First in a two-part series
The Yokohama BayStars have been stuck in the bottom half of the Central League standings — seven times at the very bottom — for each of the last 10 years. This has led to the fans wearing more frowns than big, bright smiles.
This year, the team is in a good position to reach the three-team postseason, which would be the first time since the NPB championship-winning campaign of 1998 that a BayStars team was still playing after the regular season had ended. The current state of the team has absolutely produced more smiles than in recent years.