This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
Critics of the proposal bring up the possibility that a team with a loosing record during the regular season may be able to rise to Nippon Ichi (#1 in Japan). There is the additional problem of a discrepency in the number of days on a roster between the leagues when counting toward free agency - a good reason to promote counting years by years instead of days on the roster.
Kawashima-commissioner brushes such problems aside and says that something has to be done to help the Pacific League appeal more to fans. I still think that a Pacific Rim League is a better idea (better than a baseball World Cup even), but with SARS cancelling a lot of international sports tournaments lately, including Daiei's scheduled games in Taiwan, now isn't the time.
So, will having the top three teams in contension to the end help make the Pacific League more exciting? Or will it degrade the value of the Nippon Series as some critics seem to think?