DJ had to be at the stadium at 10 AM to practice for the game so my parents and I just lounged around the apartment for awhile. The mall is across the street from the stadium so we went over there early to get some food and check out some Japanese mall rats. What I found was a mall MONKEY!
This monkey was doing acrobatic tricks and was pretty entertaining. Jane Goodall and that dude from Escape to Chimp Eden would throw a fit.
On to the game. The Stadium is beautiful. It has a jumbo-tron scoreboard that is like a gigantic plasma TV, it's crystal clear! I watched batting practice in an empty stadium. The only people walking among the seats were the employees picking up trash and mopping the floor. I don't think a mop has ever touched the floor of Dodger Stadium. After the employees were done, they met with their managers and recited their greetings and "thank you"s (or "arrigato"s) that they must say to all patrons of the stadium. Yeah, I recorded it...
(I took this video discreetly on my still camera so it's not very good)
The stadium began to fill with fans of all ages, and I mean all ages. I saw dudes that looked like they were 130 years old. Everyone is dressed head-to-toe in Softbank Hawks apparel; I wore a hat. In right field are the crazier fans. Drums, trumpets and giant flags all draw your attention to them. The other team has their own small section in left field where they do the same. I guess they travel with the team? In an ocean of yellow (Softbank's color) you see a small patch of blue (Seibu's color) in left field.
These fans are the cheerleaders. When a player from that team is up to bat they do their songs and chants. Loud banging of drums rumble the stadium and the trumpets are heard under the loud singing. These fans mean business! Took another video on the still camera to give you an idea.
Each player has their own introduction when the starting lineup is called, just like back home. But the quality is much better. Here is DJ's.
These fans are the cheerleaders. When a player from that team is up to bat they do their songs and chants. Loud banging of drums rumble the stadium and the trumpets are heard under the loud singing. These fans mean business! Took another video on the still camera to give you an idea.
Each player has their own introduction when the starting lineup is called, just like back home. But the quality is much better. Here is DJ's.
It was a great game. DJ pitched 7.1 innings with 9 strikeouts and 2 earned runs. Unfortunately the Hawks only scored 2 runs as well, and in Japan, no game goes past 12 innings. The game ended in a tie. Weak.
There is no 7th inning stretch or singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," there is "Lucky 7th" where you blow up balloons with whistlers on the end and let them off in the air. A tad childish, but then again a lot of things in Japan are childish.
Tomorrow is a day off for DJ, so we're going to Hiroshima.
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