The long race to the championship in Nippon Professional Baseball officially started Saturday when the 12 teams simultaneously opened their spring training camps in Miyazaki and Okinawa prefectures.
The defending Central League-champion Yomiuri Giants, aiming to end an eight-year drought since their last Japan Series title, made a stop at Aoshima Shrine near their lodgings in Miyazaki city to pray for a successful season, then headed to the ballfield.
At the stadium in Miyazaki Prefectural Sports Park, both the top team and farm players worked out together in the first activity.
Under the watchful eye of manager Tatsunori Hara, ace pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano and the rest of the team went through a light workout. The players exhibited their anticipation with spirited voices that reverberated throughout the stadium.
At the Chiba Lotte Marines' camp on Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture, attention was on the Pacific League club's highly touted rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki, their No. 1 draft pick out of Iwate Prefecture's Ofunato High School, as he kicked off his pro career.
The regular season officially opens on March 20 for both leagues.
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