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The story
It’s been revealed that former Morning Musume. member Marai Makino will throw the ceremonial first pitch at the official farm-league game between the Nippon-Ham Fighters and the Yomiuri Giants, held September 21 at Kamagaya Stadium. Makino commented, “Keeping the words of my beloved Shinjo-tsuutan close to my heart, I’m going to enjoy this to the fullest.” On 5ch’s Hello! Project board, discussion centered on reactions to the former top idol appearing at a farm-team game rather than the majors, concerns over whether the approaching typhoon would force a cancellation, and how cheap the tickets are. Commenters also brought up the news that fellow Hello! Project alum Rio Kitagawa had been tapped as a newscaster for an economics program, drawing comparisons between the different career paths members have taken after graduating.
“Keeping the words of my beloved Shinjo-tsuutan close to my heart, I’m going to enjoy this to the fullest.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
X (Twitter) followers
Haruka Kudo 124,000
Yuka Nihei 80,000
Karin Miyamoto 75,000
Ayaka Wada 71,000
Meimi Tamura 69,000
Haruna Iikubo 69,000
Miyabi Natsuyaki 59,000
Manaka Inaba 48,000
Masaki Sato 47,000
Harumi Ogata 37,000
Akari Takeuchi 35,000
Kaede Kaga 34,000
Makoto Ogawa 34,000
Riho Sayashi 28,000
Risa Kobata 26,000
Kurumi Takase 25,000
Rikako Sasaki 21,000
Erina Ikuta 21,000
Rika Shimakura 19,000
Marai Makino 19,000 ← this one
Ayumi Ishida 16,000
Starting next month, Makino has zero regular gigs
Even if there is one next year, the star won't be Makino, it'll be the panda
The priciest is 3,100 yen, the cheapest is 1,800 yen
Sept. 21: Makino "takes the mound" for the farm team
https://weathernews.jp/onebox/tenki/spot/stadium/03/8629353/week.html?tab=4
https://kizuna.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/morningcoffee/1789616459/
Tanimoto got promoted to the top team instead
Though whether flights out of Haneda will even take off because of the typhoon is up in the air
Wonder if Tanimoto is the only one already up in Hokkaido
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The “farm league” referred to here is a separate set of official games from the top-team schedule, made up mainly of second-string and developmental players; first pitches at these games generally draw far less attention and fanfare than those at top-team games. Since graduating from Morning Musume., Makino has continued her entertainment career under the direction of her talent agency, Up-Front Create, and some in the thread speculated that her appearance might be tied to a personal connection with the team’s club president. It’s easy to overlook that throwing a ceremonial first pitch is a job entertainers are routinely asked to do, and being booked for a farm-team game doesn’t necessarily reflect directly on someone’s popularity. The thread also mentions that the Fighters’ farm-team home base is expected to eventually move from Kamagaya — but that’s a claim made by a poster and hasn’t been independently verified for this article. Whether the game would go ahead as scheduled given the approaching typhoon was also still undetermined at the time of writing, so readers should check separately for the latest status.
*This article was compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Former Morning Musume. member Marai Makino to throw first pitch at farm-league Nippon-Ham vs. Giants game on the 21st.”
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