The long-awaited professional baseball season has finally begun. It is hoped that the players will energize Japan, where feelings of stagnation have weighed heavily, by showing their athletic prowess with high spirits.
The season opened Friday for both the Central and Pacific leagues. To open this season, the baseball world was forced to take unprecedented measures to counter the coronavirus epidemic.
Following a government request to refrain from holding events, 12 teams decided to postpone the opening of this season in March. The decision was based on advice from a team of experts on infectious diseases, which was jointly set up with the J.League, Japan's professional soccer league. Since then, the baseball teams made efforts to maintain the physical condition of their players and disinfect their facilities in preparation for the start of league games.
The games will be held without spectators for the time being, but it can be said that baseball opened its season ahead of other professional sports, which also have seen their matches canceled or postponed, because from an early stage, the 12 teams shared a sense of crisis for the coronavirus.
As the opening of the season was three months later than usual, the number of games will be cut from 143 to 120. It is concerning that the schedule will be intense, placing heavy burdens on players, team managers, coaches and others.
Both leagues aim to reduce the risk of infections from travel by holding games by region and scheduling six consecutive games between the same two teams. Tie games will end after the 10th inning, and more players will be listed on the rosters. The teams need to try to keep track of their players' physical condition.
Each team will conduct PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests on all players and relevant others once a month. The two leagues have agreed to remove from the rosters players who are suspected of being infected with the virus or of having been in close contact with infected people, and isolate them from their teams swiftly. It is important to observe these rules thoroughly.
If the virus spreads again, the central and local governments may possibly call for games to be suspended. To make appropriate decisions in such cases, it is crucial for each team to cooperate closely with local governments and medical institutions, among other entities.
The biggest challenge is how to safely welcome spectators to ballparks. The two leagues drew more than 26 million spectators in total last year. Many people are looking forward to watching games at ballparks.
The government will further relax restrictions on spectator or audience numbers gradually from July 10. Measures are necessary, such as setting the time to open venues earlier to reduce crowds and having fans refrain from using horns to cheer. Efforts must be made to create an environment in which people can watch the games with peace of mind.
The teams are expected to suffer a significant drop in sales. Some teams are selling the right to fill stadium seats with "cheering panels" in lieu of fans actually being there. It is hoped that the teams will find clever ways to energize their games and generate profits.
The Yomiuri Giants' Hayato Sakamoto and the Hanshin Tigers' Kosuke Fukudome are aiming for 2,000 career hits. There are also up-and-coming rookies, such as Chiba Lotte Marines pitcher Roki Sasaki. Once again this season, it is hard to keep one's eyes off of pro baseball.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on June 20, 2020.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
