They played hard, give 'em both a win!

I just got back from the game.. When I was done teaching I headed over to the Tokyo Dome and went to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. It was very small but had some cool stuff in it, the lady gave me an English guide so I could read about all the exhibits. They had uniforms from all the current teams and a history of Japanese Baseball, the other day I said the Japanese league was formed in 1950, it was reformed in 1950.. They did have baseball before WWII but that ended for obvious reasons. The new league formed in 1950.. When I went to the Lions - Fighters game they used the DH so I assumed all Japanese ball did, I was wrong.. The Pacific League uses the DH and the Central League does not. So tonight I got to see real "National League" style baseball. The HoF also had the World Cup trophy on display as well as the different Japan uniforms for all of their historical national teams.

The Tokyo Dome is wonderful from the outside, they had a roller coaster which was closed due to rain and a few other kid rides around the outside of the stadium.. They have the biggest Baseball Merchandise store in Tokyo attached to the store as well, they actually had hats and shirts from every team, well - almost every team.. They were sold out of Marines shirts.. I did get an Orix Buffaloes Mascot stuffed animal, the Buffaloes have the same mascot they did when they were the Blue Wave.

Inside the Tokyo Dome it just looks old, it was built in 1987 and reminds me of Stade de Olympique but with way smaller seats. My knees were touching the seat in front of me and my arms were up against the arms of the people next to me and all three of us were skinny people. We kinda took turns leaning forward and backward so that we could fit.. What a difference between this and the Seibu Dome.. It was however a real dome.. The field has a ton of foul territory so even though I was closer to the field than I was in Seibu I was further away from the action. They had the same thing where the players ran out through a cone of cheerleaders, the cheerleaders came out in the 5th again and danced on the dugouts. They did the YMCA during the 6th inning. The 7th inning was very short, the mascot came out and shot shirts into the audience. By the way I say the mascot, but there is apparently a family of them.. A mom, dad, son and daughter.. They are very cute mascots.. I just really wish the Giants did not take a name from American Baseball, I feel that they are trying to be like America instead of taking on a new name like the Dragons, Lions, Ham Fighters, Marines, etc...

The more I think about the more I really think American Baseball should take the 6pm start times, it makes the game much more kid friendly.. Especially on weekends..

Right, so the game.. The game was a really good pitchers duel for a little while, the Giants scored 1 in the first, the Dragons jumped out with 3 runs in the 4th, the Giants came back and went ahead 5-3 with a 4 run rally in the 6th. The Giants gave up one in the 8th and brought in their closer to start the 9th. He hit the first batter with the second pitch, the pitch hit the batter in the face and he went down hard, they had to carry him off the field. The pitcher was ejected from the game for the hit batter. The new pitcher allowed that run to score and that would be the final score.. The game went 12 innings and then just ended! Apparently in Japanese Baseball a game is a tie after 12 innings, but you can't have a tie in the Climax Series so both teams get credited with a win!! What kind of horse shit is that? I say keep playing the fucking game... The game ended up being 4 hours 45 minutes. I loved watching this game and was a bit bitter that it ended when it did. Even with the seats being uncomfortable I sat without getting from the 1st pitch all the way till the 11th inning. In the 11th I got some water and moved closer to the field because a bunch of people had left.

Best part of Giants stadium is the food, oh my god... :D Here let me put in another one.. :D I had a crab and roe sashimi box for dinner! For dessert I had a Crepe filled with Banana, Chocolate and Ice Cream.. I thought it was odd that they had both Pepsi and Coke at the game, in Japanese stadiums all the vendors who walk around with stuff are girls because guys want to be served by girls while watching sports.. Keith Hernandez would love that... The beer girls have kegs on their backs and pour your beer right when you order it. The soda girls had trays of cups of soda.

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I was talking to Toni and Rob today on IM and Toni mentioned that I should see if the original Iron Chef Japanese has a restaurant, he does.. It's about a 5 min walk from Sakai's restaurant.. Oh man, what do I do now for next week. I am certainly going to eat at Sakai's, but should I do the full circuit? I could even do the 2nd Iron Chef Japanese as his restaurant is over by Disneyland Tokyo.. Things to think about for sure... Problem is that work won't let me get away with that many expensive meals.

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I just dropped off my laundry and should have it back tomorrow when I get back from Disney. I am not going to be putting up any pics tonight because I have to get to bed. I took a bunch and need to sort and resize and make the webpage for them. I might be able to do it tomorrow when I get back from Disney.. Disney opens at 8am and closes at 10pm so depending on what there is to do it might be a long day.

---Diversion of the Day

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