Public Viewing

　The Yokohama DeNA BayStars (hereinafter referred to as the “BayStars”) have advanced to the Climax Series. Since they’re on the rise from third place, the games are being played at Koshien Stadium. A “public viewing” (hereinafter referred to as “PV”) is an event where Hamasta, their home stadium, is opened to the public so that anyone interested can watch the games for free.

　Unlike the regular season, only the top three teams advance to the Climax Series. Because of this, you can’t watch the PV every year. What’s more, if a team wins the league championship, the game is held at their home stadium, making it impossible to attend. So the key point is that you can’t be sure the PV will happen every year. Old-timer is a BayStars fan because he has family members who work for the team. Since the PV is free and Hamastad is within walking distance, I decided to go with my wife as part of a picnic. Since I’m an old-timer who is unemployed, I was in charge of securing seats, but for some reason, I also ended up paying for dinner. With the game starting at 6:00 PM, I thought the gates would open at 4:00 PM, but they actually opened at 4:30 PM.We waited just under 30 minutes, but even though we were on the third-base side, we managed to secure good seats. According to the organizers, attendance was reportedly 10,000, but it felt like there were a few fewer people. Still, in a pitcher’s duel where the game remained tight for a while, Maki hit a home run to seal the win for the Bay.

　Well, part of it was that it was free, but I was really satisfied because it combined the sense of unity among fans with the open, airy feeling of a space just sitting there in the middle of the city—and we won the game, too. It wasn’t as hot as summer, so the weather was quite pleasant this year. With just a hint of chill in the air, I could feel the autumn that usually goes unnoticed. I found myself strongly hoping to come back again next year.