But instead of a beautiful display of natural power and brilliant energy, local star gazers watched in disbelief as the stars they came to see were obscured for three nights by the ultra-high wattage generated by the local lights.
Just as well. The view that has managed to penetrate the glare of the Japan Professional Baseball All-Stars has not been a pretty one.
Instead of a majestic array of major league stars, Japanese fans have witnessed the signs of a whole constellation collapsing in one monumental cataclysm.
"I thought they'd hit me better," said Chunichi Dragons right-hander Kenshin Kawakami, who held the major league All-Stars to just two runs in six innings on Monday.
His sentiments were paralleled the following night by countryman Tomokazu Oka, who after starting for the major leaguers, also expressed some surprise." I didn't think they'd hit me as well as they did," said the Montreal Expos right-hander.
Three late runs by the major leaguers in Game 1 helped balance the score line, but make no doubt about it: The Japan Stars dished out a beating in the 8-4 victory as Yomiuri Giants right-hander Koji Uehara baffled the visitors with his forkball.
A gigantic eruption from Barry Bonds in Game 2 made it look like the major stars were burning as bright as advertised, but it turned out to be one time occurrence as Kawakami and Seibu Lions slugger Alex Cabrera led the locals to an 8-2 win.
Both Bonds and manager Art Howe bemoaned the lack of patience at the plate after two days of flailing at stuff out of the strike zone.
And while much of the praise for the locals' excellent start has gone to starting pitchers Uehara and Kawakami, give some credit to Giants catcher Shinnosuke Abe and his Dragons counterpart Motonobu Tanishige. In the first two games, each made full use of the advantage of working with his season-long battery mate.
It was an intimidating task, but Abe and Uehara took advantage of the major leaguers' desire to hit big home runs. The Giants duo reduced the visiting colossi to human dimensions. An effort Kawakami and Tanishige were eager to replicate.
"After that performance, there was a feeling that we had something to prove," said Tanishige. "Our plan was just to work hitters the way we had been doing all year."
"We were conscious of their ability, but Kawakami's cut fastball has been so good all year and we wanted to stick with it."
Unfortunately, Bonds got to a fastball before the cutter came his way and put it in the seats to right-center.
"That one was away. We were going to come inside with the cutter on the next pitch," said Tanishige. "The thinking was that if he did hit it, it would be a single to left. He's some batter."
After falling behind 6-0 in Game 3, the visitors were beginning to look like major league toast. Since that point, whatever smoke there has been has been coming from their bats.
As uneven as the first two games were, the Japan Stars' 8-6 win on Tuesday was far closer than the score would indicate. Both teams hit the ball well, but luck--as much as bad pitching--turned Game 3 into a defeat for the major leaguers as a pair of line drives with runners on base were converted into three outs instead of a pair of runs.
After being thrown out at home in the third inning on a throw from left, Minnesota Twins center fielder Torii Hunter made a statement by returning the favor and nailing a runner at the plate in the top of the fifth inning.
As valuable as the long ball is in terms of scoring runs, there's nothing like great throws to crank up the voltage in the ballpark.
After the game, Hunter said he and his teammates were "turning things around a little." His fielding and his exclamation point of a home run in the bottom of the inning made one thing clear: Any news of these stars' final collapse is premature.
The Hot Corner appears each Thursday in The
Daily Yomiuri .