The Yomiuri ShimbunJapan’s professional baseball season has finally arrived, with the Central and Pacific leagues both getting underway March 29.

Ichiro Suzuki, a player who chalked up magnificent achievements in Japanese and U.S. baseball during the Heisei era (1989-2019), recently retired. Baseball fans are waiting with bated breath to see which players will become the new stars of the next era.

Last season, attendance figures for both the Central and Pacific leagues set new record highs for the years since the leagues started reporting the actual number of spectators. Events held by teams to deepen their bonds with fans are steadily producing good results. To attract even more people to the stadiums, the most important thing is to play games that are worth watching.

In the Central League, the Hiroshima Carp have won the past three pennants. All eyes will be on how the league’s other teams take on the champions. The Yomiuri Giants, with Tatsunori Hara back as manager, have significantly strengthened their lineup for this season.

The SoftBank Hawks, winners of the Japan Series for the past two seasons, will be front and center in the Pacific League. The Seibu Lions, who topped the league during the 2018 regular season but failed to reach the Japan Series, are also likely to be near the top of the pack again.

The energetic plays by rookie players who lit up Koshien Stadium during the national high school championship and tournament are also something to look forward to.

More changes coming

The “fly ball revolution” that originated in the United States is continuing to spread. It has been learned that hitting a fly ball up at a certain angle increases the probability of an extra-base hit. Could the doctrine that hitting grounders is a fundamental of batting become a thing of the past?

Some teams also have adopted the theory of placing a powerful hitter in the No. 2 spot in the batting lineup. A new tactic in the U.S. major leagues involves using a relief pitcher to start the game and pitch only the first inning. Although there is no need to imitate everything being done in the United States, baseball in Japan must also evolve.

This season will see an expanded scope for the video review system, in which managers can request certain plays be checked on a video replay. Cases newly added to the system include collisions between a runner and catcher at home plate, a runner sliding into second base in an attempt to break up a double play, and a batter getting hit in the head by a pitch.

During the 2018 season, 494 plays were subject to video review, and 162 (32.8 percent) resulted in an umpire’s call being overturned. While it is necessary to correct bad calls by umpires that could spoil the game, consideration also must be given to shortening the time it takes to finish the game.

One point from last season that should be reviewed from a critical perspective was the congested schedule forced on some teams due to a spate of games being canceled for reasons including heavy rain. The Hanshin Tigers wound up scheduled to play on 14 consecutive days, and the team’s final game of the season was played on the same day that the Climax Series started.

From the opening stage of this season, Mondays will be set aside as reserve days so teams can more quickly finish their playing schedule. This can be considered a realistic improvement.

The Premier12 2019, which also doubles as a qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will be held in November. Matches between the world’s 12 highest-ranked teams may be portents of what will unfold at the Tokyo Games. Young players who aspire to be selected for the Samurai Japan national team should make their case by playing well during the upcoming season.

Broadcasts of baseball games are becoming increasingly diversified. In addition to broadcast satellite and communication satellite broadcasts, video streaming services will grow this season. For baseball fans, it is welcome news that they can use smartphones and tablets to watch thrilling matches between teams battling it out to become the first champions after the Heisei era.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 29, 2019)Speech

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