Japan's Central League announced its schedule of make-up games to be played between Sept. 27 and Oct. 6, and the calendar is loaded with matchups that will decide the seeds for the postseason playoffs. Included are two Yomiuri Giants home games that were never even on the docket and one game at Nagoya Dome postponed during a typhoon.

The cards and dates are as follows. Clip and save.

Sept. 27 — Hanshin vs. Chunichi at Koshien, 6 p.m.; Hiroshima vs. Yakult at Hiroshima, 6 p.m.

Sept. 28 — Yokohama vs. Yakult at Yokohama, 6 p.m.; Hanshin vs. Chunichi at Koshien, 6 p.m.

Sept. 29 — Yokohama vs. Yakult at Yokohama, 3 p.m.; Hanshin vs. Hiroshima at Koshien, TBA

Sept. 30 — Yokohama vs. Yakult at Yokohama, 2 p.m.; Hiroshima vs. Chunichi at Hiroshima, TBA

Oct. 1 — Yokohama vs. Hanshin at Yokohama, 6 p.m.; Hiroshima vs. Chunichi at Hiroshima, 6 p.m.

Oct. 2 — Yomiuri vs. Yakult at Tokyo Dome, 6 p.m.; Yokohama vs. Hanshin at Yokohama, 6 p.m.

Oct. 3 — Yomiuri vs. Yokohama at Tokyo Dome, 6 p.m.; Yakult vs. Hanshin at Jingu, 6:20 p.m.

Oct. 4 — Yakult vs. Yokohama at Jingu, 6:20 p.m.; Chunichi vs. Hiroshima at Nagoya Dome, 6 p.m.

Oct. 5 — Yakult vs. Yokohama at Jingu, 6:20 p.m.

Oct. 6 — Yakult vs. Chunichi at Jingu, 6:20 p.m.; Hiroshima vs. Yokohama at Hiroshima, 6 p.m.

There is one more Yokohama-Yakult game yet to be scheduled, plus a BayStars game against the Dragons rained out on Aug. 29 after this schedule came out, and anything else that gets washed away between now and Sept. 26.

Some games listed above will probably be clinchers that will put three teams in the CL's first-ever two-stage Climax Series that begins Oct. 13. Keep your eye especially on contests involving the current A-Class teams; the Giants, Dragons and Tigers.

Also, the Sept. 29 clash between Hanshin and Hiroshima will apparently be the final game played at Koshien Stadium prior to the start of its scheduled renovation on Oct. 1.

All other makeups, playoffs or Japan Series tilts, where the Tigers are the home team, would take place at Skymark Stadium in Kobe.

We may also see the scheduling of Japan pro baseball's first doubleheader — or doubleheaders — in more than a decade.

The Yokohama BayStars have so many games to be made up, and they have to be played prior to the start of the playoffs, so there may be no other way to get them in.

Then there should be the "sayonara" game as a player for Yakult Swallows catcher-manager Atsuya Furuta, and there may be more than one. Besides making one last appearance behind the plate at a home game at Jingu Stadium, Furuta could be asked by opposing Central League clubs if he would play in Swallows road games, so they can honor him as well.

But, hold the fort. His status as manager for 2008 is in doubt, and his retirement ceremony could be postponed until next spring when he would play in a preseason exhibition game instead.

Should the 42-year-old Furuta step down from his manager's post, his likely replacement is rumored to be current Seibu Lions pitching coach Daisuke Araki, 43, a former Koshien high school hero and a fan favorite when he pitched for the Swallows from 1983 to 1995 and the Yokohama BayStars in 1996.

Meanwhile, I'm just back from Sapporo where the fans seem to be clamoring for a Japan Series between the two current first-place teams, the home town Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and the Yomiuri Giants.

The Giants swept a two-game series from Yakult Aug. 28-29 at Sapporo Dome before crowds of more than 29,000 each game.

That is not the 43,000-sellout audience Yomiuri drew in the first games it played in that stadium in 2001, and not as many as the Hammies usually pull in, but still respectable, and it shows there are still a lot of Kyojin fans in the area.

Make no mistake about it, though; Sapporo — no, all of Hokkaido — is Fightersville, and you have to admire the job done by Nippon Ham manager Trey Hillman and his staff without two key elements of their 2006 championship team.

Hillman lost his best player — Pacific League MVP Michihiro Ogasawara — to free agency and the Giants, and his most popular performer — the spacey and flamboyant Tsuyoshi Shinjo — to retirement.

When the Fighters got off to a horrendous start in 2007 and were mired in last place toward the end of April, the outlook was grim. Even the manager admitted, "We were awful."

But Nippon Ham got its act together, got hot during the interleague season and vaulted into first place where the club enjoyed a 2 1/2-game lead in the PL standings, mostly riding the arms of pitchers Yu Darvish, Masaru Takeda and Ryan Glynn.

It has to be.

The Fighters have the worst team batting average (.255) among the 12 Japanese clubs, and they've hit a two-league low home run total of only 61 all year.

Compare that with the Giants who have slammed 156 round-trippers and one Rakuten player — Takeshi Yamasaki — who has hit 40 by himself.

One more thing: Did you see the special uniforms the Nippon Ham club wore at home during the Aug. 17-19 series against the Chiba Lotte Marines?

Blue jerseys with the one black sleeve and "HOKKAIDO" lettering across the front. Just beautiful, Trey. Those would look great during the playoffs.

As a friend from Switzerland trying hard to become a baseball fan would say, "Nice costumes."

* * * * *

Contact Wayne Graczyk at: [email protected].