The 86th Intercity Baseball Tournament (organized by The Mainichi Newspapers and the Japan Baseball Federation), known as the “midsummer classic,” opens at Tokyo Dome from the 18th. Over 12 days through July 29, 32 teams will battle. As in past years, a large bracket tower has appeared in the open space beside the first-floor east main entrance of Palaceside Building (photo below). Results will be posted promptly during the tournament.
Among regulars and newcomers, the first question is whether last year’s first-time champion, Seino Transportation (Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture), can repeat. In the opening game on the 18th they face JFE West Japan (Fukuyama, Hiroshima / Kurashiki, Okayama), China Region’s No. 1 representative. A feature of Intercity play is “reinforcement players” from teams that lost in qualifying—some champions have ridden those additions. Defending champions, however, get no reinforcements, so their path is often hard. In the same block as Ogaki sit Toyota Motor (Toyota, Aichi), winners of last autumn’s Japan Championship, and JR East (Tokyo), which has reached at least the quarterfinals four straight years since its 2011 title—so heated games are expected.
The block of last year’s runner-up, Fuji Heavy Industries (Ota, Gunma), has five of eight teams as their district’s No. 1. Tokyo Gas (Tokyo) versus Osaka Gas (Osaka) is billed not only as a “gas-company clash” but as one of the best first-round cards.
The block of JX-ENEOS (Yokohama), champions in 2012–13 and a Final Four side last year, opens against Nippon Paper Ishinomaki (Ishinomaki, Miyagi), back after two years.
In the remaining block, the tournament’s only club team, Shinetsu Amateur Baseball Club (Nagano), meets the storied Hitachi, Ltd. (Hitachi, Ibaraki), back after two years.
Again many firms and groups have more than one team. JR—though not all are capital-related—has six: East Japan plus Tokai (Nagoya), Shikoku (Takamatsu), Kyushu (Kitakyushu), East Japan Tohoku (Sendai) and Hokkaido (Sapporo). Tokai and East Japan Tohoku meet in the first round.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries also advanced four teams: Nagoya, Kobe-Takasago (Kobe / Takasago, Hyogo), Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A slight disappointment is NTT: regular East Japan (Tokyo) missed this year, leaving only West Japan (Osaka). Even so, many from related companies in Palaceside Building will surely rush to cheer.
The baseball is fun, but the cheering battles are another attraction. Besides familiar cheerleaders, many teams bring local festival mikoshi and other richly regional performances—something to look forward to. (The top photo is Hitachi, Ltd., which won a cheering prize for a huge turnout in 2009.)
The organizer, The Mainichi Newspapers, will give 100 pairs—200 people—special net-behind tickets (one admission between the 18th and 28th). Write address, name, age, occupation and telephone number on a postcard and send it to The Mainichi Newspapers Business Division, “Intercity Baseball Ticket Present,” postal code 100-8051 (no street address needed). Postmarks through July 4 are valid, so there is still time.
