Fans in the stands supporting their favorite teams and players this spring signalled more than just the return of baseball. It was the beacon of a slight return to normalcy.
Last season, spring training games were played in stadiums completely devoid of fans and under the pall of an eerily deafening silence.
This was in the initial aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake, when NPB was still struggling to find out where it fit in the nation's healing process.