Take me out to the ballgame
Trip Start
Apr 07, 2009
1
29
Trip End
Jun 01, 2009
Tokyo, Kanto, Japan
Thursday, May 7, 2009
I have to give my sister credit for this adventure. She suggested I go to a baseball game in Tokyo and after I read about how crazy the fans were and how cheap the tickets ($17 for outfield seats), I decided I should definitely take advantage of the opportunity.
After an hour discussion on where to sit and how to get tickets, 4 guys from the lab and I were off to a game at the Tokyo Dome to see the Tokyo Giants play the Yokohama Baystars. I had never seen baseball played inside before and it was great to not have to worry about sitting in the sun all day or having a rain delay, but it was a tad warm in the dome. I even noticed Japanese people taking off their outer coats, so I know it was really warm!
Unfortunately (at least for one guy who was an avid Giants fan), the only tickets we could get were in the Baystars cheering section so we all became Baystar fans. You see, if you sit in the cheering section, you sort of have no choice but to cheer for the correct team. And this 'cheering' does not mean just shouting the occasional 'Go Team!'. The cheering is extremely organized. The cheering section fans have their own dedicated cheer-leaders who announce the cheers that will be sung, and everyone knows the cheers. The cheering section sings these cheers over and over again the entire time their team is up to bat, all while standing up. Once their team is no longer up to bat, they promptly sit down and it is time for the other teams cheering section to stand up. This goes on for the entire 9 innings. Even though I had no idea what the cheers were, I could still participate by clapping (yes, the clapping is organized into particular rhythms to go along with the cheer) and sing my version of what I was guessing they were saying. It was so much fun that the game just flew by!
We purchased beer from the brightly colored beer girls who roamed the stands and at one point someone went out to get food. I was given a hot dog ("when I think of American's I think of hot dogs" I was told by the purchaser) while the others ate fried octopus balls (I snagged one and they were tasty!) and what looked like fried chicken nuggets, but I think they were some other type of meat.
The game was really exciting (tied on and off until the seventh when the giants scored a bunch of runs) but I also truthfully spent about half of the time watching the crowd as well. At one point apparently one fan got mad and threw a cup at some other fans and almost instantaneously there were 25 cops/ushers/cleaners (one person seemed to do all these jobs) and they had cleared out a section of the fans and remained watching the section the rest of the game. I was told it was a very unusual occurrence. I also saw someone spill a drink in the stands and instead of just letting it trickle down the floor, he and the cop/usher/cleaner got on their hands and knees and spent 10 minutes cleaning up the spill. That is something I have never seen at a baseball game before! I wonder how they would react to peanut shells .....
About 3 hours later, the game was over; the Giants had one. We gathered up our stuff and walked out of the Dome which was an experience in itself. The air pressure inside the Dome is different than outdoors (to hold up the roof) and so when you exit, they hold open the doors to get everyone out fast and you literally get blown out of the stadium. I almost fell flat on my face it was so forceful.
I got a great compliment from two of the guys at the game who had actually never been to a game before. They said they appreciated me wanting to go to a game, because then they felt that they too should experience it, and they said they loved it and were definitely planning on attending more games. It's fun when you get someone to experience new things in their own country.
I think I'll print out the cheers and try to sing them at the next baseball game I attend in the US and see if I can bring some of the Japanese enthusiasm to the States. Any volunteers to play the trumpet?
