Yokohama adds some Pokémon style to their batting helmets and caps.

Fans of Yokohama’s professional baseball team, the Baystars, are pretty excited about this season. After finishing dead-last in their division in 2021, they jumped up to second place in 2022, and they’ve currently got the best record of any team in the league this year.

And while it might still be too early to start looking ahead to the playoffs, there are a few dates for fans to circle on their calendars right now, because next month the Baystars will be playing in Pikachu helmets!

The unveiling took place on Tuesday, when face-of-the-Pokémon franchise Pikachu met up with hamster-with-a-star-on-his-face-Baystars mascot DB Starman at the Pokémon Center superstore in downtown Yokohama’s Sky Building shopping complex.

The Poké-helmets will make their debut on June 30 when the Baystars host Nagoya’s Chunichi Dragons at Yokohama Stadium for a three-game series, with the remaining games played on July 1 and 2. As part of the concurrent Pokémon Ballpark Yokohama event, the Baystars will not only wear Pikachu helmets when batting, but will also don special caps with a Pikachu tail sticking out from behind the team’s logo while fielding.

During the event attending fans sitting in the home-cheering seats (the first base/right field half of the stadium) will also receive free Pikachu sun visors.

At the reveal, Pikachu and Starman were joined by Baystars pitcher Yasuaki Yamasaki and catcher Yasutaka Tobashira, both self-proclaimed Pokémon fans.

Yokohama has a long-running connection with the Pokémon franchise. Aside from sharing many features with the games’ Vermillion City, Yokohama was the first city in Japan to get a Pokémon Center store, is the venue for the amazing Pikachu Outbreak events, has official Pokémon mail boxes where you can entrust your letters to Pikachu, Eevee, or Piplup, and even serves up edible Magikarp sweets. This summer, Yokohama will also host the World Pokémon Championships, the first time the international tournament for the series’ video and card games to be held in Japan.

While the Pikachu batting helmet won’t be going on sale to the general public, you do still have a chance to get one of the caps, which are part of the ‘47 Pro series. Priced at 7,200 yen (US$55), they went on sale Tuesday at noon through the Baystars’ online shop, only for the entire stock to sell out in less than four hours. Luckily, though, they’ll be available in the team’s brick-and-mortar Baystore shops in late June.

Source: Yokohama DeNA Baystars via IT Media
Images: Yokohama DeNA Baystars
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