Mr. Basebol

As many of you know, I'm a big baseball fan. And ever since I first watched the movie Mr. Baseball back in the 90's, I've always wanted to go to a Japanese baseball game...

 

Well, my wish finally came true last Saturday. Being that this was going to be our first time, I really wanted it to be a memorable experience. So after doing some research online, I discovered that Bern and I had something in common with a particular player who pitched for the Chiba Lotte Marines; we shared the same "Matsunaga" name. Naturally, we had to support our boy so we got tickets to see the Marines take on the Yokohama Bay Stars (which is technically the home team for Yokosuka).
      

 

 

We got to QVC Field at around 1:30pm and first pitch was at 2pm so we had some time to grab lunch before the game started. Of course the food choices at these concession stands were a bit different than the ones we were used to back in the states.

 

 

Luckily, we found one that served hamburgers & chicken strips so we went with that. We then headed back to our seats which were on the field level first base side. These tickets only cost us about 3,100 Yen ($31) each so it was a pretty good deal. 

 

 

The atmosphere was electric, similar to that of a European soccer match. It first starts off with cheerleaders running onto the field to get the crowd going even more and to introduce the players one by one.

 

      

Then from the 1st inning to the last, die-hard fans from both teams are cheering/chanting NON-STOP...the bulk of the Mariners fans sat in the right outfield while the Bay Star's fans sat in the left outfield; equipped with drums, horns, and team flags. I know these pictures can't do it justice, but trust me when I say that it was insane to say the least!

 

 

Naturally, I had to be apart of the madness so we left during the 2nd inning to check out the team store. I was really hoping to pick up a Matsunaga shirt but he's not as popular since he's more of a middle relief pitcher. However, I did pick up a few souvenirs including a pair of hallowed-out noise making bats so I could join in on the fun. When we returned to our seats by the 4th inning, I immediately got into the spirit and started to cheer on the Marines. It's safe to say that Bern got a little annoyed by them in a matter of minutes; but being the awesome lady she is; she just smiled as I continued to learn all of the chants.

 

          

And you can't go to a baseball game without getting an ice-cold beer...

 

 

Now we weren't sure if Matsunaga was going to play that day but in the 6th inning, here comes this Volvo on the field to bring out the next pitcher and sure enough, it's Takahiro Matsunaga! What's cool too is he wears number 28 which happens to be the day of our wedding anniversary.

 

 

Unfortunately, Matsunaga didn't have his best stuff that day. In 1 & 2/3 innings of work, he gave up three hits and one run which ended a tied ballgame at that point. But we were still thrilled that we got to at least see him play. Now in the middle 7th inning, we are so used to the "7th inning stretch" & the famous Take Me Out to the Ballgame song; but here in Japan fans do something totally different. They blow up elongated balloons which make a whistling noise as they are sent off into the air. (I'll leave it to your imaginations to describe what they look like! haha) Nonetheless, a pretty cool sight to see!  

 

    

The Bay Stars put on a hitting clinic after Matsunaga was pulled off the mound so we decided to leave early and take a look around at the shopping outlet by the ballpark. It was a long day because we live about a 2 hour train ride (3 transfers) away from Chiba but we had a lot of fun and it certainly won't be our last time for sure.