December 25, 2023: Toyama—Two weeks ago, the Toyama Wind Dancer front office held a press party to announce additional modifications to the team’s stadium, better known as the Castle. That was to be a relatively modest 3,000 seat addition, and would include some comfort upgrades to make it more fun to come out to the ballpark.

Today the club announced expansions on top of those expansions.

“I’m happy to say that we’re been working double shift with the architects, and that Paul (Walker, the team’s owner) has authorized some additional funds,” General Manager Ron Collins said at today’s weekly open Skype, a process that the club has instituted to remain close to cans around the world. “That means we’ll be adding 4,000 more seats than we expected—7,000 total. But we’re really excited to announce that in addition to that work, we’ve found some creative ways to move the filed around a bit, and that will let us re-sculpt the actual playing field.”

He then revealed the approach of moving the field back a bit, and adjusting the walls out in certain places, specifically right field. The result work will shape the outfield in significant ways, adding between 30 and 44 feet of space in right field and a few feet also in left field.

“I think fans are going to love it,” Collins said. “The Castle manor will now be a big, beautiful green meadow sitting out in the great open space of the city where we’ll be able to see the city’s magnificent skyline, the Tateyama mountain range, and the Sea of Japan at the same time. The place is just going to be fantastic.”

The changes will clearly alter the way the field plays, also. The Castle was well-known as a producer of home runs and offense in general, though the club wasn’t always completely geared that way. “To be honest,” Collins said, “we’re really more of a hit it and run kind of a team, anyway, and our strength is our pitching. So this kid of change is probably long due.”

“I’m excited,” said Clayton Lewis, who signed a mega-deal last year to come to the team. He won only 11 games, but his 3.38 ERA and 3.81 FIP were quite good. He gave up 25 home runs last year, which was nearly a career high. “It will be great to get a popup to right field and not have to clench up wondering if it’s a goner.”

The original project was scheduled to cost $2.1M, but the expansions have hiked the bill to something in the range of $7.1M. Still, the club will be funding the renovation itself rather than request municipal funds or relying on corporate sponsorship. The bulk of the cost is expected to come from cash that Walker had been holding in abeyance (a total rumored to have been over $5.5M). The rest will come from the base operational funds that Collins manages. “It’s important to both Paul and me that we remain true to our community. This is baseball in Toyama, and we’ll do our best to not overrun our own headlights.”

Construction had already begun, so the additional work should not cause any great disruption. The Castle should be ready for its grand re-opening well prior to the season.