Warren Cromartie was a star for the Montreal Expos and a league MVP and Japan Series champion (both in 1989) with the Yomiuri Giants.

Now the NPB great is adding something else to his resume: YouTuber for the History Channel.

The History Channel Japan earlier this week announced the start of “Cro ‘N Tokyo,” a YouTube series that will feature Cromartie in Japan and focus on various elements of Japanese culture.

Cromartie and the network began working on the series in April, and two episodes are currently up on the History Channel Japan’s YouTube page.

In the first, Cromartie is trained as a regular company employee at The History Channel Japan’s offices, where he’s introduced to staff by general manager John Flanagan.

“I must say, I’m very excited to be a part of the family, the History Channel family, and I’m looking forward to many, many good productions,” Cromartie says.”

The former baseball star gets a pack of business cards and is shown to his desk, which has an orange and black chair waiting for him.

“Look at the colors, Giants colors,” Cromartie remarked. “Not bad, makes me feel at home.”

He then gets his phone set up and gets to work.

Future episodes will follow Cromartie on his travels, which includes a visit to Tokyo’s Atago Temple (where he stumbles upon a wedding), in the other episode currently available, and other locales.

Cromartie remains popular among many Japanese baseball fans. He starred for the Giants from 1984-1990 and made the move with the team from Korakuen Stadium to Tokyo Dome in 1988. Cromartie hit .321 with 171 home runs and 558 RBIs. He was a three-time All-Star and also made the season-ending Best Nine team three times.

Requesting backup

The defending Pacific League champion Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks may be about to get some much-needed backup.

Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reported earlier in the week the Seattle Mariners had released left-hander Ariel Miranda so he could pursue an opportunity in Japan. A Sports Hochi report Friday morning said the hard-throwing native of Havana was headed to the Hawks, who have dealt with a number of injuries to their pitching staff this season, including to veteran lefty Tsuyoshi Wada, who has yet to make an appearance in 2018.

Miranda only made one appearance with the Mariners this season, allowing one run over five innings in a start on April 17. Overall, Miranda is 13-9 with a 4.72 ERA in 223 innings for the Mariners and Baltimore Orioles since 2016.

Miranda would join Orix duo Andrew Albers and Stefen Romero as current players who were released from contracts with the Mariners in order to facilitate a move to NPB.

Star turn

Yuhei Nakaushiro, a former Chiba Lotte Marines player and Arizona Diamondbacks farmhand, was introduced as the newest member of the Yokohama BayStars on Thursday morning.

Nakaushiro made 104 appearances in the minors and had a 2.95 ERA to go with a 2-3 record and six saves over 131 innings. He was 1-1 with a 5.29 ERA for the Jackson Generals in Double-A this season.

“I have a strong image of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars,” Nakaushiro said during a news conference in Yokohama on Thursday. “There are many young players and a bright and cheerful atmosphere.”

The BayStars will be looking for him to help bolster their pitching staff over the remaining months of the pennant race.

“I want to do my best in my role as a reliever,” Nakaushiro said.

Nakaushiro was the Marines’ second selection in the 2011 draft. He made 37 appearances for the team and was 2-2 with six holds and a 5.68 ERA for Lotte.

Keeping it 100

Yomiuri Giants reliever Koji Uehara has done a little bit of everything throughout career, which is in its 20th season, between MLB and NPB. Soon he’ll have a record which reflects that.

Uehara needs three holds to reach 100 for his career in both the MLB and NPB. Once he gets there, he’ll become the first Japanese player with at least 100 wins, 100 saves and 100 holds (the latter two between MLB and NPB).

Looking for a winner

As usual, a brutal interleague campaign took a big bite out of the Central League, with CL clubs going 48-49-1 against their Pacific League counterparts this season. The Tokyo Yakult Swallows were the only CL team with a winning interleague record in 2018.

That mostly explains why the win-loss records in the CL are still in shambles. So much so that five of the six CL teams began Friday with losing records, with only the Hiroshima Carp (42-30-1) punching above .500.