Category Archives: Commentary

Former White Sox Series champ Iguchi honored for off-field work

Chiba Lotte Marines manager Tadahito Iguchi, the second baseman for the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox, became the 40th recipient of the Golden Spirt Award in Japan on Monday for his contributions away from the field, according to the Nikkan Sports. He joins Hideki Matsui, Tsuyoshi Wada, Bobby Valentine, Hisashi Iwakuma and Yu Darvish as big leaguers who have been honored.

In 1997, he began donating wheelchairs in his hometown to Nishitokyo City Hall and has been involved in community support activities for 21 years. Iguchi’s efforts are highly appreciated. He has visited child care institutions and elderly nursing home facilities, supported areas afflicted by disaster, promoted sports and helped out local communities. He has also been involved the pink ribbon campaign in the fight against breast cancer.

“I believe that this award is not only for me but also for people who have supported me in each category, and I will continue to continue activities to give courage, emotion and hope,” Iguchi said. “As a baseball person I will continue to do my best for the development of the game.”

The award ceremony coincided with Iguchi’s 44th birthday, and two surprise guests helped him celebrate. Mr. Takuya Matsumoto, who supported heart transplant surgery in the United States during Iguchi’s time with the Chicago White Sox era, and Dr. Shunei Kyo, the head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital, presented the skipper with a flowers and a cake.

SoftBank Hawks chairman and Hall of Fame slugger Sadaharu Oh, and Yomiuri Giants batting coach Sadao Yoshimura, were honored with special prizes and were also in attendance.






When stars align: How an astrophysicist unraveled a baseball mystery

Dr. Meredith Wills understands the music of the spheres.

One of the best baseball stories I heard this year had little to do with people swinging at pitches, running the bases, chasing down batted balls or wins and losses. It was about how much baseball interacts with individuals’ lives and how their lives can interact with baseball.

On June 6, 2019 Shohei Ohtani was sidelined with yet another blister, and because of a baseball- and knitting-loving astrophysicist, we now understand more about why Ohtani’s blister developed.

Although a shock to his many fans, Ohtani’s injury represented just another data point in an increasingly frequent problem. Since 2016 more and more major league pitchers have been dealing with blisters on their pitching hands, but what was different about Ohtani’s was not the nature of the injury, but its timing.

Only hours before he was forced from the mound at Angels Stadium, someone at last had an answer for the blisters.

Enter Dr. Meredith Wills, an astrophysicist who had made a career of studying the cause of solar storms. Major League Baseball believed its ball had not changed, but Wills discovered the laces on current balls were thicker, and the likely cause of the surge in both home runs and blisters.

You can find my original story on Kyodo News’ free website HERE.