More Baseball Photos - The group continues to graze across the Japanese landscape, though much of what we ate at the ballpark doesn't qualify as true foodie fare.
The Condoms part - OK, it's kind of a metaphorical thing -- At the place we call the 7th inning stretch, where the fans of each time stand and stretch - literally - at US ballgames, in Japan they have a different twist on it. Don't know where and/or how it started, but the fans for each team arm themselves with long, thin balloons, and as the 7th inning approaches, they begin blowing them up. Then, on their half of the 7th, they sing the team anthem, with the balloons poised, and then at the end of the song, they release them and the balloons fly into the air, falling to earth spent, looking like, in this case, giant yellow condoms. Dunno how else to explain it. It is absolutely hysterical.
Fans - In the row behind us there were two young men who might quality as the penultimate Japanese baseball fans. After the Bay Stars won the game in a delightful walk-off 9th inning victory, they stood and shredded their vocal chords. If you are ever in Japan during baseball season, make arrangement to go to a game.
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| Rob and Nancy Ley. Compare his level of commitment to the Japanese fans below. |
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| Yes, Virginia, that's exactly what it seems -- Paul Skenazy eating the Colonel's own. Amazing what Santa Cruzans will do when they're out of sight of the food police. |
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| Beer Girl at work. The Japanese have their priorities right, you don't see any cotton candy vendors, but there's beer girls with several gallons of beer strapped to their backs. The price is 700 yen -- about $7 -- and delivered to your seat. Totally cool. |
The Condoms part - OK, it's kind of a metaphorical thing -- At the place we call the 7th inning stretch, where the fans of each time stand and stretch - literally - at US ballgames, in Japan they have a different twist on it. Don't know where and/or how it started, but the fans for each team arm themselves with long, thin balloons, and as the 7th inning approaches, they begin blowing them up. Then, on their half of the 7th, they sing the team anthem, with the balloons poised, and then at the end of the song, they release them and the balloons fly into the air, falling to earth spent, looking like, in this case, giant yellow condoms. Dunno how else to explain it. It is absolutely hysterical.
Fans - In the row behind us there were two young men who might quality as the penultimate Japanese baseball fans. After the Bay Stars won the game in a delightful walk-off 9th inning victory, they stood and shredded their vocal chords. If you are ever in Japan during baseball season, make arrangement to go to a game.
