Japan seems to have saved the best for last: game #12 at QVC Marine Stadium was freakin’ awesome. The Chiba Lotte Marines trashed their division rivals, the Rakuten Eagles 3-0 and I made a bunch of new friends in the Marines cheering section.
Archive for category Roadtrip
NPB Game #11 in Sapporo
Aug 12
I arrived in Sapporo for game #11 yesterday. Took me two days to get here via train. The taxi pulled into the stadium as the radio announcer called the last out. I was able to go inside and watch the Chiba Marines fans celebrate their 5-1 victory over the Nippon-ham Fighters. The Sapporo Dome is a really incredible structure, it even has an R/C mini-blimp cruising around above the outfield.
Andre’ Layral was right about the Genghis Khan! Grilled mutton + onions + beer = amazing!
Game #10 at Miyagi Baseball Stadium worked itself out. Being stuck in Sendai, I was able to get a ticket to the Saturday game to see the Rakuten Eagles play the Softbank Hawks. Had to leave early, but the score was 8-2 Hawks in the top of the 8th inning. Too bad Masahiro Tanaka couldn’t pitch two nights in a row.
So made it to game #10 tonight in Sendai only to find out that the game was sold out. I spent the game wandering through the team village around Miyagi Baseball Stadium and watching the game from the beer garden. Working on a contingency plan, but its a longshot. I’m only in Japan for 4 more days and I still have to go to Sapporo and back which is 8 hours away. In other news, the game was a 5-0 blowout by the Tohoku Eagles over the Fukuoka Hawks, and the 16th win for M. Tanaka this season.
On my second attempt, I made it to NPB game #9 at Yokohama Stadium to watch the DeNA Baystars take on the Yomiuri Giants. The Baystars lost in a 6-7 heartbreaker.
In other news, I took a few days off and went to stay at a ryokhan in Matsumoto. It’s a great little city in the Nagano prefict, near the Japanese Alps. Got to check out Matsumoto Castle, which is the most original/authentic of the castles I’ve seen so far.
Game #7 in Fukuoka – The Softbank Hawks beat the Saitama Lions 8-7 in a 12-inning pitching match. Ballgames in Japan can end in a tie after 12 innings (I believe), so this was a sweet win.
Stayed in a capsule hotel for the first time in Fukuoka… what a weird experience! I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the ‘why’, but at least now I understand the ‘how’.
I arrived in Hiroshima yesterday and went to the ballgame at Mazda Stadium.
Andre’ Layral, I can see why you like this team! The game was loads of fun, I finally broke down and got myself some katana-shaped noise-makers. I’m really getting into bringing my own beer and releasing victory balloons during the 7th inning. Why don’t we do this in the states?
This is game #6, which means that my trip is officially half way through.
Hit game #5 at Koshien Stadium last night. The home of the Hanshin Tigers is a bit like Wrigley Field; from a different era of baseball. Tigers fans are very devoted and they went nuts in the last inning. Down by one with a man on 1st, Matsuda got a base hit on the 3-2 pitch after fouling off a couple pitches. Crowd went nuts and I got it on video. Now I just have to figure out how to post it.
Game #4 – Kyocera Dome Osaka
Jul 30
Made it to my 4th game today in Osaka to see the ORIX Buffaloes play the Fukuoka Hawks. Great game, Buffaloes won 4-3 thanks to some monster hitting by Aarom Baldiris.
The Kyocera Dome is definitely not a hitters park but it does have A/C! I’m sure that keeping a building that big cool helps keep the home run count down.
Also, it was Little League night so there were lots of future ball players running around in their uniforms. 6 shades of adorable!
NPB Game #3 – Nagoya Dome
Jul 26
I took the Shinkansen (express train) south out of Tokyo yesterday. I arrived at the Nagoya Dome to see the Chunichi Dragons take on the Yomiuri Giants for my 3rd ballpark.
The Giants won 1-0 over the Dragons, but it was a close game. I arrived really late, because of a long night in Shinjuku the day before. Still it was great to see the Dragons fans hang on until the bitter end.