This could be the final season for the Seibu Lions, at least as we know the ball club by that name.
The arrest last week of Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, former team owner and kingpin of the Kokudo-Seibu empire, and the ongoing crisis affecting the entire Seibu group, indicates the team will most likely be sold, and you have to wonder if the defending Japan Series champion Lions players can shake off the publicity and breathe through the cloud of uncertainty sure to be above them all season.
There could be a sad ending to an era of Seibu Lions baseball that began in 1978 and will have consisted of 27 seasons of mostly happy times with some great moments experienced by star players, and a host of championships.