Japan Series?

Yes, October 30th is the start of the 2010 Nippon Series.

And, yes, it is normal to start after such a long layoff.

The entire month of October is traditionally a month of schedule rearranging. The most interesting "feature" of this year's rearranging was the Giants scheduling regular season games (not makeup games) at Tokyo Dome toward the end of the makeup schedule. My theory is that they've seen how having important games at the end of the season can help lead to better conditioning going into the post-season. So they intentionally left games off their schedule at the start of the season to schedule when the October schedule was better known.

Then there was the staggering of the playoffs between the two leagues. I don't know if it was intended, but I'm sure that the Pacific League enjoyed being the only game on cable for much of the playoff schedule.

Finally, as for the long gap after the end of all of the playoffs, that's to have the Series start on a weekend. The Nippon Series is always schedule to be Sat, Sun, Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun (final three if needed). That has everything to do with trying to get higher attendance and ratings. Frankly, I was kind of surprised that the playoffs didn't guarantee games on the weekends in the case of it only going 3 games.

NPB's inability to keep a tight schedule is discussed pretty much every October. Personally, I don't mind that the baseball season gets stretched out longer. I like the idea of year-round baseball.

I actually like the way the schedule split the Pacific and Central Climax Series this year - both leagues got all of the attention to themselves for their showcase series. I think that's a good thing.

It may seem logical to split the CL and PL series to give equal attention to both, but NPB managed to muck that up. When Stage 1 of the CL and Stage 2 of the PL were played on the same dates, they were BOTH day games. I can't understand why they did it this way.

What time is game one on th 30th (and what would that be GMT and EST)?

Hoping to find a way to watch in US.

Thanks.

Times for Nippon Series games (all JST):

Game 1: Oct. 30 18:10 - Nagoya Dome
Game 2: Oct. 31 18:10 - Nagoya Dome
Game 3: Nov. 2 18:30 - Chiba Marine Stadium
Game 4: Nov. 3 18:15 - Chiba Marine Stadium
Game 5: Nov. 4 18:30 - Chiba Marine Stadium
Game 6: Oct. 6 18:10 - Nagoya Dome
Game 7: Oct. 7 18:10 - Nagoya Dome

Click on the date/time for the date and time in your time zone.

Note that games 5, 6 and 7 are dependent on the outcome of the previous 4 games. Also, while next week's weather forecast predicts good weather during the middle of the week, that can change instantly at this time of year.

As for watching the games, you should be able to catch them on Justin.TV. You'll need to select "All languages" and look through the sports section while the game is underway. Justin.TV's search function hasn't been hitting much for me the past season, but the game should be there.

Hope this helps.