Drums, trumpets, thunder sticks and, of course, coordinated songs, which even have dances to accompany them.
There’s nothing quite like the atmosphere of baseball in Japan, an enormous reason why the Tokyo Dome will host Major League Baseball’s 2019 opening series beginning Wednesday, featuring the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics, rivals in the American League West.
“It’s a carnival atmosphere,” Athletics manager Bob Melvin noted after an exhibition game at the stadium on Sunday. “There’s a lot going on that’s different” from the United States.
The main draw for the 200,000-plus spectators who will take in the two-game series will be whether Ichiro Suzuki will be playing the last games of his decades-long storied career.
The 45-year-old Japanese superstar, considered by some the greatest Japanese position player of all-time and a sure-fire Hall of Famer, has broken camp with the Mariners on their 28-man roster after moving from the playing field to a special advisory non-playing role with the club early last season.
Seattle manager Scott Servais said that Ichiro will start Wednesday’s opener but it remains unclear whether he’ll make the 25-man roster once the team returns to Seattle.
“We’re really taking it a day at a time,” Servais said. “We’re looking at the two games here against Oakland. He’ll be available in those two games and we’ll see how it goes.”
His play as of late may not merit it, but his career accomplishments have earned him the opportunity to prove it on this stage in his home country. He is also slated to start the second game in the series before finding out his 2019 fate prior to the home opener on March 28.
“This is a great gift for me,” Ichiro said through an interpreter. “I will treasure every moment here on the field. One week after this event, I will be reflecting back on these days, so I will make sure I remember every moment here in Japan.”
The A’s begin 2019 after unexpectedly surging to the AL’s second wild card spot a season ago, thanks to a second-half run that shot them to 97 wins, topping Seattle in the process.
Now, they have a talented young collection of position players who can offset a questionable rotation led by first-time Opening Day starter Mike Fiers. The 33-year-old was acquired last August in a trade and, for now, is the ace.
“You’re one of 30 guys to start a big league season, and that’s really cool,” Fiers told MLB.com.
Fiers was left off Oakland’s postseason roster last season despite posting a 3.71 ERA over 10 starts. The year prior, he was left off of Houston’s postseason roster during its run to a World Series title.
The A’s brought him back on a two-year, $14.1 million deal in December to try and bolster a rotation ravaged by injuries over the previous 12 months.
“He was the first guy we signed back for a reason, and this is one of the reasons, so I know he’s pretty excited about it, and he did a nice job for us last year,” Melvin said.
The Mariners will also have a new face on the mound for Opening Day. Felix Hernandez, the longtime ace who has started every opener since 2008, has been relegated to the back of the rotation, and the opener honors will go to southpaw Marco Gonzales.
Gonzales posting a 4.00 ERA last season, though advanced analytics view his 166 2/3 innings more favorably than that.
“I don’t know if it’s really hit me yet,” Gonzales said upon receiving the news earlier in March. “I’m trying to just take it one day at a time and try to prepare myself the best I can.”