Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium, Baseball stadium in Fukushima, Japan
Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium is a baseball-specific ground inside Fukushima Prefectural Azuma Comprehensive Sports Park in Fukushima City. Its artificial-turf field measures 100 m down each line and 122 m to center, with 30,000 seats split between 14,390 infield and 15,610 outfield places. The outfield stands are terraced grass steps, and a full-color LED scoreboard stands beyond the field.
Completed in September 1986, the stadium was then the largest in the six Tohoku prefectures. Its opening event was the 41st Emperor's Cup All Japan Softball Championship, held from 13 to 18 September; the first game saw Nitto Boseki Fukushima beat Matsushita Electric Works Yokkaichi A 2-0. Professional baseball began in 1987 with a Hankyu Braves vs Lotte Orions series on 9–10 May.
The stadium's scoreboard has been a recurring problem: during a 2005 Rakuten–Nippon Ham game, staff climbed onto the scoreboard roof and posted inning scores written on white paper. In 2009, a breaker tripped by cooking equipment in the players' room wiped out the display, and announcements gave the score.
The stadium stands inside Fukushima Prefectural Azuma Comprehensive Sports Park, alongside the prefectural athletics stadium and general gymnasium. The outfield seating is a grass slope, so spectators watch from the lawn; the infield has separated seats. Access is by bus from the east exit of JR Fukushima Station toward the park.
The stadium hosted baseball and softball matches during the 2020 Olympics, which placed it in international sports history. This global role showed the facility's importance far beyond its regional purpose.
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