Seattle Mariners 3 at Oakland Athletics 1 (11) - March 28, 2010

I wasn't planning to write a post for the MLB Season Opener, but the pre-game ceremony was interesting, so I've decided to do a short recap after all.

This was the fourth time that Major League Baseball began its season in Japan. This year was special though, as Mariners’ star right fielder Ichiro Suzuki would be playing his first meaningful MLB games in his home country. Tickets were a hot commodity and prospective buyers had to enter a lottery in February for a chance to win tickets before they went on sale to the general public. I was fortunate to win a pair of seats down the right field line and my girlfriend accompanied me to a sold-out Tokyo Dome.

As this was an MLB game, extra security precautions were required. First, a small plastic bag was handed out and all fans were instructed to place metal objects into this plastic bag before going through the metal detector. Of course, carrying two cameras, binoculars, and a cell phone, there was no way everything would fit into the tiny bag, but it didn’t matter. At the gate, my knapsack was scanned by an earnest young man who asked permission to use his white-gloved hands to check the belongings. The check was cursory at best, more to ensure that I did not have any cans or bottles rather than anything dangerous.

I had chosen the line that bypassed the walkthrough metal detector; instead I was greeted by a cute young lady who performed another check using a wand. Interestingly, she only scanned my body and not the knapsack, finding nothing of interest and allowing me to finally enter the dome.

My seat was far down the right field line, in the 8th row of the upper deck. Despite being about 400 feet away, we were duly warned before the game to be aware of foul balls coming our way. If you were to be hit by a foul ball sitting this far from the plate, you deserve your injuries, but regardless, no foul balls came remotely close to us.

As game time approached, Amy and Joe Franz, Mariner season ticket holders and inventors of the Ichimeter, the signboard they use to count up Ichiro's hits, were shown on the big screen to much applause. They are probably more famous here than most of the Athletics.

The pre-game ceremony was focused on Tomodachi, a new initiative that is designed to deepen relations between the US and Japan after the 2011 disasters. The US Army Band from nearby Camp Zama marched onto the field and a large flag for each nation was unfurled.

Lights were dimmed and there was a lengthy video dedicated to three heroes from March 11, including Taylor Anderson, an American teacher who lost her life in the tsunami after ensuring that her students were safe. Derek Jeter, Bobby Valentine, and Cal Ripken Jr. each narrated one story. When the video ended, a Tomodachi flag was revealed between the other two to symbolize the growing friendship between the two nations.

When the home-team Athletics took the field, they were joined by some young baseball all-stars from the Tohoku region. After that, the national anthems were sung, with famous actor/singer Ryotaro Sugi performing Kimi Ga Yo much to the surprise of the locals, who gasped when his named was announced.

With the ceremonies complete, it was time for the baseball season to start. Brandon McCarthy took the mound for the A’s and at 7:08, threw a called strike to Chone Figgins. Two batters later, Ichiro approached the plate and the crowd erupted with a long ovation. It is difficult to overstate just how much of an icon he is here in Japan; he is the most successful athlete to have played overseas and a great source of pride for Japanese people. Every pitch to him saw thousands of flashbulbs going off. He was not distracted in the least, knocking an infield single off of McCarthy’s glove (that's him above, reaching first on another infield hit later in the game).

Coco Crisp flies out

I’ll avoid a detailed recap here, other than to say that it was a great game with the Mariners winning 3-1 in 11 innings. Ichiro going 4/5 and adding the insurance RBI. It was just my type of game, with good pitching and aggressive hitting, which meant that not a single walk was issued on the evening. Cuban rookie Yoenis Cespedes (above) received mixed reviews in his first MLB action as he smashed a double in 3 at-bats, while striking out twice. The game officially took 3:04, but the scoreboard operator let the timer run a few extra seconds I guess.

Next Up

I've added another couple of Japanese destinations to my schedule in order to get all the NPB stadiums reviewed for Stadium Journey. This weekend I'll travel to Sendai to watch the Rakuten Golden Eagles host Chiba in an afternoon affair before moving over to Yurtec Stadium to watch the US Women's National Soccer team take on Nadeshiko Japan in a rematch of last year's World Cup final. I've also added a night in Fukuoka on April 10th for a Hawks game. In between, I'll be in Sapporo for a few days to catch the Fighters and Consadole, both tenants of the Sapporo Dome. Check back often for updates.

Best,

Sean

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Toshiba 2 vs JR Kyushu 0 - Japan Industrial Leagues Intercity Championship - September 7, 2010

After a weekend of watching way too long baseball games in Hiroshima, I decided to return to the Tokyo Dome for the Industrial League's Intercity Championship. I had been to a few of the qualifying games back in June as well as last year's title tilt, and the games are always fast paced and excellent quality.

The Tournament and Teams

As a quick refresher, the Tournament pits 32 teams from all over the country in single knockout form. Most of these are company teams although sometimes an amateur club team makes it. All games are played at the Tokyo Dome over 12 days, with most days having 3 games. The players are generally in their 20s and played university ball although some come straight from high school. Some go on to be drafted by the NPB teams while Jun Tazawa went straight to the Boston Red Sox after his team won the championship two years ago.

Each region has several qualifying tournaments to decide who participates. Once the teams are set, they can receive players on loan from other teams in the same region that didn't make the final cut. I find this a bit peculiar as it seems like stacking the deck for the bigger regions, which have an advantage with more teams from which to choose temporary players.

The Intercity tournament is also famous for the incredible cheering sections. Each team has a dedicated group of employees who double as the cheerleaders and band. They lead the other employees and fans in raucous cheering throughout the game, and there are awards given for those groups that can get the most fans or show the most spirit, among others. These groups are far more enjoyable than the cheering sections that populate the pro games here as they have more variety between the different groups, based on the company or industry.

This year's finalists were Toshiba from Kawasaki, a city in Kanagawa prefecture immediately south of Tokyo. They are traditionally a strong team who have taken 6 titles overall, the last just 3 years ago. Kawasaki is also a strong city in this tournament, having crowned 11 champions since 1973.

JR Kyushu (the Kyushu branch of Japan Rail) was making their 13th appearance in the competition. They won the 1936 title under a different name but that was their only championship.

In Japan, you sit on the same side of the field as the team you are supporting. This leads to some interesting imbalances. Since Kawasaki is so close to Tokyo, Toshiba is able to fill their half of the Dome with their employees. There are 42,000 seats in the entire stadium so Toshiba fans (i.e. employees) probably took 20,000. But JR Kyushu comes from far-away Kyushu, the southernmost island that is several hours away by train. So they had about 3 sections of fans. A bit one-sided but there was plenty of room on their side of the field, so that is where I sat. (There are several sections in the infield seating that are reserved for those who are just baseball fans which cost 2,400 yen. There are also some balcony seats on the second level for 1,500 yen.)

Both cheering sections were loud and proud, but I preferred the JR Kyushu group as they had a shinkansen balloon (above) and were dressed as train conductors during part of the game.

The Game

Both teams had given up just 9 runs in their 4 victories, while Toshiba had scored 20 compared to JR Kyushu with 18. So a low scoring game was expected and that's what we got.

Nonetheless, Toshiba started quickly in the bottom half of the first off Masamitsu Hamano. Rookie Ryoichi Adachi led off with a liner that diving third baseman Yuki Tadakuma couldn't quite corral as it bounced out of his glove for an infield hit. Adachi was sacrificed to second by Masaya Iseki, and scored (below) on a single by Shota Fujiwara (above). Quickly 1-0 Toshiba.

They added another in the 3rd when Adachi again led off with a single, went to second on an Iseki groundout, then to third on a Fujiwara groundout before scoring on a clutch single from Keiji Ikebe, who was on loan from JX-ENEOS, another Kawasaki team that did not make the tournament.

After that, the story was Toshiba starter Takashi Fujita (above). He was essentially unhittable, throwing a combination of breaking stuff and fastballs that kept the JR Kyushu hitters constantly off balance. He allowed only 3 singles (that's Noriaki Utamura getting one below) and no runner even made it to second. Even then, he wasn't overpowering, barely hitting 140 km/h (87mph) on the gun and only notching 3 strikeouts. But he only needed 107 pitches over the 9 innings as the JR Kyushu batters were unable to make solid contact. A great pitching performance to take the title and give Fujita the tournament's MVP award (given to the top player on the championship team).

Adachi went 3/4 and scored both runs; he was one of three players to win the rookie award for the tournament.

Hamano also threw a complete game but was the hard-luck loser. He yielded just 7 hits and 2 walks with 6 Ks but was bested by a superior pitcher. He was awarded the MVP for the runners up though.

The game time was a terrific 2:04 (an extremely fast rate of 1.89 PPM). An excellent display of pitching and defense by both teams made this a hugely enjoyable evening.

After the game, they had the closing ceremonies where awards were given out and speeches made. A rather anti-climatic ending to the tournament.

Toshiba celebrates while JR Kyushu hang their heads in shame below

Next Up

The World Judo Championships are in Tokyo and I'm going to check out a day of it tomorrow. Check back Friday for a post on that.

Best,

Sean

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Fighters 1 at Marines 5/Marines 3 at Fighters 2 - Minor Major Doubleheader - August 17, 2010

The Nippon Ham Fighters are back in Tokyo this week for a 3-game set against the Chiba Lotte Marines. The teams are locked in a battle for the 3rd and final playoff spot in the Pacific League, with the Marines holding a 2.5 game lead. Orix is also in the running just another game back. It's not quite as exciting as a pennant race, but with the NPB allowing half the teams into the playoffs, it's the best we can get.

Interestingly, both teams' minor-league squads faced off in the afternoon in Lotte Urawa Stadium. So I decided to check that out as well, making it a doubleheader with the same teams, just in different stadiums.

Game 1 - Nippon Ham Fighters 1 at Chiba Lotte Marines 5

Lotte was the home team here and Yuta Ohmine (above) got the start for them. He was the hard-luck loser in the game I saw in the Tokyo Dome last week, giving up just two runs in 6 innings but falling to the Giants 2-1.

Today though, he got some run support as Lotte broke out with 2 runs in the 2nd off Mitsuo Yoshikawa. After Juan Muniz (above on third) walked and Shota Ohmine singled, Katsuya Kakunaka doubled them both home. That's Shota rounding third below.

In the 6th, Makoto Imaoka led off with a double and later scored on a sac fly by catcher Masahiko Tanaka (shown below stretching in the bullpen). Lotte added two more in the 7th on a Kakunaka walk and doubles from Takumi Kohbe and Imaoka.

Meanwhile, Ohmine was pitching a gem. Through 8 innings he had given up just three hits and two walks while throwing 127 pitches. With the Marines holding a 5-run lead, I figured they would take him out as it was a rather stifling 35C (95F) out. But no, he wanted the shutout, so he came in to pitch the ninth. Pinch-hitter Kazuya Murata led off with a double and advanced to third on a groundout. Ohmine then uncorked a wild pitch and the shutout was gone. After walking Kenji Satoh, Ohmine was finally taken out of the game, having tossed a mere 140 pitches. Kodai Matsumoto came in and got pinch-hitter Manabu Iwadate to ground into a double play to end the game.

Fighters 3rd baseman Suguru Ichikawa

This was a critical win for Lotte who are now tied for the lead in the Eastern League with the Giants. I was impressed with Ohmine's stamina given how hot it was. Imaoka (below), who is in his first season with Lotte after 13 campaigns with Hanshin, was the key offensive player with the two doubles. What I found amusing is that he didn't waste any time at the plate, only seeing 6 pitches in his 4 appearances. His two outs were deep flies to center, so he was certainly seeing the ball well.

Overall, an interesting and thankfully quick game that allowed me to get down to the Tokyo Dome in plenty of time for the nightcap.

Game 2 - Chiba Lotte Marines 3 at Nippon Ham Fighters 2

The starters were both foreigners, with Bill Murphy (above) getting the call for Lotte against Bobby Keppel (below) for the Fighters. Murphy spent the last two seasons with the Blue Jays organization but only saw action in 8 big league games before signing a lucrative contract to play in Japan. He was 9-4 with a 3.69 ERA. Keppel was with the Twins last season but decided to seek his fortune over here and it was a wise choice as he is 12-4 so far.

I had high expectations for this game and wasn't disappointed. Murphy started poorly though, giving up two runs in the first, highlighted by a double from Eiichi Koyano. But the Fighters left the bases loaded when catcher Shinya Tsuruoka grounded out.

In the top of the third, Toshiaki Imae grounded a single past diving shortstop Makoto Kaneko, who didn't get up immediately. The Fighters gathered around as the trainer checked him out, and it wasn't good news. Kaneko had to be helped off the field (looks like a torn calf) and was replaced by Yuji Iiyama. What's interesting is that Iiyama had played in the afternoon's game as well, going 0-for-4 before being taken out in the 9th, no doubt so he could make the trip down to the Dome.

Despite the setback, Keppel continued to pitch well, breezing through 4 innings before running into trouble. With two out and runners on first and second, Tadahito Iguchi (who won the World Series with Chicago back in 2005) blooped a ball that fell just inside the right field foul line. It rolled to the fence and both runners came around to score, with Toshiaki Imae taking out Tsuruoka with an aggressive slide. Tsuruoka didn't like that much and must have said something because next thing you know, both dugouts emptied. A bench-clearing brawl! Not really, this is Japan after all. The players merely milled around home plate for a minute before returning without any punches being thrown.

The score remained tied through 7, but in the 8th Iguchi took Keppel's first offering to deep center to give Lotte a 3-2 lead. Keppel finished the inning but the damage was done. In the bottom half, the Fighters Sho Nakata was hit by reliever Shingo Ono with one out. Tsuruoka sacrificed him to second but Iiyama grounded out to end that threat.

In the 9th, closer Hiroyuki Kobayashi came on for Lotte and gave up a leadoff single to Kensuke Tanaka. After another sacrifice, Atsunori Inaba walked. Koyano grounded out to advance both runners and bring Yoshio Itoi to the plate. It was do-or-die time but Itoi couldn't come through, grounding to Iguchi to end the game. Murphy got his 10th win and Kobayashi picked up his 21st save while Keppel dropped to 12-5.

This was a thriller that came down to the last pitch. The story of the game was how many chances Nippon Ham wasted. They left 13 men on base and constantly took themselves out of rallies with sacrifice bunts (5 in total, plus a missed bunt that resulted in a line drive double play). Murphy and the relievers did not pitch particularly well, yielding 15 baserunners, but they were able to escape every jam as the Fighters just gave them outs. I felt like Nippon Ham was playing scared, just trying to get a run here and there when a big rally was what they needed. I am not a fan of the sacrifice to begin with, but using it 5 or 6 times in a game is just silly. That's Itoi below preparing for another one.

With the win, Lotte moved 3.5 games up with two more games in the series. You have to feel for poor Iiyama, he played 15 innings in the two losses, going a combined 1-6 in the process.

Thoughts

It is unfortunate that the NPB changed the rules to allow three teams into the playoffs in each league as there would be two great pennant races now: Hanshin leads Yomiuri by a game in the Central League with Chunichi just 2.5 back; in the PL Seibu leads Softbank by 1.5 games. First place still matters as that team hosts all games in the Climax Series final stage, but it's not as compelling as eliminating the other team during the regular season. Fans of the teams fighting for third might disagree, but I think the long baseball season should reward only the best teams with a playoff spot. Even the wild card in MLB is a bad idea.

Best,

Sean

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Chiba Lotte Marines 1 at Yomiuri Giants 2 - Eastern League - August 9, 2010

There's usually no baseball on Monday here in Japan as both the majors and minors take the day off. But for some reason, there was a minor-league game between Lotte and Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome yesterday. These are the top two teams in the Eastern League, and I wanted to see how the crowd would be, so I went to check it out.

The Game

Keisuke Saito (above) started for Yomiuri. He's in his second season but hasn't seen much action this year. He has an odd delivery in that he leaves his arm behind him as you can see in the picture. Yuta Omine was on the hill for the Marines. He's been up with the big club this season but struggled with an ERA over 5.

Ikusei player Kota Sumi flies out

The game was scoreless in the 4th when Daisuke Fujimura led off for the Giants with a triple. Daisuke Nakai followed with a fly to left. Fujimura broke for home as Katsuya Kakunaka made the catch. The throw was on time but catcher Masahiko Tanaka couldn't hold on as Fujimura slid home. But the umpire didn't see the ball bounce out of Tanaka's glove and made an emphatic out call. After the Giants pointed out the error, the umps had a conference, and the call was sheepishly reversed.

In the 6th, Fujimura singled and Nakai drove him home with a double to make it 2-0 Giants. Meanwhile the Yomiuri pitchers were keeping Lotte off the board. Saitoh lasted 5 1/3 striking out 4, but it was a laborious effort as he threw 89 pitches. Yuki Furukawa and Jumpei Ohno each pitched to a batter to end the 6th. I was surprised to see top-team closer Marc Kroon come out for the 7th, I guess he is on rehab. He's a fireballer who has 168 saves over 6 seasons here, with 1.3 K/IP. He also holds the record for the fastest pitch thrown here at 161 km/h (100 mph). Anyway, he pitched a perfect inning.

Taishi Ohta breaks his bat

Finally in the 8th, Takuma Sadaoka started with a single off the Giants' 5th hurler of the evening, Kyohei Tsuchimoto. A double by Hiroshi Miyamoto and a walk to Shota Omine (who goes by Shota) loaded the bases and ended Tsuchimoto's evening. Veteran Yasunari Takagi took over and got Kakunaka to ground to second, scoring the Marines' first run on the force at second. Pinch hitter Toshio Saito then grounded into a double play to end the threat.

In the 9th, Yi-Hao Lin, a Taiwanese prospect who was recently added to the Giants roster from the ikusei program, entered the game. After a leadoff single to Cuban Juan Muniz (above calling off Shota), Lin settled down to strike out two and get Tanaka to fly out to end the game. The Giants used 7 pitchers in all, but it seemed to work as Lotte only managed 6 hits. The game took 2:54, mainly due to all the pitching changes.

With the win, Yomiuri moved within a game of league-leading Lotte, with two more games in the series, including another one tonight at the Tokyo Dome.

The Minors In Japan

Before I got there, I was expecting a few thousand fans. But the attendance was over 17,000! That's more than watched a Swallows game I went to last month. I used to think that the NPB ignores the potential revenue from having the minor leagues play in the evening in smaller towns where community matters more. There are plenty of decent stadiums that could support 54 games a year. Moreover, the players need more chances to see game action. The Giants have 83 players on their roster, split between the major and minor team. Why not make 3 teams with 25-28 players on each roster and have 2 minor leagues with players moving up and down and team names that are different from the big club?

Well, that was all just a pipe dream. The Shonan Searex are the only team in the minors to have a different team name than their big-league counterparts (Yokohama Bay Stars) and they usually play in the evenings at Yokosuka Stadium. Unfortunately, it looks like that will change after this season as they revert to the Yokohama name. I guess that minor league baseball just doesn't appeal to a large segment of the population here, fans want established names to cheer for.

Best,

Sean

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The Pearl Bowl - Fujitsu Frontiers 15 vs Obic Seagulls 13 - July 1, 2010

It's Canada Day! What better way to celebrate than to go watch American football in Japan? A friend of mine had free tickets to the Pearl Bowl, a pre-season championship game in the X League, Japan's answer to the NFL. I'm not one to pass on a free sporting event, so I headed off to the Tokyo Dome to catch the action.

The X League

Formed in 1971 as the Japan American Football League, the X League took its current moniker in 1997. There are 60 teams divided into 4 leagues: X (18 teams in 3 divisions); X2 (18 teams in 3 divisions); X3 (19 teams in 3 divisions); and X4 (5 teams in 1 division). Every year teams are promoted and relegated between these separate leagues. The regular season starts in October and teams in X only play 5 games against the teams in their division. Then playoffs are held between the top teams in each division in the league with the winners going on to meet in the Japan X Bowl in December. The X League Champion then plays the college champion in the Rice Bowl to end the season.

Like the industrial league in baseball, teams are either sponsored by a company that uses its "employees" as players, or a local club for which anyone can try out.

The Pearl Bowl

The Pearl Bowl is a tournament that involves the 12 teams in the top league's Eastern and Central division. The teams are divided into 4 blocks of 3 with each block holding a small round-robin. The 4 champs then meet in the semi finals with the winners going on to meet in the Pearl Bowl.

With the regular season not starting until October, this tournament is used to evaluate players and so can be considered a pre-season event, although it takes 2 full months to complete.

The Teams

The Obic Seagulls are sponsored by OBIC, a Tokyo-based firm that does system integration among other technical services. The team finished 4-1 last season for 2nd place in the East but they have moved to the Central Division for the upcoming campaign. They won their 3 qualifying games by a combined score of 152-14 so it would seem like they were the favourites coming in.

The Fujitsu Frontiers went 5-0 to take the Central Division in 2009 but lost in the Japan X Bowl to the Kashima Deers. After winning their two block games by a combined 100-16 score, they again faced the Deers, coming away with a 20-17 victory to reach the final.

The Game

I wasn't expecting a huge turnout for this game, but I was wrong. Over 14,000 people made the trip to the Dome with most being supporters of one of the teams. Our tickets were from some of the Obic players so we had to sit on the first base side. For the first half we sat low but the view wasn't that good (the netting wasn't removed for the game as you can see above), it was very crowded and hot, and the cheerleaders were extremely annoying, so for the second half we moved to the outfield seats which offered a better perspective.

The game was much like a scoreless World Cup match that goes to penalty kicks: boring for most of it with all the action near the end. The Seagulls managed two field goals in the first quarter, but Fujitsu replied with two of their own in the second and one more in the third to take a 9-6 lead.

Things finally got interesting late in the 3rd when Obic's Masatoshi Sugihara scampered for a 44-yard touchdown which gave them a 13-9 lead after the conversion.

The first play of the 4th was an impressive tip and interception by Obic DL Mitsunori Kihira, which stopped a promising Fujitsu drive. But Obic couldn't capitalise and the teams traded possessions with neither able to threaten another score.

Ball carrier tackled for no gain - a common occurrence

With less than 6 minutes to go, Obic was driving but a fumble deep in Frontier territory ended that chance. Fujitsu then failed on their ensuing drive, losing the ball when a 4th down run was stuffed at the line. With just over 4 minutes to go, the game was now Obic's for the taking as one first down would allow them to kill the clock, but they went 3-and-out and were forced to punt.

After a decent punt return, Fujitsu had the ball near midfield with just 1:35 left. After two quick first downs gained 30 yards, quarterback Akihiro Izuhara lofted a ball to the corner of the end zone where Daiki Matsubayashi made a great catch for the score. From where I was sitting, I could see the play developing and it was cool to watch as the ball went up well before Matsubayashi had made his turn. When he finally did look back, the ball was there and he held on for the 20-yard touchdown with 1:12 to go.

With the score 15-13, common sense would dictate that you tack on the extra point but Frontiers' coach Satoshi Fujita went for the 2-point conversion to try to seal the game. But the attempt failed and after a good kickoff return, Obic had a chance to drive into field goal range. A personal foul by the Frontiers moved the Seagulls to the Fujitsu 33-yard line, barely in range for a field goal attempt. After a couple of runs to get a bit closer, kicker Yosuke Kaneoya came out to try a 48-yard attempt with just 6 seconds left. The kick was up and .....fell well short of the uprights. Game over, the Frontiers hold on to win the 2010 Pearl Bowl.

The missed FG

What had been a dull contest for the first 45 minutes turned out to be interesting near the end, helped by some poor coaching and a lack of discipline by Fujitsu. You might think the score showed a strong defensive battle, but in reality both teams were not that good on offense.

Most of the plays were options or quarterback draws. Looking at the stats, Fujitsu had 64 plays of which 47 were runs, very few of the traditional handoff variety. With an average gain of exactly 3 yards, it wasn't a successful strategy and they finally opted for the pass when time was running out. Obic had 48 plays, split evenly between the ground and the air. There were also 17 penalties in the game which served to slow things down a bit.

Even then, the game moved quickly with so many running plays and few incompletions. There's also less clock stoppages than you would see in the NFL, with no two-minute warning here. It took 2:45 and would have been quicker except for a spate of injuries in the 4th quarter.

Overall, a fun experience but not one that requires repeating.

Thoughts

It amazes me that there are 60 football teams in this country. Though I think they could do with some tougher names; the Deers and Seagulls don't inspire a lot of fear.

The Tokyo Dome is not a good place to watch football. First, the field stretches from home plate to the center field fence, so there are few good seats. Second, they don't remove the netting which ruins the seats close to the field. Third, it's the Tokyo Dome.

I mentioned the cheerleaders were annoying. After every play they would do a song and dance regardless of the situation on the field. The head girl had a mike into which she would yell "Defense! Defense!" or "Let's Go Seagulls". The Obic fans would duly cheer along. Then they would suddenly stop and turn around to watch the next play. It was fun to watch at the beginning and their energy was admirable, but it quickly became loud and tiresome. There was also a stupid mascot which looked nothing like a seagull.

The Fujitsu cheerleaders weren't much better, holding up the letters to spell "Touchdown" as their team lined up for a field goal.

However, at halftime, the other cheerleaders in the league put on a show. There must have been at least a hundred of them and they really got into it. At one point they had a line that formed from one goal line to the other and it was pretty impressive as they kicked up in unison.

I might try to see a game at one of the other grounds this fall, just to see what it is like. But the quality here isn't that good and I don't think I'll be following this league that closely in the future.

Next Up

I'm off to the Minneapolis and Iowa trip in a week! Lots of baseball on tap so check back then for regular updates. Not much to see before that though, but I'll have some posts on the World Cup and the comparison of game stats between Japanese ball and the majors, so look for those in the next few days as well.

Best,

Sean

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All-Japan University Baseball Championship - Tokyo Dome, June 10, 2010

This week sees the Japanese equivalent of the College World Series being played in Tokyo. There are 26 teams playing a single-elimination tournament over 6 days. Most of the games are held at Jingu Stadium, but a few of the early round matches are held at the Tokyo Dome, which is just a 15-minute bike ride from my apartment.

There were three games on Thursday, with the first starting at 9:00. But I had to watch game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, so planned on catching the second and third games. Of course, the hockey game went to overtime, but fortunately Patrick Kane scored the Cup winning goal fairly quickly and I was able to get to the ballpark in time for most of the second game.

Tickets were 1,200 yen and you could sit anywhere. There was a surprisingly large crowd on hand but still plenty of seats to choose from. I always enjoy being in a huge stadium with a sparse crowd; it's not a feeling you can get that often.

Game 2 - Toyo University 3 Hakodate University 2

The first game went long, so I only missed a couple of innings of the second game, which featured Toyo and Hakodate. Toyo are the champs of the Tohto League, which is one of Tokyo's lesser known federations. Hakodate won the Hokkaido League which consists of 15 schools based on the northernmost island of Japan. They've had one player drafted in their history, Ryo Sakata who toils for the Seibu Lions minor league team.

When I arrived, Toyo was up 1-0, but Yuki Kobayashi of Hakodate (above) reversed that with a 2-run home run to deep right in the 5th. Hakodate's starter was Shotaro Sato, and he was cruising until the 6th, when he was visibly tiring (turns out he pitched the day before). A bases-loaded single by Yuki Uehara tied the game, and then Atsushi Kimura walked as Toyo regained their 1-run lead.

Hakodate had a great chance to tie the game in the 7th. Kobayashi led off with a fly ball to right that the outfielder lost in the dome's white roof. It bounced in for a 3-base error (that's him arriving at 3rd above). I must say that it is difficult picking up the ball on a sunny day in the dome and it would be unfortunate if a team's season was ruined because they are not used to playing in such conditions.

Anyway, after a walk put men on the corners with nobody out, Toyo brought the infield in and were rewarded with a grounder to second. Kobayashi was off on contact and he was out by a mile. The next batter grounded into an inning-ending double play and the Hakodate threat was done.

Toyo had a chance to add to their lead in their half of the 7th with the bases loaded and nobody out, but after a groundout resulted in a force at home, another good defensive play saw a potential sacrifice fly turn into another out at the plate (below).

Relay above and collision below

Hakodate had a chance to tie in the 9th with a 1-out double, but it was squandered as well and Toyo advanced to the quarter-finals with a 3-2 victory. The teams met at home plate and the captains shook hands in a ritual that adds some sportsmanship to the game.

This game was quite interesting and well-played, and could have gone either way. There wasn't the intensity I expected from such an important game, but this could be due to playing in a stadium that is too big, or to the umpire rushing things along as there was another game to come after that.

Game 3 - Soka University 8 Nara Sangyo University 1 (called after 8)

Soka is based in western Tokyo while Nara Sangyo comes from Nara prefecture near Kyoto. I liked the fact that both teams had colourful uniforms as you can see in the photo below. Soka is in the blue and yellow while Nara wears grey with red trim.

I won't bother recapping the game as it was not close. But there were three memorable plays here. Down 3-0 in the 4th, Nara changed pitchers with runners on second and third. The new pitcher promptly uncorked two wild pitches, including one that sailed to the backstop, and both runners scored to make it 5-0. A little case of the nerves I guess, but that pretty much ended Nara's night.

I was sitting above Nara's dugout and you could tell the players knew they were not going to sneak out a victory. Soka's starter Yasuhiro Ogawa (who pitched two complete games in the 2008 Spring high school tournament) had a 1-hitter through 5 innings and didn't look like he was tiring. In the 6th though, Shota Morimoto launched one to left field to score a run for Nara. That's him connecting above and then scoring below; it was good that they didn't get shutout and the players and the few Nara fans around me enjoyed a muted celebration.

That was to be their only run though as Soka added 2 more to make the final 8-1, which was called after 8 innings on the mercy rule. Ogawa ended up with the 2-hitter complete game, but I actually left after 6 as it had gotten late and I had other places to be. So it was two incomplete games for me that day.

Update (June 13th): Toyo defeated Soka in their quarterfinal match and went on to win the championship. It was their 2nd title in 3 years and I think I will stop referring to the Tohto League as 2nd-tier. The Tokyo Big 6 League gets all the press but the other leagues are just as deserving.

Temporary Souvenir

The third memorable play from the second game was me catching a foul ball. The batter checked his swing and the foul ball just cleared the netting, going over my head. I turned to see it hit and bounce back directly towards me. I reached up and caught it on the fly, earning comments of admiration from the crowd (yeah, right). Sadly, I knew I would not be able to keep my souvenir. In college games, baseballs are at a premium and you have to return any that are hit into the stands. I briefly debated making a run for it but it was only in the 2nd inning, so I decided to stay and give the ball back. If it was in the 6th inning, I might have tried the old dumb foreigner trick and snuck out without returning the ball but didn't get a chance to test the theory.

Thoughts

Overall, it was worth getting out to watch this tournament but I am not a fan of the format. There are 25 games over 6 days and teams may have to play on five consecutive days. Seems like some teams only have one reliable starter (the "ace") who is forced to pitch on back-to-back days. This is not good for the kid's arm but as he is young, he can heal quickly. However, I think there is long-term damage being done and it catches up to him later in their career. There is neither the time or facilities to spread out the tournament, but I wonder how much the overwork hurts these guys in the long run.

Next Up

The World Cup begins today and to celebrate, I'll go watch a J2 soccer game tomorrow afternoon in Komazawa. Check back Sunday for a post on that.

Best,

Sean

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