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Demorest, Georgia: Hometown of the “Big Cat”
In June 2013, while on a road trip around the United States, I visited Demorest, Georgia, a small city with a population of less than 2,000. Johnny Mize (who died in 1993 at age 80), one of the greatest players in Major League Baseball history, was born and raised in Demorest. He studied at Piedmont College in Demorest, where he devoted himself to baseball and became a major leaguer. Piedmont College houses the “Johnny Mize Athletic Center”, a memorial to him. Johnny Mize p
Dec 26, 2025
Van Meter, Iowa : Hometown of the "Fireball Pitcher"
In the summer of 2010, while on a road trip around the United States, I stopped in Madison County, Iowa, to see Roseman Bridge, the covered bridge made famous by the novel "The Bridges of Madison County " by Robert James Waller. This is an internationally bestselling novel about the love story between a photographer who comes to Madison County to photograph covered bridges and a local married woman. The 1995 film of the same name based on this novel was also a huge hit, star
Nov 28, 2025
Commerce, Oklahoma : The Hometown of the Greatest Switch-Hitter in History
During the summer of 2010, I took a road trip across the United States. On that trip, I visited a place I had always wanted to see: the town of Commerce, located in northeastern Oklahoma. Baseball fans will immediately recognize this name. Yes, it's famous as the hometown of Mickey Mantle. Mickey Mantle played for the New York Yankees in the 1950s and 60s and is considered the greatest switch-hitter in Major League Baseball history. His 536 career home runs rank 18th all-tim
Nov 7, 2025
Hubbard, Texas : The first man to achieve “another” 50-50
In the summer of 2011, I was driving around the US, mainly in Alabama and Mississippi, but I decided to take a quick trip to Texas as...
Oct 3, 2025
Yogi Berra, whom I will never forget
From the late 1940s to the early 1960s, the New York Yankees had a great catcher named Yogi Berra, who was selected as the regular season MVP three times and whose name will forever remain in the history of MLB. The Yankees were in a golden age during Yogi Berra's time with the team, and he won the World Series a total of 10 times. Yogi Berra is also an unforgettable Major League Baseball player for me. I became an avid MLB fan after watching a Yankees game live at the stad
6 days ago
"White Christmas"
Recently, I learned that there are quite a few young people who don't know the extremely famous Christmas song, "White Christmas." I wasn't surprised by this fact, because "White Christmas" is an old song and people have different interests. But then it occurred to me. There are some things about "White Christmas" that even older people don't realize. So, this time I'll be talking about "White Christmas." "White Christmas" was first sung by Bing Crosby, the lead actor in th
Dec 19, 2025
A special person listed in the dictionary
Since this year’s MLB schedule ended, several new managerial and coaching appointments have been announced. Some of these announcements have been what I consider to be rare or bold, such as Kurt Suzuki being named the new manager of the Los Angeles Angels and Tony Vitello being named the new manager of the San Francisco Giants. Kurt Suzuki, who played as a catcher in the major leagues for 16 years, retired in 2022, only three years ago, and he's still young at 42. It's fair
Dec 12, 2025
Roy Campanella and George Clooney
The Los Angeles Dodgers have established the Roy Campanella Award. Each year, players and coaches vote for one player who, like Roy Campanella, demonstrates leadership and spiritual strength within the team. The award was established in 2006, and this year marks its 20th anniversary. It was announced on September 20th that Miguel Rojas has been selected as the 2025 recipient for the second consecutive year, following last year. Besides Rojas, three other players have been se
Nov 21, 2025
Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Cy Young Award
Last year, in 2025, Paul Skenes was selected as the National League Cy Young Award winner. I think that was a predictable and natural selection. However, in Japan, many people were very disappointed that Yoshinobu Yamamoto did not win the award. These people seemed to assume that Yamamoto's postseason performance would be considered for the Cy Young Award, even though that is not the case. A Japanese sports magazine features Yoshinobu Yamamoto on its cover at the moment of t
Jan 2
Shohei Ohtani and MVP
This year, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers was selected as the 2025 National League MVP, unanimously so. As a huge Shohei Ohtani fan, I was thrilled by the result, but I was also surprised. I thought that while Shohei Ohtani might be selected, it wouldn't be a unanimous vote, and that it would be a close race between him and Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies. While Shohei Ohtani, a two-way player, led in metrics like OPS and WAR, he didn’t win any of the th
Dec 5, 2025
Cal Raleigh : The "strange" switch-hitter who set a great record
This year, in 2025, I was both amazed and deeply impressed by what Seattle Mariners catcher and switch-hitter Cal Raleigh accomplished. In 1970, Johnny Bench set the record for most home runs by a catcher in a single season with 45. In 2021, Salvador Pérez, who surpassed Bench's record, had 48 home runs. Cal Raleigh has now achieved the incredible feat of breaking that record with 60 home runs. His 60 home runs also surpassed Ken Griffey Jr.'s previous record of 56 in 1997 a
Nov 14, 2025
Two Superstars in 2025 : Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani
It's fair to say that Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are the two most representative superstars in Major League Baseball today. These two players performed remarkably well this year during the 2025 regular season, though both also had their share of disappointments. This time, I'd like to look back on their accomplishments and disappointments. A concise but well-written biography of Aaron Judge by Clayton Geoffreys (2020) A press photo collection of Shohei Ohtani from the firs
Oct 17, 2025
Author
Makio Mukai, MD, PhD
I'm MLB enthusiast.
From 2007 to 2019, I wrote weekly column about MLB for the Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shimbun.
I have published three books about MLB in Japanese.
Yogi Berra, whom I will never forget
From the late 1940s to the early 1960s, the New York Yankees had a great catcher named Yogi Berra, who was selected as the regular season MVP three times and whose name will forever remain in the history of MLB. The Yankees were in a golden age during Yogi Berra's time with the team, and he won the World Series a total of 10 times. Yogi Berra is also an unforgettable Major League Baseball player for me. I became an avid MLB fan after watching a Yankees game live at the stad
6 days ago
Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Cy Young Award
Last year, in 2025, Paul Skenes was selected as the National League Cy Young Award winner. I think that was a predictable and natural selection. However, in Japan, many people were very disappointed that Yoshinobu Yamamoto did not win the award. These people seemed to assume that Yamamoto's postseason performance would be considered for the Cy Young Award, even though that is not the case. A Japanese sports magazine features Yoshinobu Yamamoto on its cover at the moment of t
Jan 2
Demorest, Georgia: Hometown of the “Big Cat”
In June 2013, while on a road trip around the United States, I visited Demorest, Georgia, a small city with a population of less than 2,000. Johnny Mize (who died in 1993 at age 80), one of the greatest players in Major League Baseball history, was born and raised in Demorest. He studied at Piedmont College in Demorest, where he devoted himself to baseball and became a major leaguer. Piedmont College houses the “Johnny Mize Athletic Center”, a memorial to him. Johnny Mize p
Dec 26, 2025
"White Christmas"
Recently, I learned that there are quite a few young people who don't know the extremely famous Christmas song, "White Christmas." I wasn't surprised by this fact, because "White Christmas" is an old song and people have different interests. But then it occurred to me. There are some things about "White Christmas" that even older people don't realize. So, this time I'll be talking about "White Christmas." "White Christmas" was first sung by Bing Crosby, the lead actor in th
Dec 19, 2025
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