After receiving a glove from Major League Baseball player Shohei Otani, an event was held at an elementary school in Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture to let children who are unfamiliar with baseball enjoy the game.
The event held at Ashio Elementary School in Nikko City was an opportunity to enjoy the board game ``Baseball Board'' in a realistic style, and 18 children from all of the school participated.
The board, which looks like an outfield fence, has indications such as ``home run'' and ``out.'' The teacher throws the ball, and the spot on which it hits determines whether or not the student advances to base.
Most of the children had no experience with baseball, so some had difficulty hitting the ball with the bat, and some did not try to run even after hitting the home run spot.
Additionally, as there are no defensive situations according to the rules, the children on the non-offending team practiced catching using the gloves given to them by Otani.
After the game, the children said, ``Thank you very much for holding the baseball class.I want to continue playing baseball using the glove that Mr. Otani gave me,'' and ``I didn't hit many home runs, but I was able to hit them.'' I was so happy," he said.