"New" is the watchword for Japanese baseball in 2005.

We have a new expansion team in the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, a newly named team in the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and the newly merged entity known as the Orix Buffaloes.

There is a new interleague schedule, expanded number of games (146 for Central League teams and 136 for Pacific League clubs), and the Hiroshima Carp have a dog named Mickey who brings fresh baseballs to the home plate umpire, in a basket carried in its mouth.