Nago City holds ceremony celebrating the opening of a new baseball stadium, will host Nippon-Ham Fighters for spring training in February

Nago City holds ceremony celebrating the opening of a new baseball stadium, will host Nippon-Ham Fighters for spring training in February

Aerial photo of the completed Tapic Stadium Nago, which will open for use February 1 (Photograph taken by drone)


January 26, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

Nago – The Nago City Baseball stadium (Tapic Stadium Nago), had an opening ceremony January 25, hosted by the city and stadium management.

The ceremony was attended by people from the city government and members of the community, as well as representatives from the Hokkaido’s pro baseball team, the Nippon-Ham Fighters, who will start their spring training camp at the stadium February 1.

The stadium was constructed after the old stadium, which opened in 1977, was demolished.

The new stadium can hold 7,300 spectators, 1.8 times the capacity of the old stadium.

The Nippon-Ham Fighters were pioneers in coming to Nago for spring training for the first time in 1979, laying the foundation for what would blossom into the much larger pro baseball spring training today.

The fighters have been holding their initial camp in Arizona since 2016 when the stadium closed for repairs, but they will resume their Nago camp this year.

At the opening ceremony, Nago mayor Taketoyo Toguchi said in his greeting, “I expect [the stadium] to serve as a representation of the celebratory mood here as we prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the city in August.

Fighters’ team president Koji Kawamura said, “I hope to report back to the people of Okinawa that we have conquered the league and become the best in Japan.”

Hideki Kuriyama, the team’s manager, said in a video message, “We must win at all costs, and bring joy to you all.”

(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)

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