The Dodgers signed Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, one of the most coveted pitching free agents on the market, adding the 25-year-old to the top of the starting rotation in Los Angeles.
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May 10, 2021
There was something different about the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters during pregame warmups Friday at Sapporo Dome. The players were wearing their special Hokkaido appreciation tops which are predominantly blue this year with white pants for their matchup with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. They went through all the normal pregame machinations stretching, batting and fielding.
The difference was they did it wearing masks.
It might have looked a little strange, but the club was taking no chances after being forced off the field for nearly a week by COVID-19.
The Fighters’ game against the Eagles that night was their first since May 2. The previous four games including a three-game series against the Chiba Lotte Marines that was set to start last week were postponed after an outbreak of COVID-19 within the team. Instead of hitting the field, the team was waiting for the results of polymerase chain reaction tests and wondering when it would play