasted out of organizations and handle a couple of HighHeat questions.

John E. Gibson and Jim Allen discuss an interview with Ruby de la Rosa of Yomiuri, we talk about the Giants, hit on the playoff races in the Pacific and Central leagues, look at the magic of magic numbers in the Wild Wild Westbay segment, briefly touch on Kodai Senga’s no-hitter and handle some HighHeat.

John E. Gibson and Jim Allen discuss an interview with (J-Rod) Joely Rodriguez of Chunichi, we talk about the Dragons, deliver our power rankings in the Mini Trax segment, look at the playoff races in the Pacific and Central leagues, introduce the Wild Wild Westbay numbers game, hit some notes (including Tetsuto Yamada and the 50K homer) and handle some HighHeat.

John E. Gibson and Jim Allen discuss an interview with Mike Bolsinger of Lotte, we talk about the Marines, the playoff races in the Pacific and Central leagues, Yakult's Tetsuto Yamada and Munetaka Murakami’s achievements, the notion of Shogo Akiyama playing in the majors and more.

John E. Gibson and Jim Allen discuss an interview with Johnny Barbato of Nippon Ham, we talk about the Fighters, the benches-clearing incident between the Lions and Buffaloes, Xavier Batista of the Carp getting popped for an NPB-banned substance and then finish with a HighHeat question from our buddy Claudio in Toronto.

John E. Gibson and Jim Allen discuss an interview with Jabari Blash of Rakuten, we talk about some home run figures for the Lotte Marines, injuries and lineup changes for the BayStars and others, the notion of the electronic ump in NPB, we hit some notes and then finish with a HighHeat listener question.

John E. Gibson and Jim Allen discuss an interview with Scott McGough of the Swallows, we talk about Yakult before going through our NPB power rankings in the Mini Trax segment, we touch on Yomiuri skipper Tatsunori Hara’s milestone victory, hit some notes (including the Loek van Mil passing) and handle some HighHeat.

John E. Gibson and Jim Allen discuss an interview with Tyler Eppler of the Buffaloes, we talk about Orix before looking at the races in the Pacific and Central leagues and touching briefly on the big story last week of high school fireballer Roki Sasaki being held out of a game to protect his arm/future.