Amateur Japanese Baseball Players rent Safeco Field
An amateur Japanese baseball player’s dream came true on September 21.
Yoshihiro Yoshizaki, president of Kusa1, has been dreaming about playing in a major league baseball stadium since he founded the nonprofit organization in 2001. Kusa1 is an organization that arranges amateur baseball games which are played at professional big league stadiums in Japan. About 300 teams from all over Japan join the Kusa1 Japan league to play at a professional stadium once a year despite the expensive cost. After five years of negotiations with the Seattle Mariners, Yoshihiro eventually won a chance to organize a game at Safeco field. Twenty players from Japan played a local team from Seattle. “It was a great experience sharing the same excitement with American players who also love baseball,” says Yoshizaki. Kusa1 will continue to make childhood dreams come true.
