The crack of the bat when a home run is launched into orbit is a sound like no other. No one has heard that sound more in MLB than Yankees star Aaron Judge. Judge has hit 47 homers over the wall in just 119 games.
However, there is another baseball star posting similar numbers across the pond. Japanese phenom Munetaka Murakami is the latest NPB player to spark MLB interest, crushing 44 dingers in 109 games. That’s on pace for a full season of 58 homers. A slight spike in homers and Murakami could quite easily pass the 60 home run plateau, a mark that has only been reached once in NPB history (Wladimir Balentien, 2013).
Munetaka Murakami is a 22-year-old third baseman who plays for the Yakult Swallows in the Japan Central League. Murakami has incredible power; since being selected in the first round of the 2017 NPB draft, Murakami has hit 148 homers in the NPB, considered the second best major league in the world. By comparison, Shohei Ohtani cleared the fence 48 times over the course of his five-year NPB career.
…keep reading
Kyrgios beats Yoshioka to win Citi Open
Japan Today – 08 Aug
Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios ended a three-year title drought by claiming the trophy at the site of his latest triumph, saving the only break point he faced in Sunday’s Citi Open final en route to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Yoshihito Nishioka.
Ichinojo wins the first sumo title
NHK – July 25
Top-ranked Ichinojo won his first title on Sunday at the major sumo tournament in Nagoya with 12 wins and three losses.
Sports page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Link to the source