61.   His home run in the bottom of the second inning was the first in his five-year career in Japanese pro baseball.

62.   If granted, the new visa status would pave way for him to play professional Japanese baseball.

63.   However, Hawks pitchers intentionally walked Rhodes twice on Sunday, prompting the commissioner of Japanese baseball to call for fair play.

64.   Ichiro is the second player in Japanese baseball history to become MVP three straight years.

65.   It also could lead to friction between U.S. and Japanese baseball, the paper added.

66.   It was a true homecoming for Nomo, who left Japanese baseball two years ago.

67.   It was the first time in the Japanese professional baseball history that a player hit for the cycle for three times in career.

68.   Japan Series sluggers Ichiro Suzuki of the Orix BlueWave and Hideki Matsui of the Yomiuri Giants were named the most valuable players in Japanese baseball Saturday.

69.   Japanese baseball star Hideki Irabu said his performance in his final minor league test made him feel ready to make the step up to the New York Yankees.

70.   Japanese baseball fans on Tuesday cheered news that Seattle Mariners reliever Kazuhiro Sasaki was voted the AL rookie of the year.