Baseball is considered as American as mom’s apple pie, but even though the US is the only country to host the ‘World Series’ each year, it is not the only place in the world to have a professional baseball league.
The sport is incredibly popular in the Far East, as well as closer to home on the island of Cuba. However, Japan has also had baseball leagues since the 1930s and now boasts a professional set-up in the Nippon Professional Baseball League, consisting of 12 teams split between two leagues.
The most popular team in the league by far is the Tokyo Yomuiri Giants, who sell out just about every game they play at home, and attract large crowds when on the road. They are considered Japan’s equivalent to Major League’s New York Yankees, due to their past dominance of the sport. They have won more titles than any other of their rivals and the team play at the Tokyo Dome in the Central League.
Starting in the 1970s, players coming towards the end of their careers in the US made big money moves to Japan, as highlighted in the 1992 satire Mr Baseball starring Tom Selleck. Although Americans are still heavily represented in Japanese teams, that trend is starting to reverse with several high-profile home-grown Japanese players making successful impacts in the USA Major League.
The popularity of the sport in Japan was emphasised by the decision of the US Major League (MLB) to stage its opening series of the 2008 season in April between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics in Japan. Hotels in Tokyo were overwhelmed when the games took place at the Giants’ home ground of the Tokyo Dome and fans from all over the country flocked to the capital to catch a glimpse of their US heroes in the flesh.
The opening series featured the reigning world champions Red Sox, showing the importance given to the games by the Major League, who consider Japan to be a very lucrative market. Both the Red Sox and the Athletics played a number of exhibition games against teams from the Nippon League prior to the MLB series and those too proved incredibly popular with local fans.
Although the overall standard of the Nippon League perhaps doesn’t match the Major League, it is catching up fast following heavy investment made in the sport in Japan by the team’s sponsors. In fact they are progressing so fast that some Japanese commentators believe that teams like the Tokyo Giants should be invited to join the end of season World Series in the USA.
About Author:
Victoria Cochrane writes this article on behalf of a client of a digital marketing agency. As a result, this article should be considered professionally written and not from the viewpoint of a consumer.
Source: Arkilite.com Sport