Japan's professional baseball season has arrived. The Central and Pacific leagues both get under way Friday.
Thrilling pennant races are expected.
Pro baseball remains very popular even in an age where a wider range of recreational activities are available. This is thanks to the support of many dedicated fans.
Last season, the number of spectators attending Central League games topped 14 million for the first time. Although the Pacific League recorded a small drop from the previous season, it still attracted more than 11 million fans. Several teams in both leagues notched their highest annual attendances since 2005, when clubs started to announce actual attendance figures.
Many females have been seen among the fans at baseball stadiums for a long time now. Events and promotions each team thought up to please fans are steadily producing good results.
Baseball stadiums also are undergoing transformations. Many are becoming more like U.S. ballparks where spectators can enjoy a variety of food, shopping and other activities. It can be said that this is an effective method to expand baseball's fan base.
In November, Atsushi Saito, who has a business background, became the new commissioner of Nippon Professional Baseball. Saito has said he wants to make pro baseball "even more vibrant." Saito should use the management prowess he built up to lift the overall standard of pro Japanese baseball.
Of course, more important than anything else is playing nail-biting, interesting games. The players need to display excellent skills that draw oohs and aahs from spectators.
Keep watch of new rules
Shohei Ohtani, a two-way player who starred for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, has switched to the U.S. major leagues. Ohtani has left a huge hole in the Japanese baseball world.
On the other side of the coin, several talented players such as Kotaro Kiyomiya, who will lead the next generation of players, have turned professional and offer bright spots for the future.
Pitcher Koji Uehara has returned to the Yomiuri Giants 10 years after he jumped across to the majors. Pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka has joined the Chunichi Dragons from the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in a bid to resurrect his career.
Many fans will be looking forward to match-ups between these veterans, with their exquisitely polished yet quiet and restrained skills, and young players.
Rule changes also are in the spotlight this season. If a batter is to be intentionally walked, the manager signals this intention to umpires, and the pitcher can let the batter walk directly to first base without throwing four balls.
This is intended to shorten the time a game takes, but it seems it will have an extremely limited effect. It means fans can no longer see cases in which a pitch thrown for an intentional ball is hit for a walk-off victory.
A "request" system also will be introduced this season. If a manager objects to a ruling by an umpire, they can now request a video replay to check the decision. While it is necessary to clarify whether a close decision is correct, using replays will have the negative effect of interrupting the game's flow.
After determining fans' reactions and the impact on how games progress, better rules should be drawn up.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 30, 2018)
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