In 1992, Lotte moved their ball club from Kawasaki to Chiba Marine Stadium. To say Kawasaki Stadium is a pit, is similar to saying Giants slugger Hideki "Godzilla" Matsui has an acne problem. Both understate the case. While Chiba Marine Stadium is hardly the best place to see a game, there's no question it's a step up from playing in Japan's most polluted city.

Located thirty-minutes east of Tokyo Station, Marine Stadium lies in the "New City Makuhari," essentially a suburban business district. It's new. It's clean. It's bland. Gray, blue, and white are apparently the only colors permitted in this new city. Standing along Tokyo Bay, Marine Stadium is within a few minutes walk of the Makuhari Messe convention center, and the five-star Makuhari Prince Hotel.

As you enter the stadium, you may notice several things. Unlike some of Japans older ballparks, Marine Stadium is very colorful--seats are blue, orange and green. With only a handful of Lotte fans filling those seats, the stadium will likely remain colorful throughout the duration of most games.

Marine Stadium also has perhaps the largest foul territory of any Japanese ballpark. Pop fly outs in foul territory are quite common. Even worse, the large distance between the infield seats and fair territory removes fans even further from the action.

Fair territory in Marine Stadium is also immense. The 4 meter (13 foot) high snow-cone shaped outfield wall stands 99.5 meters (326 ft.) from home plate along the foul lines, 116m (380 ft.) in the power alleys and 122m (400 ft.) to straight-away center.

Combined with the strong wind blowing over the center field wall toward home plate, these dimensions left Marine Stadium one of the worst places to try to catch a home run ball. In 1996 there were an average of 1.22 home runs per game in Chiba--only the cavernous Fukuoka Dome had fewer.

Probably the least attractive part of Marine Stadium is the oppressive wall behind the outfield bleachers. Added on, presumably, in anticipation of either putting a roof on the stadium or in an attempt to slow the wind from Tokyo Bay, the wall boxes in the stadium, blocking what would otherwise be a great view of the waterfront. In summer, the wall offers the bleacher bums some shade, but in April and May, Marine Stadium can be cold and miserable.

As with most Japanese ballparks, Marine Stadium is lined with artificial turf, and a protective chain-link fence encircles the playing field. Ironically, the best seats are usually ten or more rows from the playing field, allowing fans to look over the fence. Lotte's home ballpark has all the drawbacks of a multi-purpose dome without the benefit of climate control. If you just want to see a game, and don't care too much for baseball atmosphere, Marine Stadium should suffice.