Not the cold, nor the wind. Not the painful elimination sweep in the 2031 playoffs, nor the trade rumors surrounding nascent star slugger Bernardo Gonazalez. Not the losing records, nor the near certainty of more. Nothing could quell the enthusiasm from the Niihama-shi Ghosts faithful as they poured into the streets of Niihama for the official “Kaesu” (return) Parade to celebrate the team’s official reinstatement to the game of baseball’s most prestigious stage. The Ghosts may have spent eight seasons in the less renowned WIL since their short stint in PEBA after the collapse of the League of the Rising Sun, but they now return to the Rising Sun Division of the Sovereign League.
Success has been hard to come by in Niihama since the LRS folded – a single playoff appearance in 2025 and only three winning seasons in the last eleven years. With the stark disparity between talent levels of the WIL and PEBA, and the much smaller total organizational size, it will probably be some time before the Ghosts have a chance at finding real success again, but that will not deter one of the most loyal fanbases in sports. As a reference, the LRS Ghosts teams that sported a .598 winning percentage and went to three straight PEBA playoffs turned into the PEBA Ghosts teams that won 72, 77, and then 50 games before relegation to the WIL. This 78 win WIL team likely faces a much harsher acclimation period, especially given the age ranges of most of their best regarded talents.
Despite the bad records and the dearth of PEBA-level star power, these Ghosts drew 3.475M fans to stands in 2031 – the most in franchise history. Such an outpouring of support is exactly what the Ghosts will need in order to transcend to a fixture in PEBA. It likely helps that this team finally turned a profit as well, after losing ~$240M dollars over the prior ten years, much of which coming during the disastrous transition from PEBA to the WIL where the organization lost $174M dollars in just two seasons. It’s unknown how owner Vanni Bruno was able to take control of the team or how he managed to absorb those losses. Fans joke about the Sicilian’s rumored connections to organized crime, but Mr. Bruno’s generous community connections and outstanding business track record in the construction arena suggest he was indeed capable of covering those losses personally, as he claims he did. With the 2030-31 expansion of Oikake Maze completed and fans having turned out to justify it, rumors of a further expansion in the 2031-32 offseason suggest Oikake Maze could become a stadium capable of housing 50,000 or more fans.
More fans, more players, more baseball. What could be better? Go Ghosts!
