The 2020 NPB Schedule was released last August due to the 2020 Summer Olympics taking place in the country. This is a rather late reaction with notes, irregularities and thoughts since it came out:
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Notable Lions notes
-Opening Day was bumped to March 20, where the Saitama Seibu Lions will host the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in what will be a day game at 14:00. The entire opening weekend will have day games except one (Giants vs Baystars on 3/20).
-The Lions will play two games in Kobe against the Orix Buffaloes for the weekend of 3/28 and 3/29. Orix will be wearing Blue Wave apparel for all eight games in Kobe this season as a remembrance of the 25-year anniversary of the Kobe (Great Hanshin) Earthquake.
-Omiya's three games will be on 4/7 (vs Orix), 5/19 (vs Chiba Lotte) and 8/27 (vs Hokkaido).
-For the second time in three years, the Lions will host a game at Tokyo Dome on 4/21, which will be against the Marines. They will wear throwback apparel, though it will have a gradient on the numbers and letters, showing the past colors.
-Interleague play will begin on 5/26 against the Hiroshima Carp. This 18-game stretch will run through June 14. Any games rained out can be made up until June 18.
-For the fifth consecutive season, the Lions will host on game in Maebashi, Gunma. This year's edition will take place on 6/19 against the Fighters.
-The final series before the All-Star break and Olympic break will take place in Tokyo Dome in two road games against the Fighters on 7/17 and 7/18.
-The Lions last regular season game on schedule is on 10/12 with a road game against the Fighters up in Sapporo Dome. The final listed regular season game is on 10.16 with the Giants hosting the Dragons.
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League notes:
-On 6/30, the Marines will host a rare game away from Zozo Marine Stadium and even outside Kanto with an outing in Toyama prefecture against the Softbank Hawks.
-A second irregular Marines home game will take place in Mito, Ibaraki on 9/8 against the Fighters.
-Multiple teams will have home games in Tokyo Dome, including the Yakult Swallows and Yokohama DeNA Baystars as with other normal hosts (Softbank Hawks, Rakuten Eagles etc.)
-For the annual two games in Naha, Okinawa, the Fighters will be hosting the Hawks on 7/4 and 7/5.
-The All-Star series takes place on 7/19 in Fukuoka's PayPay Dome and 7/20 in Nagoya Dome.
-With the extended break due to the Olympics, regular season games for NPB will not return until 8/14.
-The Climax Series will begin on 10/24. The final stage is set for 10/28 and the Japan Series is scheduled to begin on 11/7.
-The NPB Draft will take place on 11/5.
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Farm team without a home
The Lions ni-gun will not play any home games in their traditional Seibu II Stadium nextdoor to MetLife Dome until 7/15 due to construction. The Farm Stadium will have seats and is renamed to CAR3219 Stadium.
Home games will physically be away games at other Eastern League opponent's Stadiums while a handful will be in irregular cities like Hanno, Saitama and Omiya, Saitama. Some will also take place in MetLife Dome with a small general admission price. It is unclear if ni-gun games at CAR3219 Stadium will remain free or not for the public to see.
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Another trip on the horizon
When I saw the schedule come early as well as a flight deal in August that I couldn't refuse, I pounced on the plane tickets as I will come back to Japan only nine months removed from my last trip in June.
— Graveyard Baseball (@GraveyardBall) February 14, 2020As announced on Twitter, the plan is to see all Lions games from March 26 to April 4. A window to travel came up in my schedule and the early start to the season gave an opportunity to take a vacation. Barring no rain, I hope to see games at Zozo Marine Stadium (3/26), Hotto Motto Kobe (3/28-3/29), PayPay Dome (3/31-4/1) before a return to Kanto in Tokorozawa (4/3-4/4).
I'm open to any suggestions and other places to see as nothing is set in stone minus the games themselves. Can send a message on Twitter or elsewhere.
As a result, the Weekly Digest will have a hiatus to begin the year minus Opening Weekend.
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