Will the 2008 Japan pro baseball season, I wonder, be anything like 1964?
The common denominator between now and then is the Summer Olympic Games in Asia, staged in Tokyo 44 years ago before baseball became an Olympic sport, and the Beijing event coming up, during which the game may see its last hurrah in Olympic competition.
Opening Day in Japanese baseball this year is March 20, to allow for a couple of breaks in the August schedule while the Olympics are in progress, so the pro ballplayers will miss a minimum of their team's games.