The 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the twelfth edition of the

MLB Japan All-Star Series The MLB Japan All-Star Series is an irregular end-of-the-season tour of Japan made by an All-Star team from Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1986, contested in a best-of format against the All-Stars from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) ...

, a best-of-six series between an All-Star team from

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB) and for the second time in series history, the Japanese national team, Samurai Japan won. The manager of Samurai Japan saw in this championship a big opportunity for Japan to gain momentum for the

2020 Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

History

On May 1, 2018, MLB announced that it would send an all-star team to tour Japan after the end of the current season, with six games scheduled against a select Nippon Professional Baseball squad from November 9 to 15. On August 20, 2018, Samurai Japan announced that held one exhibition game against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

and five coaches and six selected players. On September 10, 2018,

Major League Baseball Players Association The Major League Baseball Players Association (or MLBPA) is the union representing all current Major League Baseball players. All players, managers, coaches, and athletic trainers who hold or have held a signed contract with a Major League c ...

and MLB announced the first eight selected MLB players. On October 9,

Tomoyuki Sugano is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Career College career Sugano went to Tokai University, where he had a 37–4 win–loss record and a 0.57 earned run average (ERA). In ...

canceled his participation for Samurai Japan. On October 10, Samurai Japan announced all selected 28 players. On October 15, Chinese Taipei announced all selected 24 players. On October 18, 2018, Katsuki Azuma canceled his participation for Samurai Japan. On October 26, 2018, Taichi Ishiyama and

Yoshitomo Tsutsugo is a Japanese professional baseball outfielder and first baseman in the Texas Rangers organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates and for the Yokohama BayStars/ ...

canceled their participation for Samurai Japan. On October 29, 2018,

Christian Yelich Christian Stephen Yelich (born December 5, 1991) is an American professional baseball left fielder for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Miami Marlins. The Marlins selected Yelich in the first r ...

canceled his participation for MLB, Roster rules changed 28 to 29, announced all selected MLB players, and and canceled their participation for Chinese Taipei. On November 1, 2018,

Takahiro Matsunaga is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher. He was born on April 16, 1988. He is currently playing for the Chiba Lotte Marines of the NPB. On October 10, 2018, he was selected to be part of the Japan national baseball team at the 2018 MLB Japan ...

canceled his participation for Samurai Japan. On November 2, 2018,

Shuta Ishikawa is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Professional career On October 24, 2013, Ishikawa was drafted as a developmental player by the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in the 2013 ...

canceled his participation for Samurai Japan, and

Che-hsuan Lin Che-Hsuan Lin (; born September 21, 1988) is a Taiwanese professional baseball outfielder for the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). He played in Major League Baseball with the Boston Red Sox in 2012. Career Lin w ...

canceled his participation for Chinese Taipei. On November 5, 2018, canceled his participation for Chinese Taipei. On November 16, 2018, Yomiuri Giants announced all selected players. For the first time, the MLB All-Star team stopped in Hawai'i en route to the Japan All-Star series. The 28 player team batted in two workout games in front of fans at

Les Murakami Stadium Les Murakami Stadium is the baseball stadium at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu CDP,TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Com ...

, Nippon Television,

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

, TBS,

BS-TBS is a Japanese satellite broadcasting station headquartered in Akasaka Gochome, Minato, Tokyo. Its channel name is BS-TBS (formerly, BS-i). It is a member television station of Japan News Network. Channels *Television: BS-TBS is assigned BS16 ...

(Japan) *

MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Co ...

(US & Canada)

References

External links

* {{MLB Japan All-Star Series 2018 in Japanese sport 2018 in baseball MLB Japan All-Star Series

Sports competitions in Tokyo Sports competitions in Hiroshima Sports competitions in Nagoya