The weather throughout Japan may be warming now that we have passed the middle of April, but there were some cold, wet days at the end of March and the beginning of this month that made it uncomfortable to play — and watch — baseball.

Japanese pro baseball lid-lifters took place on Friday night, March 27, and if the trend continues, opening day in 2016 would be on March 25 because of the two-day skip in the leap year calendar. At the other end, scheduled games in the Central League conclude on Sept. 27, just four days after summer ends and while the weather is still generally warm and sunny.

The first game in Major League Baseball was played this year on April 5, and, if the American and National Leagues can fit in 162 games between the first week of April and the end of September, surely Japanese baseball can work its 143-game slate in the same period of time.

There was a time when Opening Day in Japan came a lot later. In 1994, for example, all 12 teams opened the season on Saturday, April 9, and the card included a doubleheader of sorts at Tokyo Dome, with the Nippon Ham Fighters hosting a day game and the Yomiuri Giants playing at night in the same stadium.

Yes, that was when the Central and Pacific Leagues played only a 130-game schedule and there were just two domed stadiums, but opening a week after April began made for a more pleasant atmosphere for the players and fans.

Now, half of the teams in NPB have domed stadiums at home, but the other half, including frigid Sendai, do not. Seibu Prince Dome is also a hazard; while the roof can keep the rain (or snow) off the field, it is always more extreme (colder in March, hotter in August) inside than outside because of the opening below the roof and above the stands.

Tohoku’s Rakuten Eagles cannot play exhibition games at home because of the cold in March, and they played day games in Sendai in early April, hoping for sunshine and some warmth. Most likely the hot coffee vendors outsold the cold beer hawkers, and players were often seen with neck warmers and ear muffs, so that only their eyes are uncovered. Managers, coaches and reserve players sat on the benches wearing jackets and gloves. Portable stoves helped take some of the chill out of the dugouts.

One of the most recent un-baseball-like weather days was April 8, when the Tokyo Yakult Swallows hosted the Chunichi Dragons at Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium. It rained (mixed with some snow) most of the morning and afternoon, and the 6 p.m. game time temperature read 4 C (39 F). The wet turf made it seem colder.

Radio and TV announcers expressed surprise when Dragons starting pitcher Raul Valdes, a native of Cuba, threw in short sleeves. Swallows American reliever Logan Ondrusek, the game’s eventual winning pitcher, also took the mound later that night with bare forearms.

“I always pitch in half-sleeves,” said Ondrusek. “It’s cold at first but, once I get warmed up, it’s OK.”

Yakult closer Tony Barnette says he agrees with his teammate and doesn’t mind the cold so much. He said, “The hitters have it worse than the pitchers” because the batters are not warmed up as well, and there is hand sting if the ball is not hit squarely.

The Yokohama Baystars are another team that plays in an outdoor home ballpark, and club general manager Shigeru Takada said there will always be a problem playing baseball outdoors in March and April, and the players and spectators just have to deal with it.

Reminded the major leagues open a week into April, Takada said, “Their beginning of April is the same as our late March. It can snow in Cleveland in April.”

Yes, it can, and in other North American cities as well.

Bill Singer, currently a scout for the Washington Nationals and a frequent visitor to Japan, threw the first pitch in the history of the Toronto Blue Jays on April 7, 1977, when the Jays played home games outdoors at the old Exhibition Stadium. The ground crew had to clear the field of snow prior to the start, and more of the white stuff fell during the game which began after an 18-minute delay.

“It was coming down pretty good,” Singer recalled, indicating more than just flurries.

Hideki Matsui’s New York debut game at Yankee Stadium on April 8, 2003, was played a day after 10 cm of snow fell on the Bronx. About 20,000 people who had tickets didn’t show because it was snowing most of that morning too, and they missed Matsui’s grand slam that helped beat the Minnesota Twins 7-3. The temperature there at game time that day was 2 C (35 F). Brrrrrrrr.

The fact is the weather in Japan is so much nicer in mid-autumn than in the beginning of spring. According to accuweather.com, the average temperature throughout the country is four degrees warmer in late October (high of 18 C) than in late March (high of 14 C). There is less precipitation as well.

Hopefully, the calendar will be rolled back so the 2016 NPB Opening Day will occur on April 1, rather than March 25.

Baseball is not called the “Summer Game” for nothing.

*** Contact Wayne Graczyk at: Wayne@JapanBall.com

KEYWORDS Nippon Professional Baseball