Wearing a T-shirt and shorts, Yakult pitcher Yataro Sakamoto was sitting back in front of the TV at the Jingu Stadium clubhouse prior to Thursday's game against the Hanshin Tigers. It was his night off in the rotation.

Then, 20 minutes prior to the opening pitch, Sakamoto heard his name over the stadium speakers: "Pitcher, Yataro Sakamoto."

One of the coaches dashed into the clubhouse, told the second-year right-hander to change and warm up. Sakamoto was told the coaching staff had made a mistake by putting down his name instead of southpaw Futoshi Yamabe on the lineup card as the starting pitcher. Sakamoto thought it was a bad prank.