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Best Nine

The Tokyo Big 6 announced today that the Waseda - Keio games scheduled on the 29th and 30th will start at noon, instead of the originally planned 13:00.  The change in time was made after the Yakult Swallows secured 2nd place in the Central League (they require the use of Jingu Stadium for the First Stage of the Climax Series).

The Swallows also made adjustments to their schedule by starting games 30 minutes later than normal (18:30 instead of 18:00).

If the Yakult Swallows end up finishing the year in 2nd place, they First Stage of the Climax Series will take place between 10/29 and 10/31 at Jingu Stadium.  Waseda and Keio are also set to play games at Jingu Stadium on both the 29th and 30th.  If the Swallows do indeed finish in second place it'll be the first time (over a 109-year history) the Waseda - Keio games are played on days the Swallows also require use of the stadiums

On Friday, the Tokyo Big 6 Federation's Masayuki Naito (head of the secretariat) told reporters that the league currently had no plans to make any changes to the schedule, but also hinted that they were willing to cooperate if necessary.

As it stands now, the Waseda - Keio games are set to begin at 13:00 with the Swallows' Climax Series games set to begin at 18:30.  On Friday (10/14), the Tokyo Big 6 ran a simulation at Jingu Stadium to see if it was possible to maintain the current schedule.

The Tokyo Big 6 held a board of directors meeting today and decided that they'll play a charity game against Sendai Big 6 next summer in Sendai.  The league would like to play the game some time around August at Kleenex Stadium.  Proceeds will be donated toward relief and reconstruction efforts in northern Japan.

The Tokyo Big 6 held a special board of directors meeting today and decided to make changes to a portion of their schedule.  The season will begin as originally plan (on 4/9), but games on 4/16 and 4/17 will be shifted around as follows:

4/16 - Hosei vs Tokyo

4/17 - Meiji vs Rikkio

4/18 - Rikkio vs Meiji / Tokyo vs Hosei

Game times and extra inning rules were also changed:

On days when there are two games and on the two days the Swallows need the stadium (16th and 17th), games will begin at 10:00.  Extra innings for these games will either max out at 12 or will not continue into the next new inning if the game has hit the 3 hour mark (2.5 hour mark for games on the 16th and 17th).

No changes to start times and extra inning rules for games on 5/28 and 5/29.

UPDATE 4/5 @ 11:16am - The Tokyo Big 6 has also stated they will consider further schedule changes if the Yakult Swallows need to play a day game on 5/22 (currently the Swallows first scheduled night game of the season).

The Tokyo Big 6 announced today that they canceled this year's Industrial League Series (a 6 game series that was set to begin on the 3/31).

NOTE: this includes changes that were announced on 4/4.

The Yakult staff started cleaning out the clubhouse at Jingu Stadium on Monday.  The Jingu facilities will be completely closed for the New Year holiday (1/29 - 1/4).

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Masanori Ishikawa will not only spend time working out with a few other players, including Masahiro Yamamoto (CHU), in a training facility Tottori this coming January, but will also spend some time running on the beaches in Tottori as well.  Ishikawa has his sights set on securing his 4th consecutive opening day start in 2011 and is currently working on increasing his weight.

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The Yakult Swallows and the Tokyo Big 6 are thinking about working together in order to help improve attendance at Jingu Stadium next season.  The current plan: ticket stubs from Yakult games will become discount coupons for Tokyo Big 6 games and ticket stubs from Tokyo Big 6 games will become discount coupons for Yakult games.  The exact percentages aren't known at this time, but a difference in percentages is expected between Yakult ticket stubs and Tokyo Big 6 ticket stubs.

Former Meiji University baseball team manager Takahiko Beppu passed away at 4:09pm on Saturday due to complications from interstitial pneumonitis.  He was 84.

Beppu managed the Meiji University baseball team between 1989 and 1995 and won 4 championships.  He also won the Meiji Jingu Tournament in 1995, became the first manager in the Tokyo Big 6 to bring on a female assistant (マネジャー), and made Jodi Haller the first female pitcher to pitch in Japanese college baseball in 1995.

During his tenure as manager, he's worked with players like Kenshin Kawakami, Yusuke Torigoe, Katsunori Nomura, and Takashi Ogasawara.

After his retirement in 1995, he was hired as director (総監督) of the Meiji University baseball team.  In 2004, reports that Meiji University top prospect Yasuhiro Ichiba was taking money from NPB teams under the table broke and Beppu stepped down from his post to take responsibility.

UPDATE 12/28, 11:42pm JST - about 600 people, including Shigeru Takada, Katsumi Hirosawa, and Yasuhiro Ichiba, attended Beppu's wake today.

UPDATE 12/28, 9:17pm JST - about 400 people, including Shigeru Sugishita, Yusuke Torigoe, and Takashi Miwa, attended Beppu's funeral services today.