Fans in Japan

In the 69 years since it was adopted as a de facto national sport, baseball has become as much a part of the Japanese way of life as sushi, sake and sumo.

On just about any evening from April to October, noodle shops, standing bars and taxicabs echo with excited, statistic-filled commentaries. Later, on the usually steamy summer nights, millions of viewers - predominantly middle-aged men - wind down after work with a cold beer in front of the electric fan and a round-up of the latest naita (night games).

Usually, baseball is the ideal sport for relaxation. Having been well and truly Japanified, the game tends to be as much about comfortable routine as fierce competition. Sure there are intriguing pitching duels and occasional surprises among the 12 professional teams but at the end of the day the winner is always expected to be the Yomiuri Giants.

This is part of an article that I found, written by Jonathan Watts. This shows how dedicated fans are to watching their favorite teams on t.v. I also found it interesting that only one team is expected to win all the time. This sounds like the Yankees or the Red Sox. They too are always expected to win.