This week, the annual two-game series where a couple of Japanese pro ballclubs travel to play at Naha's Okinawa Cellular Stadium will take place. The Pacific League's Orix Buffaloes and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles are scheduled to play there Tuesday and Wednesday. Normally, U.S. military personnel stationed in Okinawa would be part of the crowds — but it may be different this time.

The recent spate of trouble in Okinawa involving Americans working at bases will have an effect— however small — on attendance at pro baseball games in Japan. U.S. sailors and a base-employed civilian have been arrested for alleged rape, rape-murder and two drunken driving car crashes causing injuries to Japanese motorists in the prefecture.

As a result, U.S. Navy personnel, at least for the time being, must file a plan with their commands when going off-base, and they were prohibited from consuming alcohol off-base. It is a shame the actions of a few bad apples spoil what might have been a fun evening at the ballpark for many.