About Baseball in Japan
My name is Thomas Love Seagull (definitely my real name), a lifelong baseball fan who now lives in Japan, where I write about Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the Chiba Lotte Marines, and what it’s like to love a sport that’s both familiar and totally new.
This whole thing started because I couldn’t find the kind of writing I wanted to read about NPB — stuff that’s informed but also human. Stuff that goes beyond box scores and into the weird poetry of watching a team that is somehow both unwatchable and weirdly fun, often in the same inning.
Along the way, you’ll get a mix of personal stories, game recaps, historical detours, and observations from life here in Japan — sometimes featuring my favorite things, sometimes unfortunate grocery store incidents.
Also: footnotes. Lots and lots of footnotes.
You don’t need to know every rule or player to enjoy this. If you love good stories and love baseball — or just want to understand what the deal is with Japanese cheering sections — welcome.
Why subscribe?
Because you like your baseball a little messy, a little weird, and very human.
Because you’re interested in Japan, or sports fandom, or the specific sadness of a bases-loaded no-out strikeout-flyout-strikeout sequence.
Because you like writing that sometimes goes long, sometimes goes sideways, and sometimes goes straight to the heart.
📬 Free Subscribers: Get one post a week — usually about baseball, occasionally about vending machine ramen, sometimes about both.
🔐 Paid Subscribers: Bonus essays, full archive access, and the warm, fuzziness of helping a baseball-obsessed immigrant rationalize his life choices.
Where to Start?
Why I Love Baseball — A nostalgic deep dive into Little League glory (and disappointment), the 1998 Yankees, and why I once barreled into a catcher.
A Wild Day in Yokohama — 30 hits, 19 runs, one immaculate inning, and a pitching duel that wasn’t.
All-Star Rundown — Useless information about the best and most popular players in Japan.
The Gelato One — Less about baseball, more about life and the things it throws at you.
Thanks for being here. I hope you’ll stick around.
– Thomas
