foreignpolicy.com – Japan, like the United States, is one of the only countries where people actually enjoy baseball. But unlike U.S. teams, Japanese ones don’t mind giving the honor of the opening pitch to murderous demons.

Winding up as only the possessed can, the sullen corpselike girl from “The Ring,” dressed in a white nightgown, her face veiled by black hair, throws the opening pitch at the ghost of the murdered woman from “The Grudge,” another Japanese horror classic. After she cracks a ball into the outfield, a pinch runner — her pallid, meowing son — then does a lap around the bases, scoring the first run of the game. The few fans in the stands appear unfazed.