Tokyo International News Agency

The Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) officially announced on the 10th the establishment of the "Shigeo Nagashima Award" to honor the immense achievements of the late Shigeo Nagashima. This new award will be introduced from the 2026 season onwards and will be presented to position players who demonstrate outstanding performance in official games during that year and contribute to enhancing the value of professional baseball through their fan-engaging play on the field. Following this announcement, numerous professional baseball fans have expressed enthusiastic welcoming remarks on social media. Positive reactions such as "Wonderful" and "Really looking forward to it" have poured in, and excitement is already building with speculation about "Who will be the first recipient?" Among active players, names like Tetsuto Yamada, Teruaki Sato, Yuki Yanagita, Shota Morishita, Okabayashi, and Hayato Sakamoto have been mentioned as specific candidates, alo...

The Eiji Sawamura Award, considered the highest honor for professional baseball pitchers, was announced on the 27th, with Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters pitcher Hiroshi Ito receiving it for the first time. This marks a remarkable achievement for the team, as it's their second winner in 18 years, the first being Yu Darvish in 2007. This season, Ito secured two titles: the Most Wins Award for the second consecutive year and his first Most Strikeouts Award. While he cleared three of the Sawamura Award selection criteria, his top-ranking performance in five categories, including innings pitched, across both leagues was highly praised. Upon this good news, congratulatory messages from fans flooded the social media platform 'X' (formerly Twitter). Expressions of joy, such as 'Congratulations, Hiroshi! Congrats on the Sawamura Award! 🎉🎊㊗️🎊,' 'Wooooow!!!! Congratulations!!!!', 'So happy..! 😂 Congrats!!! Please deliver again next year 🙏', and 'As a Hok...

The prestigious Sawamura Award in professional baseball was announced on the 27th, with Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters pitcher Hiroshi Ito (28) receiving the honor for the first time. Ito, who recorded 14 wins and 6 complete games this season, was recognized for embodying the Sawamura Award's philosophy as the "most outstanding complete-game starting pitcher of the season." However, this award announcement has generated significant buzz on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), sparking lively debate about the Sawamura Award's characteristic emphasis on "complete-game starters" and its relevance in modern baseball. The Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) explicitly reiterated that the Sawamura Award is "presented to the most outstanding complete-game starting pitcher of the season, commemorating the late Eiji Sawamura, a legendary pitcher from the early days of professional baseball." Tsuneo Horiuchi, chairman of the selection committee, explain...