We may not understand Japanese but we understand baseball. The rules of baseball in Japan are the same and the desired outcome is the same. What else do you need to know? We went to a Yokohoma Baystars baseball game with Nick while in Japan
and we sat with some of Nick's co-workers - very enjoyable fellows. Nick is taking off work during our visit but his co-workers had to come directly from work and they LOVE baseball. Actually, the whole country loves baseball. Baseball in Japan is like football in American or soccer in Europe. They get REALLY into it. And of course, when any Japanese player makes it to the MLB level in America, it is a really big deal. Playing in America is the ultimate goal for any Japanese player and then that Japanese player will immediately become very famous in Japan, like Ichiro. Since Ichiro played for the Seattle Mariners when he came to America and we are big fans (we even named our cat after him), this gives us a bond to Japanese baseball. Nick is also a big fan, plus he pitched four years on his college team, plus he loves Japan. A perfect match. He is currently playing on two community league teams in his town and the Japanese players are thrilled to face a real American pitcher. We went to one of his games and it was very entertaining, to say the least. Here he is warming up to pitch before his game:
The league is strictly for fun and low key. They only play twice a month with no practices. But the players take it seriously and play as hard as they can. All the players have played organized baseball in some form or another. Nick has made very good friends with one of the players who played professionally in Japan and is now a city councilman for his town.
They barely get enough players on their team to play so for this game, Bruce filled in at right field. Bruce was excited to play but hasn't played baseball in 30 years. (Good thing he brought his mitt with the intention of playing catch with Nick, which they did during warm-ups)
Nick followed Bruce in the batting order and tried to give him encouragement from the batting circle.
The pitchers throw hard in this league. Needless to say, Bruce struck out when at bat
Nick followed Bruce in the batting order and tried to give him encouragement from the batting circle.
The pitchers throw hard in this league. Needless to say, Bruce struck out when at bat
except once when he got on base from a dropped pop-up. Just being on base was a thrill.
We were all laughing so hard at this game. The Japanese players were calling out Bruce's name with their Japanese accents... "Let's go Bruce, let's go Bruce!" They can't say the letter L and they roll their R's so it sounded hilarious! Nick ended up going 4 for 4 with two singles and two doubles.
Bruce could have made it home on one of Nick's doubles but he hesitated and got stranded on third at the end of the inning. Nick's friend also had great hits in this game when he came up to bat, so there were lots of exciting moments. They even had a little score board on the field.
Nick pitched the first two innings with the zeros recorded.
He had a couple of walks but no hits. When one batter walked to first base, he yelled over to his teammates, " Lots of movement!" in Japanese to warn them of Nick's pitches. They were all laughing in amazement. Trying to find pitchers in this league who can just throw strikes over the plate is a challenge as you can see by the 4th inning. They will play seven innings or two hours, whichever comes first. Two hours came first in this game because of the long 4th inning. I'm glad we were able to see one of Nick's games while we were visiting. It's obvious how much fun they all have playing together. We were also able to take in a Japanese professional baseball game in Yokohoma. The atmosphere at a Japanese baseball game is an experience nobody should miss.
We were rooting for the home team, the Yokohama Baystars, but there were fans for both teams at the game. And the fans have cheering sections like at a college football game where they wave flags and play trumpets.
Each team also has a fight song that they sing and there are cheerleaders and mascots cheering them on. The cheerleaders are like high school cheerleaders, not the sexy dancers like the NFL cheerleaders.
However, they do have the sexy girls in Japanese baseball, they just aren't the cheerleaders. They are the beer girls.
They are all over the place, walking by at least every 30 seconds, carrying a big barrel of beer on their back and filling your cup instantaneously at your whim.
They really are fascinating to watch. You can tell they are trained to look cute and poise for the camera.
They also sell whiskey and other alcoholic cocktails. And coffee. Safeco Field needs this very badly.
We took advantage of the beer girls, I'm not going to lie. It's a great convenience, for sure, especially since it has been hot and humid during our visit here.
The chanting for both teams goes on constantly during the game by the fans and it never gets quiet, even when the batter steps up to the plate. It's not the stadium that organizes the chants and clapping like in Major League Baseball, it's all the fans doing it. Lots of people have noise makers, too. We had the thundersticks
and our Japanese friends (Nick's co-workers) bought us souvenir towels.
I will tell you, there is never a dull moment at a Japanese baseball game. They do little contests in-between innings, too, like at the minor league games in the U.S.
But the biggest fan display comes during our 7th inning stretch. Instead, the Japanese will blow up balloons and let them off all at once.
The visiting team will let them go in the 6th inning and the home team does it in the 7th inning.
It is complete pandemonium and we loved it. The home team won this game so more balloons were let go again at the end of the game. Vendors were walking around selling balloons so you wouldn't miss out. Japanese baseball is a non-stop exciting event. Our Japanese friends were having so much fun they wanted to continue after the game so we headed over to an American bar near the stadium. We ordered buffalo wings, steak and ribs - true American fare. We may not speak the same language but we understand each other very well.
He had a couple of walks but no hits. When one batter walked to first base, he yelled over to his teammates, " Lots of movement!" in Japanese to warn them of Nick's pitches. They were all laughing in amazement. Trying to find pitchers in this league who can just throw strikes over the plate is a challenge as you can see by the 4th inning. They will play seven innings or two hours, whichever comes first. Two hours came first in this game because of the long 4th inning. I'm glad we were able to see one of Nick's games while we were visiting. It's obvious how much fun they all have playing together. We were also able to take in a Japanese professional baseball game in Yokohoma. The atmosphere at a Japanese baseball game is an experience nobody should miss.
We were rooting for the home team, the Yokohama Baystars, but there were fans for both teams at the game. And the fans have cheering sections like at a college football game where they wave flags and play trumpets.
Each team also has a fight song that they sing and there are cheerleaders and mascots cheering them on. The cheerleaders are like high school cheerleaders, not the sexy dancers like the NFL cheerleaders.
However, they do have the sexy girls in Japanese baseball, they just aren't the cheerleaders. They are the beer girls.
They are all over the place, walking by at least every 30 seconds, carrying a big barrel of beer on their back and filling your cup instantaneously at your whim.
They really are fascinating to watch. You can tell they are trained to look cute and poise for the camera.
They also sell whiskey and other alcoholic cocktails. And coffee. Safeco Field needs this very badly.
We took advantage of the beer girls, I'm not going to lie. It's a great convenience, for sure, especially since it has been hot and humid during our visit here.
The chanting for both teams goes on constantly during the game by the fans and it never gets quiet, even when the batter steps up to the plate. It's not the stadium that organizes the chants and clapping like in Major League Baseball, it's all the fans doing it. Lots of people have noise makers, too. We had the thundersticks
and our Japanese friends (Nick's co-workers) bought us souvenir towels.
I will tell you, there is never a dull moment at a Japanese baseball game. They do little contests in-between innings, too, like at the minor league games in the U.S.
But the biggest fan display comes during our 7th inning stretch. Instead, the Japanese will blow up balloons and let them off all at once.
The visiting team will let them go in the 6th inning and the home team does it in the 7th inning.
It is complete pandemonium and we loved it. The home team won this game so more balloons were let go again at the end of the game. Vendors were walking around selling balloons so you wouldn't miss out. Japanese baseball is a non-stop exciting event. Our Japanese friends were having so much fun they wanted to continue after the game so we headed over to an American bar near the stadium. We ordered buffalo wings, steak and ribs - true American fare. We may not speak the same language but we understand each other very well.
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