You no doubt saw the news item whereby the Nippon Professional Baseball authorities are asking the Japanese players union to have a third All-Star game in 2011, in order to blot a portion of its reported ¥60 million of red ink. Two All-Star games are scheduled so far next season: at Nagoya Dome July 22 and Chiba Marine Stadium July 23.
The Kyodo News article said NPB wants to shift the Chiba date to July 24 and sandwich another game on the 23rd at Tokyo Dome. If the players group agrees, it would be the first time three All-Star games would be played here since 2001. However, staging three such contests was the norm throughout much of Japanese baseball history.
The All-Star tripleheader was held every season between 1963 and 1988. It was 22 years ago when the players association said three games were too many, and a compromise was reached whereby the number of All-Star tilts would be reduced to two most years, but there would still be three played every four years: 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, and so on.