Two years ago, I completed my same-day two-continent minor league doubleheader, starting with a Hanshin Tigers farm game and then flying to Vancouver to see the Canadians. The first game was played at Naruohama Stadium, which was in its last season as the team's primary ballpark. Last year, the Tigers opened Nippon Steel SGL Stadium in Amagasaki, a city in Hyogo prefecture right next to Osaka. We did not visit the area during last year's annual trip to Japan, so I had to wait until this summer to add the stadium to my list, and thus complete all 26 NPB primary ballparks.
The stadium is a short walk from Daimotsu station on the Hanshin Line. If you want to pick up some snacks and drinks beforehand, head to the 7-11 just south of the station; if you follow the crowd directly, you will not have a chance to load up. Capacity here is 4,400, with 3,600 fixed seats and room for 800 in the outfield, though those seats are only sold on some occasions. I had checked a couple of weeks before leaving for Japan and the game was nearly sold out at that time, so I bought a ticket in advance and then printed out the hard stub at the machine on the left in the photo below. I do like how the cones and barriers are in Tigers colours.
The stadium is part of an area that is known as Zero Carbon Baseball Park, which also includes a practice field, dormitory and clubhouse for the team, as well as a public baseball diamond and park. Why Zero Carbon? The aim of the park is to reduce the emission of CO2 and I'm glad to say I did my part by not farting.
The Tigers are very popular and have a large team store that you can visit before you enter the stadium itself. In keeping with the Japanese tradition of having meaningless English appended to things, the store is called Tigers Shop next.
The first sign that this was not your usual Japanese farm ballpark was the lineup to get in. It took almost five minutes to get through security, and once I did, I was handed a pair of black and yellow chopsticks, the most useful giveaway ever. These are high-quality too and will be used back home.
They also handed out a cool program that said Hanshin Jaguars. What are the Hanshin Jaguars? Turns out that when the farm team was founded in 1954, they were called the Jaguars, and had excellent uniforms with a superb logo. They only lasted three seasons under this moniker before they became the Tigers, which is still their name today. But some very smart marketing guy realized that they could play a few games as the Jaguars to increase interest and merchandise sales. As luck would have it, this weekend series against Orix was one of those times and the team was sporting these incredible uniforms.
Turns out that smart guy was right about increasing merchandise sales; I could not resist purchasing a Jaguars jersey. It is a unique addition and at 10,000 yen ($63), a bargain. I am not modeling the jersey at this point as I put on a lot of weight while in Japan; perhaps I will update the picture in a few weeks.
Anyway, I still had to tour the ballpark and took a few pictures along the way. The Tigers rookies are displayed, wearing the less impressive Tigers uniform.
There are several concessions, but each had a huge line, so I decided to wait. Food options are plentiful and tempting; the concession below has bento boxes, each with a player that recommends it; with the currency as cheap as its been in 39 years, these are a bargain at 1,700 yen ($10.50). Another stand had kara-age don (fried chicken on rice) for 850 yen, half the price of the bento, so you can figure out the conversion.
I entered the seating bowl at first base and was amazed at what I saw. This was a miniature version of Koshien, the ballpark where the big team plays. The all-dirt infield, the slope of the seats, the scoreboard - all of it was designed to resemble Koshien.
And then I noticed something even better: beer girls. As you can see in the photos above and below, there were more than one, perhaps 8 or 10. And even two ladies selling highballs. Wow, it didn't take long for this to be the best minor league park in the country, and possibly the world.
Attendance was announced at 4,224, nearly a sellout, and every seat was filled. The Tigers realized the potential to generate huge amounts of revenue from their minor league team and have executed their plan perfectly. I wonder if other teams will follow suit; the Giants are operating in a similar fashion as I found out two days before but the other 12 clubs are still behind the times.
Once in my seat (view above), I stayed and waited for the beer girls to come by. It took a while, but eventually I was able to enjoy a brew and celebrate the end of the quest.
Overall, SGL Stadium is by far the best farm ballpark in Japan and rivals some ballparks in America in terms of experience, though comparing them is a bit of apples and oranges. If you are in the Kansai area and want to see a minor league game, check the schedule and head on out to Amagasaki for the Jaguars.
The Game
Hanshin started Anthony Martinez (below), a 26-year-old Dominican who had a brief stint with the Cubs complex teams before coming over in 2024. He has exclusively pitched for the farm team, with reasonable results. Orix countered with Kohei Azuma, who has had success with the big club but has yet to stick with them.
Yusuke Mugitani blasted a 2-run homer in the first to get Orix on the board and he added an RBI single in the third. But Shuya Yamada homered to lead off the Tiger third, and then Stanley Consuegra, a one-time Mets farmhand, singled home a run in the fourth. Hanshin added another in the sixth to tie things and neither team was able to break the deadlock, setting up extra innings.
Except there were no extra innings, despite the presence of the tenth inning on the scoreboard. Orix shook hands, Hanshin tipped their caps to their fans, and that was that. A 3-3 tie to commemorate my quest. As the game had already taken 3:05, I wasn't too upset about the result and headed to the team store to pick up the jersey.
There were 291 pitches thrown for a PPM of 1.573. Not a great pace, but having beer girls on hand really helps.
Notes
Saving the best for last was a fitting end to my quest to see the 26 NPB primary ballparks. I first attended an NPB game in 1997 and went to all 11 major league parks during that season (at that time, Nippon Ham was using the Tokyo Dome). I saw one minor league stadium in 2000 but didn't start going to the minors regularly until 2009 and came up with a rough plan to see them all. Leaving Japan ended that dream pretty quickly. However, with annual visits now happening and the ability to buy the JR Pass (not available to residents), I was able to resume the quest and I'm happy to finally have been to them all.
I use the term primary ballpark because in Japan, teams play home games in neutral sites to give fans around the country a chance to see them without traveling. I have seen major league games in Nagano, Nagasaki, and Akita, as well as a minor league contest in Omiya. When you add the three major league stadiums that have been replaced as well as these two new farm ballparks, you get 35 total NPB ballparks at which I have seen a game. I hope to add to this total with some more neutral site visits whenever I am in Japan, but the schedule is haphazard at best so we shall see what happens.
Best,
Sean
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