User:Torsodog/Sandbox3
Ballparks
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The Eagles' first and only home baseball stadium is Miyagi Baseball Stadium, currently named Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi. It is located in Miyaginohara Sports Park in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. The 30,508-seat ballpark is owned by the prefecture and operated by Rakuten. Its symmetrical playing surface is the only natural turf field in the Pacific League. An amusement park named Smile Glico Park is integrated into the stadium's left field seating and features a Ferris wheel.
Miyagi Stadium is the third-oldest NPB stadium and the oldest in the PL, built in 1950 to host countryside NPB games and amateur baseball. Lights were added in 1973 to accommodate night games and attract more professional games. The Lotte Orions began using the stadium as a semi-home that same year and played five seasons in Sendai until 1977. Following Lotte's departure, the ballpark again hosted yearly NPB countryside games and the first of four eventual All-Star games was held in 1992. After the 2004 NPB realignment, Rakuten moved into Miyagi Stadium and renovated it in several phases. With MLB stadiums as inspiration, the field was enlarged and the stadium's concourses were expanded, with seating being updated and capacity increased. In the outfield, two full-LED video boards were erected and the amusement park was built. The exterior of the stadium was also drastically changed.
Naming rights for the stadium have been sold in three-year increments several times since 2005. Staffing firm Fullcast and Nippon Paper Industries were the first two companies to buy the rights. Since 2014, Rakuten themselves have purchased the stadium's naming rights, using it to promote its own Kobo eReader, life insurance, and mobile carrier businesses. The stadium has been named "Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi" since 2023.
Chihō ballparks
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NPB teams sometimes forgo hosting games in their usual home ballparks a few times throughout a season and instead opt to host games in prefectures and cities around Japan that do not have an NPB franchise of their own. Without an extensive minor league system like MLB, many Japanese baseball fans living in these areas do not have the opportunity to easily attend a live professional baseball game. Chihō (地方), or "countryside", games help rectify this problem by taking professional baseball directly to these regions. To do this, NPB teams utilize numerous ballparks around Japan. Big and small, these ballparks feature amenities that vary from outstanding to sub-standard.[1]
The Eagles include Japan's northern Tōhoku region in their club name, and as NPB's representative of that region, Rakuten hosts their countryside games throughout the area. When the team isnt playing in their home ballpark in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, the team travels to host games in Tōhoku's five other prefectures.[1]
- Akita, Akita Prefecture
- Fukushima, Fukushima Prefecture
- Yamagata, Yamagata Prefecture
- Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture
- Morioka, Iwate Prefecture[1]
Spring training
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The Eagles home field in spring training is Kin Town Baseball Stadium in Kin, Okinawa. They share the complex, which opened in 1998, with the Miami Marlins. Before moving to Jupiter, the Cardinals hosted spring training at Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg, Florida from 1937 to 1997.
Former stadiums
[edit]| Name | Year opened | Year closed | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Korakuen Stadium | 1937 | 1987 | Bunkyō, Tokyo |
| Osaka Stadium | 1950 | 1998 | Osaka, Osaka Prefecture |
| Kawasaki Stadium | 1951 | Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture | |
| Nagoya Baseball Stadium | 1948 | Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture | |
| Hiroshima Sogo Ground Baseball Park | 1941 | Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture | |
| Hiroshima Municipal Stadium (1957) | 1957 | 2010 | Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture |
| Tokyo Stadium (1962) | 1962 | 1972 | Arakawa, Tokyo |
| Heiwadai Stadium | 1949 | 1997 | Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture |
| Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium | 1937 | 2002 | Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture |
| Fujiidera Stadium | 1928 | 2005 | Fujiidera, Osaka Prefecture |
| Kobe Sports Park Baseball Stadium | 1988 | Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture |
https://www.sanspo.com/article/20221209-V6PCJ4DRTFM3BKWES5LJMUAPSU/ https://mainichi.jp/articles/20221230/k00/00m/040/156000c https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20221108/p2a/00m/0sp/006000c https://mainichi.jp/articles/20230101/ddl/k01/040/008000c https://www.sponichi.co.jp/baseball/news/2020/05/29/kiji/20200529s00001173023000c.html
- ^ a b Graczyk, Wayne (September 10, 2016). "Countryside games add challenges, concerns for NPB teams". The Japan Times. Retrieved September 1, 2024.