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Talks of bringing back a ‘Lucky Zone’ to Koshien Stadium, Hanshin Tigers home ballpark, were revealed on the 10th. Various improvements to the ballpark were discussed at the Hanshin Electric Railway headquarters, and if the Lucky Zone is brought back, it will be the first time since it was taken down after the 1991 season. Koshien Stadium, much like Nagoya Dome and ZOZO Marine Stadium, is known as a pitchers’ park where home runs are relatively infrequent. This season, the Tigers have hit a league-low 72 home runs to this point. Should the club bring back the Lucky Zone, there is no doubt that home runs will increase, and that should lead to a lot more exciting, captivating games.
There have been several improvements made to Koshien Stadium since its inception in 1924 (94 years ago), and there are more plans to give the stadium a facelift in the years to come. Among the numerous plans (such as revamping the alps seating), the rumor getting the most attention is the revival of the ‘Lucky Zone’ area. Hanshin Electric executives have explained that “it is true that we are discussing and evaluating various plans to improve the stadium.” Though the Tigers drew the largest crowds in NPB last season, Hanshin is still diligently planning ways to bring even more people to the park.
The outfield walls at the foul poles are a short 95 meters (312 feet) but at the gaps, the distance is the same as it is in dead center: 118 meters (388 feet), and with the wind blowing in from the oceanside (hamakaze), it makes left-handed hitters’ job of clearing the fence really hard. They say that home runs are the fireworks of baseball, so making the ballpark more home run friendly is definitely one way of pleasing the fans.
The Nippon Series Champion 1985 team, which boasted cleanup hitters Randy Bass, Masayuki Kakefu and Akinobu Okada, set a league record of 219 home runs. One of the most powerful hitting lineups in NPB history, they enthralled fans into frenzies on a nightly basis. The removal of the Lucky Zone has left a glaring gap in the team’s offensive production. In the 26 years since the team has played without a Lucky Zone, it has failed to reach 100 total home runs in 15 seasons. They have also not had a drafted player hit 30 or more home runs since Kakefu and Okada did it in 1985. You could say it’s hard to breed star hitters in this environment.
Various options are currently being discussed: whether to put a home run terrace (with extra seating) in the area, like Yafuoku! Dome has; how much to bring in the fences, and what new name to give the area. Things could progress as early as this offseason, but the timing of actually setting up the Lucky Zone is still undecided. As a matter of fact, there are still people at Hanshin Electric Railway who are against the idea of shortening the field of play, and they will need to consider the opinions of the high school baseball federation as well, since the national spring and summer tournaments take place at Koshien. There are a few more hurdles to clear before it happens, but one thing is for sure: there would be more home runs at Koshien. Surely the fans would enjoy more scoring plays as well.
Dramatic Plays During the Lucky Zone Era
May 26, 1947: Players swung for the shortened fences in this, the first game with a Lucky Zone in place. Neither Hanshin nor Nankai could send one over the fences, though, as Tadashi Wakabayashi threw a complete-game shutout and the Tigers won 1-0.
August 30, 1973: Yutaka Enatsu, 25 years old at the time, threw 11 innings of no-hit ball against the Chunichi Dragons, and then hit a walk-off solo home run over the Lucky Zone fence in right, his second of the year.
May 28, 1988: Hanshin leftfielder Eiji Kanamori climbed and propelled himself over the fence in an attempt to catch a fly ball by Taiyo Whales’ hitter Mitsugu Ishibashi. He was unable to make the catch. Ishibashi hit six career home runs, three of which came in this game.
March 27, 1992: In the first high school game at Koshien after the removal of the Lucky Zone, Hideki Matsui (Seiryo HS) hit homers in two consecutive at bats. However, the tournament produced just seven total home runs, including one inside-the-park home run, which was fewer than half of the 18 hit the previous year.
The Recent “Terrace Outfield Seating” Trend
Rakuten Seimei Park (Rakuten), 2012 offseason: They had the fences brought in by 1.4 meters (down to 100.1) at both poles, and 1 meter (to 116) in the gaps, creating an “E Wing” (90 seats). The team’s home run total spiked in 2013 to 97 from 52 (42 at home as opposed to 19 the year before), practically doubling the previous year’s total.
Yafuoku! Dome (SoftBank), 2014 offseason: They built a 4.2 meter-tall fence several meters in front of the old 5.84 meter-tall outfield wall, and created a “home run terrace” in between for up to 286 fans. The distance required for home runs was shortened by up to 5 meters. Their home run total reached 141 (77 at home) in 2015, compared with 95 (34 at home) in 2014.
ZOZO Marine (Lotte), 2018 offseason renovations planned: The team announced on September 3 that it would set up a “Home Run Lagoon” in front of its current fence, with seating for 302 fans. The team’s current home run total (as of September 10) is an NPB-low 61.