Baseball fans are expected to fill the Taipei Dome to near capacity for the first time, potentially setting a national baseball attendance record, when Japan’s Yomiuri Giants take on Taiwanese pro teams today and tomorrow in two exhibition games.
Tickets have been selling quickly, with the Taipei Dome opening up the infield and outfield stands for 36,000 seats, organizers said.
The Taipei City Government in a news release yesterday said that crowds of more than 30,000 are expected for both games and it asked spectators to take public transportation.
Photo: CNA
The visiting Yomiuri Giants arrived in Taiwan on Thursday and were welcomed by local fans waiting for them at the airport.
The former Japanese champions are to face Taiwanese CPBL clubs the CTBC Brothers and Rakuten Monkeys in two exhibition games over this weekend.
The Giants are headed by manager Shinnosuke Abe, a former all-star catcher who played for Team Japan in international tournaments.
Photo: CNA
“Taiwan is very friendly with Japan,” Abe said yesterday when overseeing players training inside the Taipei Dome.
“Many Japanese players after finishing their careers come to Taiwan for coaching jobs,” he said. “When doing so, they also help to promote Japanese culture in Taiwan. This is mutually beneficial for both sides, and I am happy to see this development.”
The two CPBL teams to play this weekend are both currently headed by former Japan baseball players, with Keiichi Hirano managing the Brothers and Kenji Furukubo serving as manager of the Monkeys.
Abe said he is well acquainted with Hirano, as they both played in the Nippon Professional Baseball league around the same time.
“This time I look forward to competing against him as opposing managers,” he said.
However, Abe said it is to be his first time facing Rakuten’s manager, since Furukubo was active in an earlier period.
All six CPBL teams currently have former Japanese players in key roles, with the Uni-President Lions hiring Tomotaka Tamaki as a fielder coach, Yosuke Takasu serving as a hitting coach for the Wei Chuan Dragons, the Fubon Guardians hiring Tetsuya Kakiuchi and Naoto Inada as hitting and fielding coaches respectively, and the TSG Hawks hiring Hisanori Yokota as a pitching coach.
This visit is to mark the 90-year anniversary of the Yomiuri Giants. The Japanese team’s officials said that they want to have more partnerships between the new Taipei Dome and Yomiuri’s home park, the Tokyo Dome.
The first game against the Brothers is scheduled for today at 5pm, while for the match against the Monkeys is to start tomorrow at the same time.
Taipei Dome held its first official game in December last year for the Asia Baseball Championship, but only infield seats were available at the time.
This weekend’s series could set a new attendance record if it can reach full capacity, breaking the nation’s highest baseball attendance record of 25,000 during the 2001 World Cup at Kaohsiung’s Chengching Lake Stadium.
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