The Pacific League champion Orix Buffaloes have attracted a record number of spectators to their spring camp, backed by strong results in recent years and other efforts to boost their popularity.
On Sunday, the former team of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto had its largest-ever spring crowd of 29,196 and teamed up with Zweigen Kanazawa, a J. League third-division club based in Ishikawa Prefecture, to collect donations for the earthquake-hit Noto Peninsula.
The two teams are holding their camps in the same sports park in Miyazaki while recovery work continues for the peninsula, which was struck by a 7.6 magnitude quake on New Year's Day.