2018.09.03
Taiyo Oil on August 25 (Sat.), 2018 held the “SOLATO presents Botchan Stadium Tour” at Botchan Stadium in Ichitsubo, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture.
This year, in the second installment of this event, 102 people participated consisting of 41 groups of children and guardians. Botchan Stadium is the only baseball stadium in Shikoku that meets the standards for the holding of official Nippon Professional Baseball games, and it can accommodate 30,000 people, the largest capacity in Shikoku. Each year, the autumn training camp of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows is held at this stadium, and this was the location for all-star games in 2002 and 2012.
On this occasion, the participating parents and children were divided into two groups and went onto the ground together with baseball team personnel who included former players of the Ehime Mandarin Pirates. The groups took commemorative photos with Mandarin Pirates Coach Junichi Kawahara and the players and then visited areas that are usually closed off to visitors such as the bench area, indoor bullpen, and locker room for players. The visitors appeared to thoroughly enjoy the stadium tour, and some of the children who tried running around all the bases on the ground commented, “It was a longer distance than I expected!” Also, inside the locker room, the visitors were able to engage in exchanges with the players, including receiving autographs and chatting.
Taiyo Oil will continue to support similar events in order to help foster children’s interest in sports and development of a sound mind in a healthy body.
Event outline
Date and time
August 25, 2018 (Saturday), 9:00 – 11:00 (Entry from 8:30)
Venue
Botchan Stadium 625-1 Ichitsubo Nishimachi, Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture
Number of participants
41 pairs of children and their parents or guardians: a total of 102 participants
Day's Schedule
8:30 Entry
9:00 Start of stadium tour
(first base bench → commemorative photo in front of home base → outfield [leftfield]
→ trainer’s room, swinging practice room → locker room → indoor bullpen
→ indoor practice area → tour of “No Ball Museum”)
11:00 End of tour
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Indoor bullpen
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Posing at home base
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Tour of first base bench
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Taking of commemorative photo