This year’s Pacific League has become an unprecedented “great battle”. As of Monday, September 5th, the top 3 teams were crowded with the top 3 teams with a game difference of 0, 2nd place Seibu, 3rd place Orix, and a win rate difference of 2 cents.
“Battle for the First Place” Continued Fierce Battles
From September 2nd to 4th, three consecutive battles between Softbank and Seibu were held at the Fukuoka PayPay Dome.
In the first game, Softbank is in the bottom of the 5th inning, and Kenta Imamiya hits No. 4 solo to take the lead. After regaining momentum with the team’s first score in 31 innings, Seibu’s starting pitcher Wataru Matsumoto, who had suffered six consecutive losses since the year before last, was defeated and won 4-0. September 3rd, the second game, is “home run anniversary” (the day in 1977 when Sadaharu Oh hit his 756th home run, which set a new world record for the number of home runs). Seibu took the lead, and Mori Yuya performed No. 7 solo for the first time. However, Softbank immediately caught up with Imamiya’s 2nd straight No. 5 solo in the bottom of the 2nd inning. In addition, Despaigne’s No. 8 2 run, which jumped out in the bottom of the 3rd inning, became the final point, and Softbank won 5-2 and won in a row.
If Softbank had won the card three times in a row, it might have been a chance to get out of this historical melee. However, in the third round, the lion showed his will. In the top of the 7th inning, which was a 0-0 pitcher battle, Seibu’s Shuta Tonozaki hit No. 11 with a 2-run break to break the deadlock, and after that he scored more points and sank Takahiro Senga, the ace of the hawk, and in the third game. Seibu won 4-1.
It’s too early to call it “Tennozan” yet. However, both teams have a unique amount of heat. It was a series of hot battles worthy of the name of the battle for first place.
But what is this inverse proportion?
I miss the stand.
The audience “20,000 people” that was impossible before
There were 28,308 visitors to the PayPay Dome on the first day of the 2nd. The 3rd and 4th were Saturday and Sunday day games, but it was 32,954 and 33,742 (NPB official website reference).
The capacity of the PayPay Dome at the time of the baseball performance is just 40,000 people this season. In other words, the night game on Friday the 2nd was about 70%. Even looking from the press seats behind the back net, the empty seats were conspicuous.
