Japanese baseball

The other day we were at the Fukuoka PayPay Dome and noticed that there was a baseball game being played.
In Japan, baseball is known as 野球 (やきゅう / yakyu) and is the most popular sport in the country.

Fukuoka has a very strong baseball team in the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
The Hawks are part of the Pacific League.

Team Names

All the teams in Japan are named after their corporate owners/sponsors and often include the city or region where they are located in.
It is a strategy that is a combination of marketing for the companies and also helps to gain a local following of fan base.

Professional League

There are two leagues in the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) the Central League and the Pacific League, and each have six teams.
The season usually in early April and ends in October with two or three all star games in July.
This professional league was started in 1920.

Differences between the Japanese game and American Baseball
There are some clear differences between the two cultures of baseball.
The stadiums in Japan are usually slightly smaller.

The Japanese game has a slightly smaller ball.
The strike zone is bigger.

And finally, there is a possibility that a game can end in a draw during the regular season.