Baseball

Back to the regularly scheduled program... Before I had to worry about the company situation I had a chance to catch a baseball game at Koshien stadium. It was to see the home team, the Hanshin Tigers. Mistakenly I thought they were playing the Tokyo Giants, their arch rivals but instead they were playing the Yomiuri Giants. Either way it was going to be fun as all baseball games in Japan are.

Thanks to our friends Ryan and Louise(mostly Louise), who fronted the money to get the tickets, a group of us got to go. We all sat in the same area so we enjoyed sticking out like a sore thumb. Well, except for me as I look but don't sound like the locals.

To reduce the staring most of us donned some Hashin garb. We had the hats, jerseys and the noisemakers. Who could forget the balloons? Here in Osaka and I think other places as well, the fans buy balloons and blow them up at a certain time in the game and release them. It's actually quite a cool thing to watch.

This is what happens. Release the balloons...
Here is the video:


Even without the balloons the fans make it worth going. They are crazy with different chants and songs for each player. At this particular game there was a moment the Giants could have overtaken the Tigers. The crowd was tense to see if the Tigers would pull ahead safely.

When they did, the fans went wild...
Here is the video:


Baseball was fun back home, but not this much fun. If you are a fan of the sport come and see. If you are in Japan and love to try something new, come down and watch.