My Japan Trip
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Comments
Re: My Japan Trip
[ Author: Deanna | Posted: Sep 3, 2008 2:33 AM
| NIP Fan
]
Oh, I was at that game on Sunday, too, but I was in the outfield cheering for Yokohama. Go figure.
Funny that you thought Hiroki Sanada was the only effective pitcher since he hasn't been all that great this year since coming over from the Giants.
Of all the guys in that game who pitched, the best/most intriguing is Futoshi Kobayashi, and I have no clue why he was pitching in relief one day after getting smacked around as the starter. Ohya's really gone nuts.
It was really exciting to see those home runs though. Takehiro Ishikawa's homer during that game was his first pro home run and it landed two rows ahead of me, and the guy who caught it ended up trading it for a signed ball from Ishikawa. That was pretty awesome.
Yokohama Stadium seats 30,000. I actually like the stadium a lot, it's one of my favorite places in Japan to see a game, but I'm apparently weird. I haven't bought upper seats there since my very first game, though. I think it's basically only worth it to get either outfield seats, or FA/FB.
As for your disappointment in Jingu Stadium not being "old," that's because it got a makeover in the off-season and they replaced the field and the scoreboard. It looks pretty nice.
As for the garbage, people usually do that at most stadiums, or at least more so than in America. Fans bring plastic bags to collect garbage from them and their friends during the game. (Sign Guy in Yokohama regularly goes around the outfield stands with a "Don't forget to clean up" sign somewhere around the 8th inning, too.)
As for the Chunichi cheers, that's not out of the ordinary for them to cycle through the main chance themes ("go go victory," "nerai uchi," and "uchimakure") if the team is down in the 9th inning. (But it doesn't beat the BayStars with their new "we're behind and we suck, so what" chance theme - which we sang all through the 8th inning on Sunday). The Yakult umbrellas to Tokyo Ondo are pretty famous, so if you don't remember them from your last trip, you didn't see a Yakult game.
The only stadium that seems to regularly do the national anthem here is the Tokyo Dome, as far as I remember, though I'm sure I've heard it elsewhere, I'm just forgetting. As for 7th inning stretch... no. There's something called "Lucky 7" which you must have seen, where the away team fans sing some sort of song at the top of the 7th, and the home team fans sing a song in the middle of the 7th, and at an outdoor stadium it's often followed with the releasing of jet fuusen (balloons).
BTW, if you don't have tickets to the series on the 14th-15th -- assuming that's when you're going to Sapporo -- you might want to get them in advance, since that's a holiday weekend and with the Fighters clawing against Orix in the pennant race (WTF!), those games are likely to sell out. The Sapporo Dome rules though. Check out Hillman's Hangout while you're in town if you have a chance.
As an aside, I don't think an out-of-town scoreboard would be all that useful most places, especially since there are, at most, 5 other games going on. And on weekends, they're not even always going on at the same time. I think it's pretty neat when they do show the scores and everyone either cheers or boos together, and then goes on with the current game. Honestly, I couldn't care less for an out-of-town scoreboard; if I was going to add some sort of info here, it'd be pitch counts and a better log of what batters did in prior at-bats.
You should go to Chiba and see all the stuff Bobby made them do to that stadium in the last few years. It's pretty spiffy.
Funny that you thought Hiroki Sanada was the only effective pitcher since he hasn't been all that great this year since coming over from the Giants.
Of all the guys in that game who pitched, the best/most intriguing is Futoshi Kobayashi, and I have no clue why he was pitching in relief one day after getting smacked around as the starter. Ohya's really gone nuts.
It was really exciting to see those home runs though. Takehiro Ishikawa's homer during that game was his first pro home run and it landed two rows ahead of me, and the guy who caught it ended up trading it for a signed ball from Ishikawa. That was pretty awesome.
Yokohama Stadium seats 30,000. I actually like the stadium a lot, it's one of my favorite places in Japan to see a game, but I'm apparently weird. I haven't bought upper seats there since my very first game, though. I think it's basically only worth it to get either outfield seats, or FA/FB.
As for your disappointment in Jingu Stadium not being "old," that's because it got a makeover in the off-season and they replaced the field and the scoreboard. It looks pretty nice.
As for the garbage, people usually do that at most stadiums, or at least more so than in America. Fans bring plastic bags to collect garbage from them and their friends during the game. (Sign Guy in Yokohama regularly goes around the outfield stands with a "Don't forget to clean up" sign somewhere around the 8th inning, too.)
As for the Chunichi cheers, that's not out of the ordinary for them to cycle through the main chance themes ("go go victory," "nerai uchi," and "uchimakure") if the team is down in the 9th inning. (But it doesn't beat the BayStars with their new "we're behind and we suck, so what" chance theme - which we sang all through the 8th inning on Sunday). The Yakult umbrellas to Tokyo Ondo are pretty famous, so if you don't remember them from your last trip, you didn't see a Yakult game.
The only stadium that seems to regularly do the national anthem here is the Tokyo Dome, as far as I remember, though I'm sure I've heard it elsewhere, I'm just forgetting. As for 7th inning stretch... no. There's something called "Lucky 7" which you must have seen, where the away team fans sing some sort of song at the top of the 7th, and the home team fans sing a song in the middle of the 7th, and at an outdoor stadium it's often followed with the releasing of jet fuusen (balloons).
BTW, if you don't have tickets to the series on the 14th-15th -- assuming that's when you're going to Sapporo -- you might want to get them in advance, since that's a holiday weekend and with the Fighters clawing against Orix in the pennant race (WTF!), those games are likely to sell out. The Sapporo Dome rules though. Check out Hillman's Hangout while you're in town if you have a chance.
As an aside, I don't think an out-of-town scoreboard would be all that useful most places, especially since there are, at most, 5 other games going on. And on weekends, they're not even always going on at the same time. I think it's pretty neat when they do show the scores and everyone either cheers or boos together, and then goes on with the current game. Honestly, I couldn't care less for an out-of-town scoreboard; if I was going to add some sort of info here, it'd be pitch counts and a better log of what batters did in prior at-bats.
You should go to Chiba and see all the stuff Bobby made them do to that stadium in the last few years. It's pretty spiffy.
Re: My Japan Trip
[ Author: rhdorsey | Posted: Sep 3, 2008 9:55 AM
]
Thanks for your response, Deanna.
No, I didn't go to a Yakult game last time I was here. I saw only 2 games at the Tokyo Dome (do they still call it the "Big Egg"? I never thought it looked like an egg).
Thanks for the info about the Fighters' game. I arrive in Sapporo next Monday, so I'll try to get a ticket then. Since Darvish pitched yesterday, I think he is more likely to pitch the Sunday game than the Saturday one, so I'll try to see that game (do the Fighters use a 6-man rotation?).
I don't think I'll get to Chiba's park, although I see that they're in town. This isn't really a baseball trip, just a regular sightseeing trip that includes some baseball. Also, do you think they'll get rid of Bobby V? I see where he was asked to resign by someone.
BTW, what is it that the fans shout in one of the most common cheers? It sounds like "Katozei, {name of player}." When I was here before, they seemed to be saying "Let's go-o, {name of player}," but I haven't heard that this time.
No, I didn't go to a Yakult game last time I was here. I saw only 2 games at the Tokyo Dome (do they still call it the "Big Egg"? I never thought it looked like an egg).
Thanks for the info about the Fighters' game. I arrive in Sapporo next Monday, so I'll try to get a ticket then. Since Darvish pitched yesterday, I think he is more likely to pitch the Sunday game than the Saturday one, so I'll try to see that game (do the Fighters use a 6-man rotation?).
I don't think I'll get to Chiba's park, although I see that they're in town. This isn't really a baseball trip, just a regular sightseeing trip that includes some baseball. Also, do you think they'll get rid of Bobby V? I see where he was asked to resign by someone.
BTW, what is it that the fans shout in one of the most common cheers? It sounds like "Katozei, {name of player}." When I was here before, they seemed to be saying "Let's go-o, {name of player}," but I haven't heard that this time.
Re: My Japan Trip
[ Author: Christopher | Posted: Sep 3, 2008 11:37 AM
| HAN Fan
]
The national anthem was a Pacific League thing, but never done in the Central League. I've never heard it played when the Tigers play at the Dome.
The word you're hearing is "kattobase" followed by the player's name. It's a regular part of the player songs and roughly translated means "Let if fly."
The word you're hearing is "kattobase" followed by the player's name. It's a regular part of the player songs and roughly translated means "Let if fly."
Re: My Japan Trip
[ Author: Deanna | Posted: Sep 3, 2008 11:58 AM
| NIP Fan
]
You can get a Fighters ticket from anywhere in Japan if you can find a ticket seller (several convenience stores like Lawson's or 7-11 sell tickets, plus there are Ticket Pia places all over), but you could also wait until you get to Sapporo.
If you go to the Dome on a day they don't have baseball or soccer, you can actually go up to the Observation Deck, which is supposed to be pretty neat, too, but I was only there when they had baseball going on, of course.
Their rotation - I think Darvish then Masaru (Takeda) then Sweeney then Glynn is what's up right now, plus another guy or two shuffled on the end depending on who's up from the minors at a given time.
The chant is "kattobase." It means, uh, "get a hit." It is the base of pretty much every cheer, so again, you probably heard it last time and didn't catch it. Some teams use "Let's Go" too, depending, in the Fighters we cheer "kattobase ____" for Japanese players but then "Go go let's go ____" for non-Japanese players. Marines fans cheer "Vamos Julio!" for Julio Zuleta (well, it comes out as "Ba Mo Flio," but it's the idea) as a Spanish "Let's Go." The Seibu Lions seem to have an awful lot of "Let's go" in their chants.
If you go to the Dome on a day they don't have baseball or soccer, you can actually go up to the Observation Deck, which is supposed to be pretty neat, too, but I was only there when they had baseball going on, of course.
Their rotation - I think Darvish then Masaru (Takeda) then Sweeney then Glynn is what's up right now, plus another guy or two shuffled on the end depending on who's up from the minors at a given time.
The chant is "kattobase." It means, uh, "get a hit." It is the base of pretty much every cheer, so again, you probably heard it last time and didn't catch it. Some teams use "Let's Go" too, depending, in the Fighters we cheer "kattobase ____" for Japanese players but then "Go go let's go ____" for non-Japanese players. Marines fans cheer "Vamos Julio!" for Julio Zuleta (well, it comes out as "Ba Mo Flio," but it's the idea) as a Spanish "Let's Go." The Seibu Lions seem to have an awful lot of "Let's go" in their chants.
Re: My Japan Trip
[ Author: rhdorsey | Posted: Sep 12, 2008 9:40 PM
]
Well, today I got my ticket to the Fighters' game tomorrow. I got it at a Lawson's (I tried earlier at a 7-11, but they indicated they didn't have a ticket to sell). The store employee used a machine to select the ticket. The machine had about 17 different types of tickets, and it was all in Japanese so I didn't know what was what. I tried to communicate that I wanted an upper deck seat behind home plate, but after I drew a diagram of the ballpark to indicate what I wanted, the best I could do was apparently a seat on the 3rd base side. After the difficulty just selecting the ticket, the employee needed to type in my name to complete the transaction, but the keyboard was in katakana and she didn't know how to write my name in katakana. I went with her next door to a hotel and found a front desk person who wrote my name out in katakana for her to enter. Finally, I got my ticket. The whole thing took about 30 minutes.
I wanted to tell her just to forget about it and that I would try to get a ticket at the stadium tomorrow, since they seemed to be readily available, but of course I didn't know how. This is just another example of how Japanese will go way out of their way to help you. This very nice employee took about 30 minutes of her time at work to help me with this purchase. I was very thankful, but I wish I had known how to tell her to stop.
Unfortunately, I won't get to see Darvish, as he pitched just 3 games ago (another gem) and won't be due again until Monday or Tuesday.
BTW, this holiday weekend here must be big stuff because I couldn't find a hotel in Sapporo for tonight or tomorrow at all. So, I'm staying in Tomakomei for the weekend and commuting about 60 km each way to the game.
I'll give a report on the game later in this thread.
I wanted to tell her just to forget about it and that I would try to get a ticket at the stadium tomorrow, since they seemed to be readily available, but of course I didn't know how. This is just another example of how Japanese will go way out of their way to help you. This very nice employee took about 30 minutes of her time at work to help me with this purchase. I was very thankful, but I wish I had known how to tell her to stop.
Unfortunately, I won't get to see Darvish, as he pitched just 3 games ago (another gem) and won't be due again until Monday or Tuesday.
BTW, this holiday weekend here must be big stuff because I couldn't find a hotel in Sapporo for tonight or tomorrow at all. So, I'm staying in Tomakomei for the weekend and commuting about 60 km each way to the game.
I'll give a report on the game later in this thread.
Re: My Japan Trip
[ Author: rhdorsey | Posted: Sep 14, 2008 1:09 AM
]
OK, I just got back from the Fighters' game (vs. Orix) this evening. My observations:
From the outside, the Sapporo Dome looks like a giant flying saucer. On the inside, it looked OK enough for a fixed-dome stadium with fake turf. Again, it was basically a 1-tiered facility, with a small separate section on top, mainly for the press boxes, but with some spectator seats also. But I found I couldn't get to the main (only?) concessions level by descending in the stands because the seats closest to the field (box seats?) apparently can be accessed only from below the stands, and you can't enter them without a ticket for those seats.
Anyway, it had symmetrical field dimensions like the "cookie-cutter," multi-purpose stadiums in the U.S. The modern era of retro-stadium design/construction, a la USA, hasn't hit Japan yet.
They wouldn't let me park in the stadium lot, so I parked on the street about a mile away. I was hesitant about this, but another couple parked near me and I asked if this was all right and they seemed to indicate that it was. Anyway, I didn't get a ticket.
The game wasn't sold out, but there was a good crowd; I'd say it was about 2/3 full. It looked like it could hold maybe 40,000, so I'd say there were about 28,000 people there.
I noticed that Orix's dugout (the place really didn't have dugouts per se as they were the same level as the field) was on the first base side, which usually is where the home dugout is. I know that most MLB parks have the home dugout on the first base side, but, being a Baltimore fan, I remember that in old Memorial Stadium the home dugout was on the third base side. This is the first Japanese stadium where I've noticed this was this way.
The cheering section for Orix was small, as you might expect. The rest of the crowd was pretty much one big cheering section for the Fighters and most of them seemed to be cheering. What is it with the pink and green thing over here? The stadium personnel handed out "fan cards" that were pink on one side and green on the other. Via signals, at various times the crowd held up the pink side of the card and at other times they displayed the green side. They also had many large plastic pink hands with the index finger extended that they waved when the "pink" signal was given. Yet, like the Swallows, the Fighters' team colors are not pink and green. They are black and white, with gold and blue trim. Also, again via some signal, the crowd sometimes displayed blue banners that had Japanese characters on them (Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters?).
After 7 innings, the Fighters were up 7-0, so the entire game up that point was pretty much one long party for the Figthers fans. One inning, they did the same cheer all inning, which I don't remember experiencing before. This lasted at least 20 minutes. Something like "Ike, Ike" (Go, Go, right?) ... "OK, OK" ... "Ike, {name of player}."
They did sing the national anthem before the game this time. But, like the first 2 games, no 7th-inning stretch with "Take me out to the ballgame." They also didn't stand for the final out/strike in any of the games like they do in the U.S. when the home team is about to win.
There was very little visible argument with umpire's calls in any of the games, which was as I expected.
After the game, which the Fighters won 7-4, they gave a flower bouquet to one of the Fighters' players, who I assume was the winning pitcher, Ryan Glynn. I don't recall seeing this before anywhere.
Again the food prices were reasonable. I had a sandwich which turned out to be between 2 rice cakes instead of buns. The inside was some shrimp and vegetables and more rice (?!). This time, I remembered to take my trash from my seat. But there were very few trash cans. I've noticed this in Japan in general. For a society that's so fastidious about keeping things clean-looking, you'd think they'd make it easier for people to do this and provide more trash cans. Seems kind of strange to me. And, also, there was no soap or towels or hand-dryers in the rest rooms, just water. What's up with that?
Anyway, those are my observations from the baseball games I saw here (I fly back home, Monday). I thoroughly enjoyed all of them. Definitely a little different experience than going to a game in the U.S.
Comments are welcome, as usual.
BTW, I assume that most of you that post here are from North America, but are living in Japan for an extended period. I'm curious to know what your profession is in Japan.
From the outside, the Sapporo Dome looks like a giant flying saucer. On the inside, it looked OK enough for a fixed-dome stadium with fake turf. Again, it was basically a 1-tiered facility, with a small separate section on top, mainly for the press boxes, but with some spectator seats also. But I found I couldn't get to the main (only?) concessions level by descending in the stands because the seats closest to the field (box seats?) apparently can be accessed only from below the stands, and you can't enter them without a ticket for those seats.
Anyway, it had symmetrical field dimensions like the "cookie-cutter," multi-purpose stadiums in the U.S. The modern era of retro-stadium design/construction, a la USA, hasn't hit Japan yet.
They wouldn't let me park in the stadium lot, so I parked on the street about a mile away. I was hesitant about this, but another couple parked near me and I asked if this was all right and they seemed to indicate that it was. Anyway, I didn't get a ticket.
The game wasn't sold out, but there was a good crowd; I'd say it was about 2/3 full. It looked like it could hold maybe 40,000, so I'd say there were about 28,000 people there.
I noticed that Orix's dugout (the place really didn't have dugouts per se as they were the same level as the field) was on the first base side, which usually is where the home dugout is. I know that most MLB parks have the home dugout on the first base side, but, being a Baltimore fan, I remember that in old Memorial Stadium the home dugout was on the third base side. This is the first Japanese stadium where I've noticed this was this way.
The cheering section for Orix was small, as you might expect. The rest of the crowd was pretty much one big cheering section for the Fighters and most of them seemed to be cheering. What is it with the pink and green thing over here? The stadium personnel handed out "fan cards" that were pink on one side and green on the other. Via signals, at various times the crowd held up the pink side of the card and at other times they displayed the green side. They also had many large plastic pink hands with the index finger extended that they waved when the "pink" signal was given. Yet, like the Swallows, the Fighters' team colors are not pink and green. They are black and white, with gold and blue trim. Also, again via some signal, the crowd sometimes displayed blue banners that had Japanese characters on them (Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters?).
After 7 innings, the Fighters were up 7-0, so the entire game up that point was pretty much one long party for the Figthers fans. One inning, they did the same cheer all inning, which I don't remember experiencing before. This lasted at least 20 minutes. Something like "Ike, Ike" (Go, Go, right?) ... "OK, OK" ... "Ike, {name of player}."
They did sing the national anthem before the game this time. But, like the first 2 games, no 7th-inning stretch with "Take me out to the ballgame." They also didn't stand for the final out/strike in any of the games like they do in the U.S. when the home team is about to win.
There was very little visible argument with umpire's calls in any of the games, which was as I expected.
After the game, which the Fighters won 7-4, they gave a flower bouquet to one of the Fighters' players, who I assume was the winning pitcher, Ryan Glynn. I don't recall seeing this before anywhere.
Again the food prices were reasonable. I had a sandwich which turned out to be between 2 rice cakes instead of buns. The inside was some shrimp and vegetables and more rice (?!). This time, I remembered to take my trash from my seat. But there were very few trash cans. I've noticed this in Japan in general. For a society that's so fastidious about keeping things clean-looking, you'd think they'd make it easier for people to do this and provide more trash cans. Seems kind of strange to me. And, also, there was no soap or towels or hand-dryers in the rest rooms, just water. What's up with that?
Anyway, those are my observations from the baseball games I saw here (I fly back home, Monday). I thoroughly enjoyed all of them. Definitely a little different experience than going to a game in the U.S.
Comments are welcome, as usual.
BTW, I assume that most of you that post here are from North America, but are living in Japan for an extended period. I'm curious to know what your profession is in Japan.
Re: My Japan Trip
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Sep 14, 2008 9:48 AM
| YBS Fan
]
Great game review. I think that I (and Deanna to a greater extent) can help fill in some of the more confusing aspects of what you saw.
- On the inside, it looked OK enough for a fixed-dome stadium with fake turf.
I don't know if you noticed it or not, but there's a giant soccer field just outside with real grass that they roll in for soccer games. I wish they would find a way to do that for baseball, but the shape of the field in the baseball configuration makes that a bit more difficult.
- Again, it was basically a 1-tiered facility, [...]
You mentioned that about Yokohama and Jingu, I believe. I affectionately refer to Yokohama Stadium as a giant rice bowl.
- Anyway, it had symmetrical field dimensions like the "cookie-cutter," multi-purpose stadiums in the U.S. The modern era of retro-stadium design/construction, a la USA, hasn't hit Japan yet.
The first such stadium will be the new one that they're building in Hiroshima - opening next season. Carp big wigs toured the U.S. to find inspiration, and they brought back many ideas and incorporated them into the preliminary design. It's kind of a wait and see thing to know if they actually carry out those designs.
- The game wasn't sold out, but there was a good crowd; I'd say it was about 2/3 full. It looked like it could hold maybe 40,000, so I'd say there were about 28,000 people there.
I did a study on attendance after the 2006 season [PDF] for the Tokyo SABR group. The maximum attendance at Sapporo Dome that year was 43,473 came on September 27 when the Fighters battled against SoftBank. That was also the third largest attended game of the season anywhere. Very good guestimate.
- I noticed that Orix's dugout (the place really didn't have dugouts per se as they were the same level as the field) was on the first base side, which usually is where the home dugout is.
Sapporo Dome and K-Stadium Sendai are the only two that do that currently. I remember when the Eagles got started that they did this to be a little different. I'm sot sure when the Fighters started doing it. And there has been talk of another team switching to the third base side next year, but I don't recall who it was off hand.
- What is it with the pink and green thing over here? The stadium personnel handed out "fan cards" that were pink on one side and green on the other.
I'm not sure who's pink, but Hichori's color is green. You may have noticed that he has big green wrist bands? Also, you may have noticed that it was always Morimoto's at bats that you were signaled to hold up green?
I'm sure that Deanna can fill you in on that in much more detail. In fact, this Google search should help you get started.
- One inning, they did the same cheer all inning, which I don't remember experiencing before. This lasted at least 20 minutes. Something like "Ike, Ike" (Go, Go, right?) ... "OK, OK" ... "Ike, {name of player}."
Several teams have this. Deanna calls it their "chance music." When it's looking like a big inning is getting started, the oendan goes into chance music mode, which is the same song continuing through the whole inning. I know that Yokohama and Chunichi both do it as well.
- They did sing the national anthem before the game this time.
Right. It's Pacific League games that they do the National Anthem. I don't know why the Central League teams don't.
- But, like the first 2 games, no 7th-inning stretch with "Take me out to the ballgame."
But the YMCA after the end of 5 innings at Sapporo Dome is great, with the field crew joining in and dancing a bit.
- There was very little visible argument with umpire's calls in any of the games, which was as I expected.
That all depends on how bad the umpiring is for the given game.
- After the game, which the Fighters won 7-4, they gave a flower bouquet to one of the Fighters' players, who I assume was the winning pitcher, Ryan Glynn. I don't recall seeing this before anywhere.
That was for Micheal. He saved his milestone 100th game in Japan (in his 194th game - 4th fastest pace). He and Glynn both changed into commemorative T-shirts for the hero interview.
Giving of bouquets is very common when a player reaches a certain milestone. Yokohama's Suzuki Takanori got one yesterday as well for playing in his 1,500th game (the 163rd player to do so).
- This time, I remembered to take my trash from my seat. But there were very few trash cans. I've noticed this in Japan in general. For a society that's so fastidious about keeping things clean-looking, you'd think they'd make it easier for people to do this and provide more trash cans. Seems kind of strange to me.
More and more, places are asking patrons to take their trash home with them to dispose of properly. Public trash cans have pretty much disappeared due to people not sorting their trash properly and instead just dumping it in public bins. It basically boils down to a few bad apples ruining the whole bunch.
The city of Yokohama had a campaign to reduce the amount of non-recyclable trash by 30% over a 5 year period or so, and they managed to exceed that goal in less time. Other municipalities are doing the same throughout the country. If you go to a McDonald's in most places in the Kanto area, you'll find several bins for sorting your trash when you're done (paper/food and plastics at a minimum).
- And, also, there was no soap or towels or hand-dryers in the rest rooms, just water. What's up with that?
That's odd. Most modern places have hand dryers now. I don't even expect them at older places (and keep tissues with me at all times for those places that don't provide toilet paper). That's why everyone carries a small towel or handkerchief with them. You'll never see anyone blowing their nose into a handkerchief in Japan, because it's used for drying ones hands!
- BTW, I assume that most of you that post here are from North America, but are living in Japan for an extended period. I'm curious to know what your profession is in Japan.
You can click on peoples' login name to get more information on them, like where they are in the world and what they do. Oh, I see that even you didn't fill in the "Occupation" field. So maybe it's not so easy to find after all.
Anyway, I'm a computer programmer and database specialist by trade and by hobby. I prefer MySQL for relational data and eXist for XML data. I'm a big proponent for Open Source software, develop on a Mac, and deploy to either FreeBSD or Linux. You couldn't pay me to use anything made by Microsoft. I've now lived in Japan for pretty much half my life, all but 5 years since turning 16.
- On the inside, it looked OK enough for a fixed-dome stadium with fake turf.
I don't know if you noticed it or not, but there's a giant soccer field just outside with real grass that they roll in for soccer games. I wish they would find a way to do that for baseball, but the shape of the field in the baseball configuration makes that a bit more difficult.
- Again, it was basically a 1-tiered facility, [...]
You mentioned that about Yokohama and Jingu, I believe. I affectionately refer to Yokohama Stadium as a giant rice bowl.
- Anyway, it had symmetrical field dimensions like the "cookie-cutter," multi-purpose stadiums in the U.S. The modern era of retro-stadium design/construction, a la USA, hasn't hit Japan yet.
The first such stadium will be the new one that they're building in Hiroshima - opening next season. Carp big wigs toured the U.S. to find inspiration, and they brought back many ideas and incorporated them into the preliminary design. It's kind of a wait and see thing to know if they actually carry out those designs.
- The game wasn't sold out, but there was a good crowd; I'd say it was about 2/3 full. It looked like it could hold maybe 40,000, so I'd say there were about 28,000 people there.
I did a study on attendance after the 2006 season [PDF] for the Tokyo SABR group. The maximum attendance at Sapporo Dome that year was 43,473 came on September 27 when the Fighters battled against SoftBank. That was also the third largest attended game of the season anywhere. Very good guestimate.
- I noticed that Orix's dugout (the place really didn't have dugouts per se as they were the same level as the field) was on the first base side, which usually is where the home dugout is.
Sapporo Dome and K-Stadium Sendai are the only two that do that currently. I remember when the Eagles got started that they did this to be a little different. I'm sot sure when the Fighters started doing it. And there has been talk of another team switching to the third base side next year, but I don't recall who it was off hand.
- What is it with the pink and green thing over here? The stadium personnel handed out "fan cards" that were pink on one side and green on the other.
I'm not sure who's pink, but Hichori's color is green. You may have noticed that he has big green wrist bands? Also, you may have noticed that it was always Morimoto's at bats that you were signaled to hold up green?
I'm sure that Deanna can fill you in on that in much more detail. In fact, this Google search should help you get started.
- One inning, they did the same cheer all inning, which I don't remember experiencing before. This lasted at least 20 minutes. Something like "Ike, Ike" (Go, Go, right?) ... "OK, OK" ... "Ike, {name of player}."
Several teams have this. Deanna calls it their "chance music." When it's looking like a big inning is getting started, the oendan goes into chance music mode, which is the same song continuing through the whole inning. I know that Yokohama and Chunichi both do it as well.
- They did sing the national anthem before the game this time.
Right. It's Pacific League games that they do the National Anthem. I don't know why the Central League teams don't.
- But, like the first 2 games, no 7th-inning stretch with "Take me out to the ballgame."
But the YMCA after the end of 5 innings at Sapporo Dome is great, with the field crew joining in and dancing a bit.
- There was very little visible argument with umpire's calls in any of the games, which was as I expected.
That all depends on how bad the umpiring is for the given game.
- After the game, which the Fighters won 7-4, they gave a flower bouquet to one of the Fighters' players, who I assume was the winning pitcher, Ryan Glynn. I don't recall seeing this before anywhere.
That was for Micheal. He saved his milestone 100th game in Japan (in his 194th game - 4th fastest pace). He and Glynn both changed into commemorative T-shirts for the hero interview.
Giving of bouquets is very common when a player reaches a certain milestone. Yokohama's Suzuki Takanori got one yesterday as well for playing in his 1,500th game (the 163rd player to do so).
- This time, I remembered to take my trash from my seat. But there were very few trash cans. I've noticed this in Japan in general. For a society that's so fastidious about keeping things clean-looking, you'd think they'd make it easier for people to do this and provide more trash cans. Seems kind of strange to me.
More and more, places are asking patrons to take their trash home with them to dispose of properly. Public trash cans have pretty much disappeared due to people not sorting their trash properly and instead just dumping it in public bins. It basically boils down to a few bad apples ruining the whole bunch.
The city of Yokohama had a campaign to reduce the amount of non-recyclable trash by 30% over a 5 year period or so, and they managed to exceed that goal in less time. Other municipalities are doing the same throughout the country. If you go to a McDonald's in most places in the Kanto area, you'll find several bins for sorting your trash when you're done (paper/food and plastics at a minimum).
- And, also, there was no soap or towels or hand-dryers in the rest rooms, just water. What's up with that?
That's odd. Most modern places have hand dryers now. I don't even expect them at older places (and keep tissues with me at all times for those places that don't provide toilet paper). That's why everyone carries a small towel or handkerchief with them. You'll never see anyone blowing their nose into a handkerchief in Japan, because it's used for drying ones hands!
- BTW, I assume that most of you that post here are from North America, but are living in Japan for an extended period. I'm curious to know what your profession is in Japan.
You can click on peoples' login name to get more information on them, like where they are in the world and what they do. Oh, I see that even you didn't fill in the "Occupation" field. So maybe it's not so easy to find after all.
Anyway, I'm a computer programmer and database specialist by trade and by hobby. I prefer MySQL for relational data and eXist for XML data. I'm a big proponent for Open Source software, develop on a Mac, and deploy to either FreeBSD or Linux. You couldn't pay me to use anything made by Microsoft. I've now lived in Japan for pretty much half my life, all but 5 years since turning 16.
Re: My Japan Trip
[ Author: rhdorsey | Posted: Sep 16, 2008 6:09 PM
]
Thanks for the response, Westbay. And thanks for enlightening me on a few points.
The pink and green thing wasn't just for certain batters. One place they displayed the "pink" and "green" signals was on the scoreboard. This was done one right after the other for the same hitter. There were other signals also, but I couldn't figure out where they were coming from. Do you know anything about the blue banners I mentioned?
The "all-inning" cheer did happen during a rally, but it seemed to start almost at the start of the inning, before the rally got going. It was during the home half of the 7th.
I did notice that Japan often has separate receptacles for combustible and non-combustible trash. But why not just provide both types of cans in high-access public places and tell people to be sure to put the right trash in the right can? To me, it's unreasonable to expect people to carry their trash home. That would never work in the US, or practically anywhere else either, I would think. If people can sort their trash at home, they should be able to sort it in public, too.
They did do the YMCA cheer. It seemed to be a different version of the song than what we hear here in the US (Village People) - seemed to be sung mostly in English by Japanese singers.
Also, I forgot to mention, I think that Orix' uniforms, particularly the road uni's, are one of the best-looking ones in the league. I like the "classic" look of the Giants' uni's, too, although they obviously are similar to those of the SF Giants. I also noticed that the Dragons' uni's (at least the road uni's) don't look like the Dodgers' anymore.
BTW, I'm back home now. About 33 hours straight of traveling (5 flights) from Hokkaido to Maryland. I really enjoyed the trip overall, but it's nice to be back home.
The pink and green thing wasn't just for certain batters. One place they displayed the "pink" and "green" signals was on the scoreboard. This was done one right after the other for the same hitter. There were other signals also, but I couldn't figure out where they were coming from. Do you know anything about the blue banners I mentioned?
The "all-inning" cheer did happen during a rally, but it seemed to start almost at the start of the inning, before the rally got going. It was during the home half of the 7th.
I did notice that Japan often has separate receptacles for combustible and non-combustible trash. But why not just provide both types of cans in high-access public places and tell people to be sure to put the right trash in the right can? To me, it's unreasonable to expect people to carry their trash home. That would never work in the US, or practically anywhere else either, I would think. If people can sort their trash at home, they should be able to sort it in public, too.
They did do the YMCA cheer. It seemed to be a different version of the song than what we hear here in the US (Village People) - seemed to be sung mostly in English by Japanese singers.
Also, I forgot to mention, I think that Orix' uniforms, particularly the road uni's, are one of the best-looking ones in the league. I like the "classic" look of the Giants' uni's, too, although they obviously are similar to those of the SF Giants. I also noticed that the Dragons' uni's (at least the road uni's) don't look like the Dodgers' anymore.
BTW, I'm back home now. About 33 hours straight of traveling (5 flights) from Hokkaido to Maryland. I really enjoyed the trip overall, but it's nice to be back home.
Re: My Japan Trip
[ Author: Rocksfan | Posted: Sep 15, 2008 9:42 PM
| CHU Fan
]
- I noticed that Orix's dugout (the place really didn't have dugouts per se as they were the same level as the field) was on the first base side, which usually is where the home dugout is. I know that most MLB parks have the home dugout on the first base side, but, being a Baltimore fan, I remember that in old Memorial Stadium the home dugout was on the third base side. This is the first Japanese stadium where I've noticed this was this way.
IIRC, the Orioles used the third base dugout at Memorial Stadium because the first base dugout looked directly into the sun during the late afternoon/early evening.
I wouldn't think this would be a problem in Sapporo Dome.
IIRC, the Orioles used the third base dugout at Memorial Stadium because the first base dugout looked directly into the sun during the late afternoon/early evening.
I wouldn't think this would be a problem in Sapporo Dome.
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I've seen 2 games so far, and plan to see a 3rd.
First game was Yokohama hosting Yakult on Sunday, 8/31. The game was a rout, with Yakult winning 17-5. Aoki, Fukuchi, and Hatakeyama each had 4 hits. I can see why the BayStars have the league's worst record. They looked like a bad team. None of their pitchers were effective, except for 1 that faced only 1 batter. Their 3rd baseman twice made ill-advised plays, trying to throw out a runner trying to score from 3rd on ground balls where he could have gotten 1 out at first. He failed both times and a rally was kept going each time. Even Uchikawa, who's leading the world in batting, made a bonehead play when he hit what he thought was a homer, but it hit off the wall and he got thrown out trying to make it to 2nd base. Strangely, the Swallows' starter, Ishikawa, gave up only 4 hits, which all were solo homers. It rained off and on starting around the 5th inning, but they finished 9 innings. The previous night's game had rain, too, and was called after 7 innings. I don't know the weather in Tokyo this time of year, but it seems to rain often starting in the early evening. If this is typical, why do they schedule weekend games in the evening when they are likely to be rain-shortened or postponed altogether? Doesn't seem to make sense.
Also, the field at first glance seemed like a natural turf field, but then I saw that it was a carpet painted to look like they mowed it in a pattern, and most of the infield was painted brown to look like dirt, with the only real dirt being around the bases and the mound. The stadium was one tier only, so even though I sat in what would have been the upper deck, I could get down to the "concessions" level by just walking down the stands. It looked more like a minor league AAA stadium. Looked like it could seat only about 25,000, and it was about half full before the rains came, so I'd say about 12-13,000 were there.
2nd game was tonight (9/2) at Jingu, Yakult hosting Chunichi. Another rout as Yakult won 12-6. Yakult doesn't have a good record, but they seem to have a strong offensive team. Hatakeyama had another good game. He hit a HR in each game. Don't know much about him, but he murdered the ball in the 2 games I saw. He batted cleanup and is hitting above .300 now. Aoki's stats look great in each game, but actually he only hit 1 ball really well in each game (long 2B in 1st game and a HR in the 2nd). They gave him a bravura introduction via the scoreboard and PA system each time he stepped to the plate. I don't doubt that he is everything they say he is (best position player in Japan now?).
They had what looked like an American doing some of the mike work from the stands, which I thought was interesting. He spoke mostly Japanese, but some English, also. The famed Jingu stadium didn't look like an old stadium at all inside. It looked pretty much like Yokohama Stadium in that it was 1 tier, except for a small upper deck behind home plate. I was kind of disappointed.
I noticed that they don't play the National anthem before the game, and no 7th-inning stretch with "Take me out to the Ballgame" either. I'm not sure I noticed that on my 1st trip. Even though each game was a rout, the fans of the losing team kept cheering at about the same level throughout. The Chunichi fans even seemed to come up with new cheers in the 9th inning that I hadn't heard before. They cheered about as loud as the Yakult fans. The Yakult fans had one cheer where they waved green and pink umbrellas, which I found curious since their team colors are blue, white, and red.
I noticed that none of the pitchers threw very hard at all. I can remember only 1 instance of a pitch even as fast as 145 km/h, which is about 90 mph, and that was by a foreign pitcher (Dicky Gonzalez). Do they use a slow radar gun in Japan? There was no out-of-town scoreboard at either park, unlike MLB which has this at every park, I'm sure. They did post the scores of the other league games once between innings at Jingu. Also, at each game, they kept track of the time between innings on the scoreboard. Sometimes this was only a little over 2 minutes, but sometimes it was over 3 minutes, yet there didn't seem to be any ramifications no matter what, so I wonder what the purpose of this is.
The food was reasonably priced at both parks, about the same as in MLB parks. But I enjoyed that there was more variety than in MLB. I had noodles at Yokohama and fish dumplings at Jingu) at least I think that's what they were!). The tickets were more expensive than at most MLB parks. My "upper deck" seat at Yokohama cost 3,500 yen, about twice what it would cost in the States. The same seat at Jingu would have cost me 4,500 yen, so I sat in the bleachers for 1,900 yen, still pretty steep.
At Jingu, I noticed that fans took their trash from their seats and deposited it in trash cans themselves, instead of letting the stadium personnel do this the way they do in the US. After I saw this, I felt bad about leaving mine at my seat.
Both stadiums were easy to get to via the JR trains.
I never cease to be impressed by the Japanese people's politeness towards and respect for practically everyone. In addition, at Yokohama, after it started raining, the lady behind me noticed that I didn't have an umbrella and lent me hers. I tried to refuse but she practically insisted that I take it.
Well, I guess that's it for now. I plan to see a game at Sapporo Dome weekend after next. Hopefully, Darvish will pitching one of those games. I'll try to post my account of that game in this same thread.
Any comments are welcome.