The 2011 Japanese pro baseball season will be forever remembered as the year of the pitcher. This is due to the new NPB baseball and the slightly darker stadiums because of energy-saving measures implemented following the triple disasters of March 11; earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant problems.
What about 2012, however? Will the confident hurlers continue to dominate frustrated hitters? Will ERAs batting percentages, home runs and game scores remain lower? Or can we see a resurgence of the long ball, higher scoring games and the occasional slugfest?
The lighting problem is expected to be long gone when the next season opens at the end of March, but NPB is not going to change the ball put into play this year. So, can we expect to see a more balanced game in the Central and Pacific Leagues?