Why Japan? Lions called our name indirectly

There always lies the question for people following sports that are far from them in proximity. Why? In the soccer world, it's an easy answer when following a club team from Spain, England, France, Italy and more. For MLB, NBA, NHL and NFL, those away from North America have no choice.

Originally we wrote our short stories as to how we picked the Saitama Seibu Lions when making ourselves fan "free agents". We have no connection to Japan by blood, neither from extended family on either side. Crazy enough, neither of us have even set foot in Japan or even Asia, though that could change in the future soon. While I (Christian) have had connections through friends and have heard the language quite a bit through church and 賛美, it was no factor in the desire to seek baseball in Japan.

The first time watching NPB clips were when we looked for tape of Hiroyuki Nakajima, who at the time signed with the Oakland Athletics. Nakajima ended up being buried in the minors for his stateside career, but the idea of the game and highlights were more available today than they were in the 1990s, where mostly tape was shown during the 1994 MLB strike.

Given there are resources and more compared to the last 30 years in English, it couldn't be too hard even if our knowledge of the Japanese language is limited right? When searching for answers, it became easier as time went on and in hindsight, it's really amazing. Slowly over time, I've learned how to read the language a little better, though speaking is still tough.

Nakajima helped plant a seed of interest from hearing the Oendan crowds and how it all sounds. We're already into college football as that alone is the most passionate form of sports fandom among the USA, but seeing it in the baseball game with a similar atmosphere? It was too good to ignore.

From following MLB, it's easy to know players who've come over from Japan including Ichiro Suzuki, Hideo Nomo, Takashi Saito, Hiroki Kuroda and many more, but finding their origins kept us interested in figuring it was quality baseball.

If anything, seeing a completely different take on our pastime sport is refreshing and fun from the usual norm. Pitchers have a different form of delivery, the tactics from managers differ from their stateside counterparts and the fundamentals are practiced to death to name a few. The talent level is obviously below what MLB is and NPB is a feeder for them in the big picture, but the league itself is still quality after watching for a few years.

Sports executives always preach versatility as helpful element among their players and picking up another league in Japan helped us become educated on their ideas.

When seeking, Nakajima being a Lion didn't play any factor into our decisions. It happened to be the uniforms and history that we could relate to as A's fans. The early days of Yoshiaki Tsutsumi mirror how Charlie Finley was when he owned the A's during his prime years.

Some of the first days of professional baseball when the Lions were in Fukuoka as Nishitetsu Lions are similar to the glory days of the Philadelphia Athletics. While there was no Connie Mack in charge, the greatness of Kazuhisa Inao and the "streamline five" lineup had some championships in the 1950s, mirroring the Athletics titles from the 1910s.

From a bad side, the Great depression economy hurt Mack and the Athletics for decades beyond their Philadelphia years, similar to how the Black Mist Scandal hurt the Lions and gave them no identity entering the 1970s.

What about those days as Taiheiyo Club and Crown Lighter Lions? Similar to the Kansas City Athletics that were robbed in trades, though had a foundation going. Both teams won a championship within five years of relocating to their current homes in MetLife dome (1982) and the Oakland Coliseum (1972).

Even the Golden Era from 1982-1994 was initially forgotten or not discussed by the media because the Lions aren't the Hanshin Tigers or Yomiuri Giants. The Athletics three-peat from 1972-1974 is a forgotten dynasty which created a documentary having that name.

With all the direct history, combined with competing as rebels, low payroll, "ugly stadium" and being outside one of the largest markets in the county, we couldn't resist and related well with them easily.

Fast forward to 2018, three years after constantly watching every Lions game live or delayed since 2015, they've been our team subconsciously since following them.

What's beautiful about the current structure of the Lions is how they'll always be interesting. They don't hold on to their veterans too long and most of the roster is relatively young. Sluggers are everywhere and even the pitching has shown it can compete when it was viewed as a bottom tier unit.

Most importantly, the Lions have shown they care about winning when making free agency signings in the middle of the year or go out of their way when hiring a new manager since Hisanobu "Nabe-Q" Watanabe became a Senior Director. Hiring Hatsuhiko Tsuji was the first time going completely outside the organization since the Golden Era, even though he was a player during that time.

For me personally, I've had an obsession with flags for a long time. Something about holding up the flag during an event like the Olympics or any other international sporting event. While all Oendans have large flags being waved, only the Lions have flags when they celebrate scoring or for all supporters to have on cheers. While the Chiba Lotte Marines are louder by decibels per person, this style of flags doesn't hurt at all.

For Wes, his family has had plenty of ties as a customer to Prince Hotels, which is under the same Lions ownership. He and his family often use their property in Hawaii for a vacation.

Subconsciously, the Lions have been our team the whole time.

On the field, the the Lions have drafted 16 pitchers within the last three years since we've been following the team. There's always potential for someone to emerge and even in a bad 2016 year, watching Shinsaburo Tawata, the first round pick of 2015, made the second half of the year fun to watch.

There's a difference between a losing team and a dull team, where the latter is one with no upside or direction. The Lions front office has shown they want to get better even if their payroll doesn't reflect they'll spend money in free agency. Recently, Seibu Holdings reported an increase in revenue for the last fiscal quarter and cited the on-field success as a big reason for it.

With a team that is near the top of the league in offensive talent and a recent emergence of the speedy Sosuke Genda combined with an adequate pitching staff, this group of Lions are structured so that they're never boring or forgettable. Being on the outside of Greater Tokyo is something we can relate to with Oakland being in the Bay Area, but even better, this team remains fun.

As a whole, NPB becomes one of the most fun sporting things to track and watch. We see teams go through ups and downs, but it isn't over-saturated with only 12 teams to track. Each team has its own story and it's worth knowing about them all. For a bonus, the high school Koshien tournament is always worth seeing no matter who's playing.

So to answer the question on why Japan?

1. The style of baseball is fun and interesting.
2. It's a different refreshing take on a national pastime.
3. There is quality in the product.

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