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MLB: needs to televise Nippon Professional Baseball games

By James Simmons

In a picture taken on November 20, 2011, Pacific League champions Softbank Hawks (first row L-R) manager Koji Akiyama, owner Masayoshi Son and chairman Sadaharu Oh smile with their players as they hold a large pennant to celebrate victory of the Japan Series professional baseball championship in Fukuoka, western Japan. The Hawks defeated Central League champion Chunichi Dragons 3-0 and clinched the Japan Series title 4-3. AFP PHOTO / JIJI PRESS (Photo by JIJI PRESS / JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT (Photo credit should read JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)
In a picture taken on November 20, 2011, Pacific League champions Softbank Hawks (first row L-R) manager Koji Akiyama, owner Masayoshi Son and chairman Sadaharu Oh smile with their players as they hold a large pennant to celebrate victory of the Japan Series professional baseball championship in Fukuoka, western Japan. The Hawks defeated Central League champion Chunichi Dragons 3-0 and clinched the Japan Series title 4-3. AFP PHOTO / JIJI PRESS (Photo by JIJI PRESS / JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT (Photo credit should read JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images) /
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With MLB on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time, fans are chomping at the bit for live games. Time to televise the Nippon Professional Baseball games.

The Nippon Professional Baseball League is set for live-action on April 24th. This is a good sign for American baseball, meaning there is hope there will be MLB games this year. While we wait for that to happen, NPB games should be televised on American TV.

MLB has been good about opening up their vault and making certain archived games available for viewers free of charge. These games have already been watched and picked apart numerous times. When a fan sits down to watch a baseball game they already know the outcome to something is missing.

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The Nippon Professional Baseball League will be offering live baseball less than a month from now and those games need to find a way to be broadcasted in American households. Baseball is baseball, and with baseball of all kinds (majors, minors, college, high school, little league, heck we can’t even get six guys together for whiffle ball without being dispatched) off the slate here in the States, Japanese games will be a welcome sight.

There are a handful of former major league players who play in the NPB. Adam Jones was a star in the Baltimore Orioles outfield for several years. Justin Bour had some very productive years with the Miami Marlins. Matt Moore, who was a seventeen game-winner and All-Star for the Tampa Bays Rays in 2013, will also be suiting up. And who can forget Gerardo Parra’s crazy antics for the Washington Nationals last year? He signed on to play for the Yomiuri Giants in the NPB.

Tomoya Mori of the Saitama Seibu Lions was the MVP of the league last year after hitting .329 with 23 home runs. There will be other Japanese stars on showcase as well.

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Bottom line is, fans are craving some fresh baseball. Here is a chance for them to get their fix until the MLB season kicks off.

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