Nippon Professional Baseball allow Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters to use new stadium for 2023 season amid regulations breach

The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters got the green light from Nippon Professional Baseball to call ES CON Field home for the 2023 NPB season. The 2016 Japan Series champions, who exported superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish to the majors, had a face lift in recent times that included the construction of a new ball field.

"The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, former team of Ohtani and Darvish, will open a beautiful new ballpark in March. The Fighters are following the MLB trend of starting seats 50 feet behind home plate. Great for fans and the ballpark aesthetic." - @ Jon Morosi

The move didn't come without its caveats and controversies either. The NPB rules state that the foul territory that should be established in all stadiums is 60 feet. This means that the requirement from the catcher to the backstop and along the base lines to the fence is, at least, 18 meters. ES CON Field only has 50 feet of space for the foul territory.

The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters will start their 2023 campaign and the Opening Day of the NPB season as they host the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles on March 30 at their state-of-the-art facility.

The Fighters previously held games at the Sapporo Dome when the team transferred to the Hokkaido region in 2002. The team will now play just outside of Sapporo in Kitahiroshima City.

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters' "Big Boss"

Former MLB player and NPB legend Tsuyoji Shinjo (Image from Kyodo)

Former MLB player and NPB legend Tsuyoji Shinjo joined the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters before the start of the 2022 season. Shinjo replaced longtime Nippon-Ham skipper Hideki Kuriyama, who was called upon to steer the Samurai Japan.

Powered by his larger-than-life, eccentric and fun attitude, combined with his superstar status and elite NPB resume as a player, Shinjo is called "Big Boss" by fans of the club.

Earlier this season, the skipper went viral after entering the game in a hoverbike.

As if over-the-top acts weren't enough, the fun-loving manager legally registered his name as "BIGBOSS", and the NPB signed off on the request, making the name on the back of his game jersey BIGBOSS.

Nippon-Ham fans donning the BIGBOSS jersey (Image from Kyodo)

BIGBOSS will have his work cut out for him heading into 2023 as the Fighters finished last in the Pacific League with a 59-81-3 record in 2022.