[Home Run Level] A Compilation of Trivia & Fun Facts About Baseball
In Japan, there’s never a shortage of baseball talk—whether it’s professional baseball, the Major Leagues, or the WBC! Every year, countless baseball fans can’t help but wonder which team will be crowned the best in Japan, who will win the home run title, and which player will pull off a miracle play.
In this article, we’ll introduce fun trivia and tidbits that will make you love baseball even more! We’ve gathered facts from various angles, including the history of baseball and the curiosities behind things you casually see while watching games.
Even if you don’t know much about baseball, you’ll find yourself thinking, “Oh, really? That’s cool!”—so be sure to check it out!
- How many can you get right? Dive into baseball rules and trivia with a fun quiz
- A collection of quiz questions related to sports
- Not taught in school! A roundup of historical trivia and fun facts
- Trivia quiz with useful tips to know: fun facts that come in handy at school or at home [for kids]
- Professional baseball players that are easy to imitate: a compilation of batting stance impressions
- [For Elementary School Students] Sports Quiz
- So interesting you’ll want to tell someone! December Trivia & Fun Facts Special
- Trivia and fun facts about food (summary)
- [Baseball Cheering] A roundup of popular chance themes that fire up pro baseball games
- A quiz of fun trivia: bite-sized knowledge that leads to new insights.
- Fun Ball Sports: A Roundup of Ball-Based Play, Games, and Sports
- Useful right away in daily life! Surprising trivia and handy tips
- Fun facts you’ll want to share! January trivia and tidbits special
[Home Run Level] Collection of Trivia & Fun Facts About Baseball (11–20)
Home plate was originally a rectangle, too.
Home plate is a pentagon, while first, second, and third bases are squares, but originally home plate was also a square like the other bases.
However, because it was very difficult for umpires to judge balls, it was changed to a pentagon in 1900.
With a pentagon, the trajectory of the pitch runs parallel to the edges of home plate, making calls easier.
In this way, even things we haven’t questioned from the start may have changed for a reason.
It’s interesting to look at how sports evolve, isn’t it?
In the past, there was no split between the Central League and the Pacific League.
Some of you may have wondered what exactly the Central League (Se League) and the Pacific League (Pa League) are.
On what basis are they divided? It all started in 1949: teams like the Chunichi Dragons and the Yomiuri Giants, who opposed the admission of new teams, formed the opposition side and became the Central League in 1950, while those in favor became the Pacific League.
That arrangement has continued to the present day, with two leagues.
By the way, “Se League” is short for Central League, and “Pa League” is short for Pacific League.
The first person to throw a ceremonial first pitch was Shigenobu Okuma.
The ceremonial first pitch is often thrown by various celebrities, and who gets to throw it is always a hot topic.
So who was the first person to throw a ceremonial first pitch in Japan? It was Shigenobu Okuma, in 1908.
The game was between a Major League team and Waseda University.
Although his pitch missed the strike zone, a Waseda student deliberately swung and missed so it wouldn’t be called a ball.
This is said to have given rise to the custom of swinging and missing at ceremonial first pitches.
The origin of Koshien’s “Alps Stand” is that the manga artist Ippei Okamoto called it that.
We call the infield stands the “Alps stands,” but did you know that this name wasn’t used from the beginning? It’s said to have been coined by Ippei Okamoto, a manga artist and the father of Taro Okamoto.
When the infield stands, which had previously been only 20 rows, were expanded to 50 rows and became very tall, he published a cartoon in a newspaper calling them the “Alps stands,” and that’s how the name caught on.
It’s quite a stylish bit of interpretation, isn’t it? And it’s interesting that the term became established.
The ace number being “18” comes from the Kabuki Jūhachiban (the Eighteen Favorites of Kabuki).
In Japanese professional baseball, the number 18 is known as the ace number, but where does this come from? There are various theories, though a well-known one traces it to the kabuki term “ohako,” written with the characters for “eighteen favorites.” In kabuki, “ohako” refers to one’s signature or specialty performances.
That said, it’s not as if players are required to wear number 18.
Still, if you were given the number 18, you’d probably feel motivated to live up to the expectations, wouldn’t you?