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News of independent training came to us from everywhere. Pro baseball will soon be camping. This year, just like last year, 12 teams in two prefectures, Okinawa and Miyazaki, will gather to hold the first team camp.
Around this time of year, we receive inquiries from media and professional baseball fans asking, “Can you tell me about the XX Team’s past training camps?” NPB lists Pacific League campgrounds in the league-issued “BLUE BOOK,” However, there was no compilation for the Central League. That’s why this time, in collaboration with the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Baseball Museum, we conducted a detailed examination of the first team spring training sites of the current 12 baseball teams since 1950, when the league was split into two leagues.
There is a long tradition that camp began on February 1, and an article in the Hochi Shimbun dated February 2, 1952 stated that “camping will begin everywhere at once.” However, the start dates were for 1950 and 1951 each team varied, with some teams training in late January and others beginning full training in mid-February. The list lists campsites or practice sites in chronological order, starting February 1, including those two years.
The current trend for campgrounds is to stay in the same location for decades, but in the nearly decade since the two leagues split, many teams have changed locations at a dizzying pace. Some, such as Taiyo (now Yokohama DeNA), established a team in the city of Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1950, and the camp’s main stadium was Shimonoseki → Ashiya (Hyogo) → Shimonoseki → Akashi (Hyogo) → Nagasaki → Kamoike (Kagoshima). There was also a team that changed its schedule for nine years in a row: → Nagasaki → Matsuyama (Ehime) → Akashi. It feels like a long story of traveling, looking for a place with a warm climate and a good training environment.
There are many stories about campsites from the past. During the camp, one team suddenly changed location from Shizuoka City to Nishinomiya City (Hyogo) due to unseasonable weather. It’s hard to believe now, but there were teams training on airfield runways and teams setting up camp on girls’ school grounds for over two weeks. The campground is truly a place with a history of baseball history. Next time we’ll look back at them as camping trivia.
[Offizieller NPB-Rekorder Tsutomu Yamamoto]
Changes to 12 team camp locations
Recorder column
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