▁of ▁a ▁foreign er ▁who ▁is ▁also ▁an ▁AS I , ▁but ▁will ▁be ▁able ▁to ▁play ▁only ▁respect ing ▁the ▁limitation ▁on ▁import ▁players . ▁ ▁Three - game ▁series ▁format ▁Game ▁ 1 ▁of ▁each ▁three - game ▁series ▁is ▁class ified ▁as ▁the ▁Foreign ▁Aff air ▁Game , ▁with ▁the ▁pitch er ' s ▁m ound ▁free ▁to ▁be ▁occupied ▁by ▁any ▁pitch er ▁including ▁foreign ▁imports . ▁ ▁In ▁either ▁Game ▁ 2 ▁or ▁Game ▁ 3 , ▁an ▁EU ▁pitch er ▁may ▁be ▁the ▁starting ▁pitch er ; ▁however , ▁I BL ▁rules ▁require ▁that ▁an ▁AS I ▁be ▁the ▁starting ▁pitch er ▁for ▁one ▁of ▁these ▁two ▁remaining ▁games . ▁ ▁Moreover , ▁wh iche ver ▁game ▁a ▁manager ▁selects ▁the ▁AS I ▁as ▁the ▁starting ▁pitch er , ▁then ▁all ▁subsequent ▁pitch ers ▁must ▁be ▁AS I . ▁ ▁Therefore , ▁there ▁may ▁be ▁AS I ▁vs ▁EU ▁match - ups ▁for ▁the ▁first ▁time ▁beginning ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 0 . ▁ ▁Half ▁of ▁the ▁teams ▁are ▁based ▁in ▁the ▁Em ilia - R om agna ▁region ▁of ▁Italy . ▁ ▁A ▁team ▁from ▁the ▁Republic ▁of ▁San ▁Mar ino ▁also ▁plays ▁in ▁the ▁I BL . ▁ ▁Like ▁Japanese ▁baseball , ▁many ▁of ▁the ▁official ▁team ▁names ▁contain ▁the ▁name ▁of ▁the ▁team ' s ▁corpor ate ▁spons or . ▁ ▁Current ▁Teams ▁( 2 0 2 0 ▁season ) ▁ ▁Champions ▁ ▁Pre - play off ▁era ▁ ▁Play off ▁era ▁