Smoking areas in clubhouse, no pitch clock: MLB players get a little taste of baseball in Japan

The Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers can party like it's 2022 on the baseball field for a few days in Japan, and even like it's 1982 in the clubhouse.

There are a lot of similarities between baseball in the U.S. and Japan, but there are also subtle differences that will be on display as the Cubs and Dodgers play in the Tokyo Dome. That's particularly true over the next few days when they play exhibtion games against the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants.

From pitch clocks to smoking in clubhouses, here are a few of the quirks:

Japan's highest professional baseball league — Nippon Professional Baseball — doesn't use a pitch clock, which has had a huge effect on Major League Baseball since the rule was established in 2023.

In MLB, pitchers have just 15 seconds to deliver a pitch when the bases are empty and 18 seconds with runners on base. They also only get two disengagements from the pitching rubber, limiting the number of times they can attempt to pick runners off base.

The changes drastically reduced game times in the U.S., cutting roughly 30 minutes from the average contest. Initially, players were lukewarm to the changes, but for the most part have adapted.

But the pitch clock won't be used in the exhibition games in Japan.

Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd — who is expected to pitch in relief on Sunday against Yomiuri — said it might be tempting to take a few extra seconds between pitches, but that probably won't be smart.

After all, the pitch clock will be back for the regular season games in Tokyo on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“As much as I'd love to continue to pick off multiple times at first base and take 30 seconds between pitches, I don't think it would be in my best interest to do that because I'm trying to prepare to win a championship.”

Then he grinned. Those pre-2023 days had their perks.

“It's a lose-lose question. The rules are the rules and I'm going to stick to them.”

Cubs manager Craig Counsell had a playing career in the big leagues that spanned from 1995 to 2011, and the two exhibition games have an old-school vibe that he says he'll enjoy.

Early in Counsell's career, statistical and video analysis were rare in the game. If Counsell wanted to know what an opposing player's pitch mix was, he couldn't consult hours of video, he just asked the guy hitting before him.

These days, players have droves of information on every possible aspect of the game. That won’t be possible against Hanshin and Yomiuri.

“We get to play two games where there's not a lot of information and that's fun — especially as an older person,” Counsell said. "Going back to an era when I played, we might have to ask the hitter before, 'what's he got?' That was the advanced scouting report. “I think that's fun. We'll see if our hitters like it.”

If the first exhibition game was indication, probably not much. Hanshin's pitchers gave up no hits until the sixth inning when Miguel Amaya finally smacked a single that got past the shortstop.

The Cubs finished with just three hits in a 3-0 loss.

The NPB and MLB use two different baseballs, so when Japanese teams are in the field, they use their version of the ball during the exhibitions. The Cubs and Dodgers will use the MLB ball when they are pitching.

Boyd said he tried the Japanese ball before the game and there are subtle differences, like the height of the seams.

Back in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, it wasn't that uncommon to see pictures of MLB players lighting up a cigarette after a big game, but those days have almost completely passed.

That's not necessarily the case in Japan.

The Cubs' cramped third-base clubhouse at the Tokyo Dome had an enclosed area that looked like a phone booth where players could grab a smoke if they're ready to go old school. Nobody on the Cubs took up the offer on Saturday, but hey, there's time to grab a pack of heaters and light one up if someone's interested.

The first exhibition game between the Cubs and Hanshin on Saturday was completely packed, with a capacity crowd in a building that holds 42,000.

The biggest difference was the constant coordinated cheers from the right field stands — complete with a band — that felt like a mix of soccer and college football. There were also the workers who walk around the park with small kegs of beer on their back, ready to pour one out at any moment for thirsty fans.

Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who had one of the team's three hits on Saturday, said the scene brought back good memories.

“It's been a little while since I heard those Tigers' cheers, I got goosebumps hearing them,” Suzuki said through an interpreter. “Just feeling how passionate they are, it was good.”

Suzuki was asked if the fans at Wrigley Field should do the same thing.

“I fear that something wild would happen," he said, smiling. “Let's just keep it the way it is.”

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