the people of Hokkaidō was weak, but NPB fans welcomed the move, noting that the Fighters could now be free from the Tokyo Dome's high rent and perpetual second-billing to the Giants. Out of respect for the Tokyo-based Fighters fans, the team decided to schedule a few "home" games per season at the Tokyo Dome. After the move finally was complete in 2004, the Fighters signed former-Tigers superstar Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who came back to NPB from MLB after playing with the New York Mets and nearly winning a World Series title with the San Francisco Giants and a revitalized Fernando Seguignol. American manager Trey Hillman led the team to success in his second year on the job, and at the end of the season, the Fighters were in a fierce race with the Chiba Lotte Marines for the final spot in the new P.L. playoff system. With a vital win over the Orix BlueWave on September 24, the newly moved Fighters earned a trip to the postseason, advancing to play Seibu in a three-game series. Though they put up a strong effort against Seibu ace Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Fighters lost the first game of the series 6–5. They took Game 2 by a score of 5–4. In the decisive third game, the Fighters fought back in the ninth inning after trailing for the whole game but ultimately fell to a Kazuhiro Wada walk-off home run, losing 6–5. The Fighters would have to wait for another chance for the P.L. pennant. During the pennant race, the Fighters began selling tickets for infield reserved seats at a low 1,500 yen price point, in an attempt to draw fans to the park. At and after 7:30 pm, usually well after the first pitch, the team began selling special child-fare tickets called "730 Tickets" (they started the same promotion at the Tokyo Dome in 2005). In addition to these, in 2005 they added extra-low priced tickets, discount parking passes and beer coupons to attract more fans. As a result of these promotions, and partially due to the rising popularity of young pitcher Yu Darvish, drafted the year before, the left field stands became constantly sold out for exhibition games, regular season games and playoff games, filled with loud and raucous Ōendan. Even the right field stands, usually occupied by the visiting team's fans, began to fill with Fighters supporters. In 2005, the Fighters drew