Here's a post I wrote way back when (maybe may?) but never put up. I'm putting it up now because if I wait to put pictures with it, it might never show up. So, pictures will come later, enjoy!
Hey hey hey! So it's that time of year again, the smell of the grass, the crack of the bat, and the drinking of the beer. It's a great thing. Over here the baseball season starts slightly before the start of the season back home, and so this year I got out to my first game on April 1st. This season started in Yokohama, at Yokohama stadium with a game between the Yokohama Baystars, and the Yomiuri Giants. The day began with a trip to a penis festival in Kawasaki (that'll be saved for another post) and ended up with a blowout. The Giants put a beating on the Baystars 10-1, with Yokohama's 1 run coming late in the game, while several of our companions were on the way home with someone who had a bit too much to drink in the scorching hot sun. Seems that baseball + beer + heat seems to spell disaster fairly regularly.
Two days later I headed deeper into Tokyo to Jinju Stadium to root on my Hanshin Tigers against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. It was a real exciting game with spats of rain, a grandslam by Kanemoto (on his B-day), Esteban Yan's Japanese debut, and a free hamburger (given to me by a fellow Tigers supporter) all rolled into a 4-3 Tiger's win. This sweet game was the home opener for the Swallows, however it was far from a sell-out and heavily populated by Tigers fans. Roughly 2/3rds of the crowd was Tigers fans. It was great.
April 7th came around and it was off to Urawa up in Saitama to take in my first J-league game. I must say I'm not the biggest soccer fan, however I have been to a World Cup match, for the experience mostly. I am a fan of the Urawa Red Diamonds (known more commonly as the Urawa Reds), mostly because my favorite Japanese player plays for them. The stadium, Saitama Stadium 2002, which is also the Japanese National Team's stadium of choice, is a bit far from me, but it was worth the trip. Reds fans are super! hunbun and I got there close to 2 hours before kickoff, and all of the seats in the super fans section were already taken, so we ended up sitting just to the left (our left) of them. I'd say that they were just about as exciting as the game itself which ended in a 2-1 comeback victory over Jubilo Iwate. Thrilling victory really.
To wrap up the month of April, Deuce and his lady and I headed back to Yokohama Stadium, this time for a game between the Baystars, and the Chunichi Dragons who were in 1st place at the time. The game was really good, the Baystars were able to come away with a 5-4 victory, the key was that the Dragons' big bopper, Tyrone Woods, struck out 4 times, most of them with men on base. Suck it Woods! The day ended with a trip to good ol' An An, scrumptious!
