Nippon Professional Baseball Quirks you won’t find in MLB

Once nicknamed America’s pastime, it is clear that baseball has become a global game. There might no better example than Japan, a country that has embraced the game like no other and has put their own twist into the 150+ year old sport. NPB, Japan’s top league, has managed to bring in more fans per game than MLB, and it offers a unique, fan-first experience you will probably not find in America.

Here are 6 NPB Quirks you won’t find in MLB:

Countryside Games

Have you imagined seeing a Dodgers regular season home game in Hawaii, a Rangers game in Oklahoma or a Yankees game in Puerto Rico?

Well, probably not if you don’t live in those places and are a fan of those teams, but this is a reality in NPB.

Though MLB has correctly identified it needs more international games, it has somewhat neglected American markets outside of the homes of major league teams. A lot of towns have affiliated minor league baseball, but nothing beats watching a major league baseball game and a lot of states in America are still yet to see that spectacle.

This past regular season, NPB hosted 29 games where the home team did not play in their home or secondary stadium, as all teams played a handful of games in smaller venues that are tipically not nearby a NPB team.

This is done so NPB teams can reach and connect to fans all over Japan. Imagine how exciting one can be when your team chooses to come play in your hometown, it fosters a closer, less corporate bond (which is funny because almost all NPB teams are owned by companies) that major sports leagues in the US lack these days.

Cheering Sections

If you have attended both an MLB game and a NPB game, this should be one of the most obvious differences.

In NPB, there are designated seats for cheering sections of both the home and away teams, situated in the right and left field stands, called the “ouendan“. These sections are taken so seriously that they do not let you wear the opposing teams color when sitting there, and you are expected to actively cheer throughout the whole game.

There is also a special etiquette, as the coordinated chants only take place when the team is hitting, allowing for a fun back-and-forth between fanbases. Obviously, this elevates the athmosphere of a NPB game compared to a MLB one.

Cheering Sections ????

Called the “ouendan”, you can find these cheering sections in dedicated outfield seats, with the home fans usually sitting in RF while the visitors sit in LF.

If you want to watch a game in Japan, i highly recommend sitting here, it’s very fun! pic.twitter.com/B2ztIN5T9J

— Lucas Borja (ルッカス ボルジャ) (@lucasborjaNPB) February 8, 2024

Draft Format

While the MLB Draft usually lags behind significantly in viewership compared to other sports drafts like the NFL and NBA, the NPB Draft has managed to become a marquee event in Japanese sports, partly due to it’s unique format.

The NPB Draft first round is done like a silent auction, where every team has the same opportunity to pick any player, regardless of their regular season record. Teams blindly submit their selection, and if nobody else picks their player, they acquire their exclusive negotiation rights. But what happens if multiple teams select the same player? That is when the lottery comes in, and it makes for incredible TV as they line-up all team representatives and have them pick and open a envelope at the same time, with only one winning envelope.

This can and has decided team’s futures outlooks, as seen with Munetaka Murakami and the Yakult Swallows. Murakami wasn’t actually the Swallows first choice, since they entered the 7-way lottery for the rights of then all-time High-School HR leader Kotaro Kiyomiya. The Fighters won Kiyomiya’s rights so the Swallows had to go back to the drawing board and selected Murakami, who was left unpicked in the first wave of selections.

The Swallows won the lottery for the phenomenal slugger against the Giants and Eagles, who had also bid for Kiyomiya. Murakami is now a 2x-MVP, Japan Series Champion, World Champion and holds all-time single season Japanese HR record.

Hero Interview

Though postgame interviews are often present after MLB games, it has nothing on the spectacle of Japan’s version called the “Hero Interview”.

While in America, you often get a very short conversation usually cut short by the player taking a gatorade bath, in NPB has much as 5 players get on a podium and answer questions for several minutes, usually holding stuffed toys or flowers while being mic’d up for the entire crowd that stayed on to listen.

This once again shows the commitment NPB teams have to make every baseball game a “fan-first” experience. Since teams are mostly owned by companies and are expected to operate at a loss, they focus on fostering goodwill towards the community, hoping it creates positive marketing for the parent company.

Hero Interview ????‍♂️

A staple of every postgame win in NPB, players get on a podium and answer questions as the entire ballpark listens and cheers for the game’s heroes.

Would you enjoy it if MLB started doing postgame interviews like this? pic.twitter.com/z1RRrKlnny

— Lucas Borja (ルッカス ボルジャ) (@lucasborjaNPB) February 14, 2024

Pitchers Hit

Abolished in MLB since 2022 due to the universal DH rule, there is only one major league that makes these wimps hit, and that is the NPB’s Central League.

As expected, pitchers struggled to do anything at the plate, with Central League hurlers hitting a combined .105, and the poor bastards of the Pacific League that were made to hit due to interleague hit a measly .040 without a single XBH.

Incredibly though, CL pitchers have managed to keep a 5-year streak where atleast one pitcher hit a homerun. This year’s honour went solely to Baystars submariner Hayate Nakagawa, who smashed a bomb on May 18th after pitching 6 solid innings.

DeNA Baystars submarine pitcher Hayate Nakagawa hits a 3-run homer!#PitchersWhoRake

pic.twitter.com/kmU3EJxhw7

— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) May 18, 2024

If you are a MLB fan that wants pitchers to hit again, check out the Central League, but as a Phillies fan that watched a lot of NL baseball before 2022, I am personally very happy that it is gone, and I pray the Central League can put their pride aside and get on with the times, as NPB is currently in a offensive drought that hasn’t been seen since the 1950’s.

Ace Number

If you want to guess who is the best pitcher on a particular NPB team, just check who wears number 18.

All-time Japanese greats have carried on the legacy of the number, from Masahiro Tanaka, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tomoyuki Sugano and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Even aces like Shota Imanaga, who wore 21 for the Baystars, switched to 18 when he landed in Chicago.

The tradition started in the 1930’s, when professional Japanese Baseball was in it’s infancy, and Tadashi Henry Wakabayashi decided to wear the number and other talented pitchers followed his lead until it became the number to wear in pro ball.

This isn’t the standard for all levels of Japanese Baseball, as in High-School, it is actually the number 1 that almost always goes to the “ace pitcher”.

Though there is obviously great NPB pitchers with other numbers, like future MLB phenom Roki Sasaki (17) and southpaw Hiroya Miyagi (13), the mystique of 18 remains, as half of NPB teams did not have anyone wear it in the 2024 season, out of respect for the past legends that wore it, or simply the legacy and responsibility the number carries.