Will Flynt (born November 23, 1967, in Escondido, California) is a former professional baseball player who played professionally in Taiwan and Japan. [1] FLynt played for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes in the Pacific League. He later worked as a coach in the Frontier League. [2]
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball that a player on the batting team, called the batter, tries to hit with a bat. The objective of the offensive team is to hit the ball into the field of play, away from the other team's players, allowing its players to run the bases, having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "runs". The objective of the defensive team is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners' advance around the bases. A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate.
Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called Puro Yakyū (プロ野球), meaning Professional Baseball. Outside of Japan, it is often referred to as "Japanese baseball".
The Yomiuri Giants are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They have played their home games in the Tokyo Dome since its opening in 1988. The team's owner is Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, Japan's largest media conglomerate which also owns two newspapers and the Nippon Television Network.
The Orix Buffaloes are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The team plays in the Pacific League and is under ownership by Orix, a leading diversified financial services company founded in Osaka.
Hensley Filemon Acasio Meulens, nicknamed "Bam Bam", is a Curaçaoan professional baseball coach and retired player. He is the hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Carl Reginald Smith is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and afterwards served as a coach and front office executive. He also played in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for two seasons at the end of his playing career. During a seventeen-year MLB career (1966–1982), Smith appeared in 1,987 games, hit 314 home runs with 1,092 RBI and batted .287. He was a switch-hitter who threw right-handed. In his prime, he had one of the strongest throwing arms of any outfielder in the MLB. Smith played at least seventy games in thirteen different seasons, and in every one of those thirteen seasons, his team had a winning record.
Ernest Wesley Young is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current coach for the United States national baseball team. He played in parts of eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five different teams, primarily the Oakland Athletics. He also played one season in Japan for the Yokohama BayStars, and was a member of the United States' gold medal-winning baseball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics. As a player, Young was listed at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) and 190 pounds (86 kg); he bats and throws right-handed.
The Shikoku Island League Plus is an independent professional baseball league on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The league currently has four teams, and has its league headquarters in Takamatsu.
Arihito Muramatsu is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder, and current the first squad outfield defense and base coach for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Thomas Patrick O'Malley is a former Major League baseball player born in Orange, New Jersey, and raised in Montoursville, Pennsylvania in the United States. He played for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Montreal Expos, and New York Mets. He also spent six highly successful seasons in the Japanese Central League with the Hanshin Tigers and Yakult Swallows. He also worked as a manager for the Newark Bears in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball after retiring.
Leslie Mann was an American athlete. During his playing career, he played college football and professional baseball, and went on to coach football, baseball, and basketball.
Phillip Benjamin Clark is an American former professional baseball outfielder and coach. He most recently served as the assistant hitting coach for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Detroit Tigers, San Diego Padres, and Boston Red Sox. He also played four seasons in Japan with the Kintetsu Buffaloes.
Hisashi Yamada is a retired Japanese professional baseball submarine pitcher. He played with the Hankyu Braves in Nippon Professional Baseball from 1969 to 1988.
Dallas McKinley Williams, is a former professional baseball outfielder and coach. He played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball with the Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds, and one season in Nippon Professional Baseball in 1988. Since 1989, he has been a baseball coach at various minor league levels, including serving as first base coach for the Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox. He is currently the hitting coach for the Saraperos de Saltillo of the Mexican Baseball League.
Rolando Jesús de Armas is an American professional baseball manager, most recently for the FCL Phillies of Minor League Baseball in 2021. A former catcher in the minor leagues, he spent all of his playing career and most of his managing career as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies' organization. He has also been a coach in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox (1995–1996) and Toronto Blue Jays (2000), and was interim bullpen coach for the 2008 Phillies championship team.
Hiroshi Ohshita, also spelled Oshita, was a Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder who began his career after World War II. Known for his trademark blue bat, he hit a record 20 home runs in a season and was home run king and leading hitter three times for the Toei Flyers. Ohshita was also a heavy hitter with the Nishitetsu Lions of the Pacific League during the 1950s.
Kenichi Matsuoka is a professional Japanese baseball player and coach. He pitched for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows from 2005 through 2018, and has been a pitching coach for the Swallows since the 2019 season.
Masaumi Shimizu is a Japanese former professional baseball Catcher,and current the fourth squad battery coach for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
Yasumitsu Toyoda was a Japanese professional baseball player and coach, who played as a shortstop. He played and coached for the Nishitetsu Lions and the Swallows franchise of Nippon Professional Baseball. In 1972, he coached the Kintetsu Buffaloes.
Shigeru Morikasa is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder, and current forth squad hitting coach for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).