The 90th Intercity Baseball Tournament (hosted by The Mainichi Newspapers and the Japan Baseball Federation), known as the "midsummer ball," opens July 13 at Tokyo Dome. For 13 days through July 25, hot battles will unfold. Ahead of the start, photo panels of the 11 Kanto teams are on display in the open space beside the Palaceside Building first-floor east main entrance =photo above. Through July 5.
This being the 90th commemorative tournament, the field is a record-tying 36 teams, four more than usual. The schedule is also one day longer.
Panel teams: North Kanto (Ibaraki, Gunma, Tochigi) = Kashima, Ibaraki (Nippon Steel Kashima), Hitachi (Hitachi, Ltd.); South Kanto (Chiba, Saitama) = JFE East Japan (Chiba), Honda (Sayama, Saitama), Nippon Express (Saitama); Tokyo = Saginomiya Seisakusho, NTT East, JR East, Meiji Yasuda Life; West Kanto (Kanagawa, Yamanashi) = Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (Yokohama), Toshiba (Kawasaki) =see the four photos at the end.
Powerhouses with proud appearance counts — Nippon Express 44, NTT East 43, Toshiba 41, Hitachi 37 — have gathered. Team strength does not jump overnight, so regulars naturally dominate; among them City Light Okayama (Okayama) and Miyazaki Umeda Gakuen (Miyazaki) are first-timers. That is no small feat. Those two meet in the first round on July 14.
The panels are five photos per team from district prelims — powerful action and the joy of qualifying — 55 in all.
Amateur baseball cannot match the pros, and it does not draw nationwide interest like high-school ball, but it is said to have a unique charm — a "connoisseur's" taste, if you like.
First, it is powerful. Pro-level. In recent years former pro players can compete, and some teams feature them. At the same time it has the one-and-done tension of high-school baseball: lose and you are out. Perhaps that is why the atmosphere is unique.
Among amateur events, the Intercity is, as the name says, a battle of regional representatives — a big part of the excitement. Most teams are corporate, of course, but in Hitachi, for example, there is no big town festival, so the Intercity stands in for the summer festival. The send-off in front of the station is not quite the whole city, but it is quite grand. If they do not qualify, there is "no local festival this year," so the pressure on players is real.
Please come to the Dome and enjoy Intercity baseball.
