Although it was inevitable in this borderless era of baseball, it could've been taken care of.
As two major-league teams are visiting Japan to play their season openers and have played exhibition games against Japanese clubs, some suspicious voices about the timing of the series have been heard.
"Why, around this time just after the Pacific League season started, do we have to play these exhibitions?" Yomiuri Giants starter Koji Uehara said after his outing in Saturday's game against the Oakland Athletics.