By Tomomi Abe
On August 24, there was a baseball game in Sapporo Dome. This game was the final match of the Nippon Ham Fighters in Sapporo in this year. They played against the Seibu Lions. I thought I mustn't miss this chance to watch a professional baseball game at close range because I'm a baseball fan and a citizen of Sapporo. So I ran straight to the Sapporo Dome. The ballpark was a full house of 28,000 people, because the day was Sunday. The ballpark resounded with the sounds of bass drums and trumpets, and the cheers of the crowd. There were some groups of young male baseball players in the stands. Whenever someone hit a home run, the boys stretched their hands out to catch the ball.
In the game, the Fighters won 13-5 after coming from behind a few times. In an interview after the game, outfielder Yoshinori Ueda said, "We want you to cheer enthusiastically next year, too." The spectators were excited by that.
Until now, people in Hokkaido have been predominately fans of the Yomiuri Giants because they are so strong. Will the support of people in Hokkaido be divided between the Giants and the Fighters by the Fighters' transfer here? Maybe the answer is ﾒno.ﾓ It is clear that the Giants will not lose popularity. And it was also substantiated in this game that the support for the Fighters will be fiery. Of course, there are many fans of other professional baseball teams. There is no difference between them, however, in that they love baseball. The increased chance of seeing a professional baseball game is a good point in the Fighters' transfer. To add to this fact, most games played here are Central League games. So, the chance to see some Pacific League games will increase, and we can enjoy watching professional baseball more than ever.
This season, the ranking of the Fighters hung low in the Pacific League. But we should open our eyes wide to individual activities. They have a leading hitter, Michihiro Ogasawara. With a batting average of .360, he has the highest average of all players from either league. An outfielder Tomochika Tsuboi, who produced many hits after being transferred from Hanshin Tigers. What's more, there is A.Echevarria, who comes from America and shows us many dynamic home runs. The Fighters' batting order is called the "Big Bang Batting Order." These three players are its main power. Once they start hitting, the Fighters can score a number of runs. In the next season, we will put our hopes in the reinforcement of fielding, especially pitchers, to keep a good ranking.
In Hokkaido, the Consadole Sapporo, a professional soccer team, has already been in action. Because of the "Team Hokkaido" spirit, we can feel an affinity as a native born person from Hokkaido. And the numbers of supporters are large. In this Fighters transfer, there was a change in a private cheer group of the Fighters. There was a ceremony where a man acting as the leader of the cheer group in Tokyo handed over his position to the new leader in Sapporo. Some Fighters' fans in Tokyo haven't agreed with this transfer. But once next season opens, there will be many people coming from Tokyo to Sapporo to watch the game. We can easily imagine that the fans of Tokyo and Sapporo will cheer for the Fighters together.
Today in Japan, especially in Hokkaido, gloomy topics are increasing. In this atmosphere, people's consciousness turns to welcoming the Fighters' transfer. And it will be a good chance to put life into Hokkaido. People, who had never had any interest in baseball can take advantage of the opportunity to watch. Perhaps we can look at Hokkaido from a new point of view and change our opinion of Hokkaido. A big upsurge in Hokkaido will spring from a small spark. I expect that the vital energy that the Fighters provide will help Hokkaido flourish more.