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what a crappy set of weather to come here for
I crashed really early last night, so no entry then. Gotta go again in like 15-20 mins so this should theoretically be short (for me).
I got up early yesterday and was downstairs eating breakfast at the hotel by 7:30. We found our way to Koshien a little after 8am, and got tickets and went in. At the time the rain wasn't so terrible so we sat right behind Kochi's dugout. We lasted the entire first game -- the rain never got TOO bad but I did open an umbrella once or twice and I had to cover my scorecard with a plastic sheet. Shinko beat Kochi 6-5 on a sayonara hit, but it was a really close game and fun to watch. Wandered inside Koshien for a bit and got omusoba for lunch after that, which was really good.
Second game was Morioka vs. Chukyodai, and we sat up front again... until the rain got too ridiculous about 3 innings in. Vincent didn't have an umbrella or anything waterproof at all; I had a plastic bag for my camera bag but that was it, so we moved back under the roof to watch. (First we accidentally sat in the middle of a high school club that was there but half of them had left, and then we moved a bit further back.) That game was also surprisingly close, I expected Chukyodai to just stomp them, but the score in the end was just 5-4. The rain was really getting a little annoying by the end of it, bunches of slippery plays, etc. We got taiyaki after that game.
Third game was Chiben Wakayama vs. Takaoka Shogyo. Sitting so far back and unable to take photos, and being tired, I pretty much started losing interest in the game a few innings in, figuring Chiben was going to win so what was the point? It was indeed a bit more of a landslide, 6-1, and also a huge MUDSLIDE - you shoulda seen some of these kids either headsliding into the base and looking like they were on a slip-and-slide, or diving for a ball and literally splashing into a mud pit. I have no idea how they managed to finish that game either. I have a few photos that maybe came out of some of those Takaoka boys literally COVERED in mud. Poor kids. The Chiben boys seemed to take better care to stay clean, but they also had a lot less stuff to dive for (Takaoka didn't hit so well). Also, it was pretty crazy to actually see the BIG RED CHIBEN C in person -- I don't think TV has quite captured what it is like to see their entire school come up there and fill the bleachers with a huge C in white and red jackets. I wonder why more schools don't do that (ala the old PL Gakuen stuff).
We went into the Koshien museum thingy after that for an hour. It was pretty cool. Saw lots of HS baseball stuff and some Tigers stuff and even some Koshien Bowl football stuff.
Then, we wandered to the middle of nowhere to get 100-yen kaitensushi at the Kura Sushi I had looked up near Koshien, which was really near Imazu, the next station down. We must have walked like 15-20 mins to get there -- in the rain. Oops. Then we both pretty much gorged on sushi -- I had 11 plates and V had 12 plates.
Came back to Noda after that, stopped in a 100-yen shop by the station and bought raincoats and I got plastic bags, in preparation to try to sit up front for Teikyo today. It's even colder and rainier today and I'm not sure how well this is really going to work out in practice. Sigh.
I meant to write entries and all last night, but after spending like 45 mins downloading photos off my camera and backing them up, I pretty much completely crashed at 10ish.
I got up early yesterday and was downstairs eating breakfast at the hotel by 7:30. We found our way to Koshien a little after 8am, and got tickets and went in. At the time the rain wasn't so terrible so we sat right behind Kochi's dugout. We lasted the entire first game -- the rain never got TOO bad but I did open an umbrella once or twice and I had to cover my scorecard with a plastic sheet. Shinko beat Kochi 6-5 on a sayonara hit, but it was a really close game and fun to watch. Wandered inside Koshien for a bit and got omusoba for lunch after that, which was really good.
Second game was Morioka vs. Chukyodai, and we sat up front again... until the rain got too ridiculous about 3 innings in. Vincent didn't have an umbrella or anything waterproof at all; I had a plastic bag for my camera bag but that was it, so we moved back under the roof to watch. (First we accidentally sat in the middle of a high school club that was there but half of them had left, and then we moved a bit further back.) That game was also surprisingly close, I expected Chukyodai to just stomp them, but the score in the end was just 5-4. The rain was really getting a little annoying by the end of it, bunches of slippery plays, etc. We got taiyaki after that game.
Third game was Chiben Wakayama vs. Takaoka Shogyo. Sitting so far back and unable to take photos, and being tired, I pretty much started losing interest in the game a few innings in, figuring Chiben was going to win so what was the point? It was indeed a bit more of a landslide, 6-1, and also a huge MUDSLIDE - you shoulda seen some of these kids either headsliding into the base and looking like they were on a slip-and-slide, or diving for a ball and literally splashing into a mud pit. I have no idea how they managed to finish that game either. I have a few photos that maybe came out of some of those Takaoka boys literally COVERED in mud. Poor kids. The Chiben boys seemed to take better care to stay clean, but they also had a lot less stuff to dive for (Takaoka didn't hit so well). Also, it was pretty crazy to actually see the BIG RED CHIBEN C in person -- I don't think TV has quite captured what it is like to see their entire school come up there and fill the bleachers with a huge C in white and red jackets. I wonder why more schools don't do that (ala the old PL Gakuen stuff).
We went into the Koshien museum thingy after that for an hour. It was pretty cool. Saw lots of HS baseball stuff and some Tigers stuff and even some Koshien Bowl football stuff.
Then, we wandered to the middle of nowhere to get 100-yen kaitensushi at the Kura Sushi I had looked up near Koshien, which was really near Imazu, the next station down. We must have walked like 15-20 mins to get there -- in the rain. Oops. Then we both pretty much gorged on sushi -- I had 11 plates and V had 12 plates.
Came back to Noda after that, stopped in a 100-yen shop by the station and bought raincoats and I got plastic bags, in preparation to try to sit up front for Teikyo today. It's even colder and rainier today and I'm not sure how well this is really going to work out in practice. Sigh.
I meant to write entries and all last night, but after spending like 45 mins downloading photos off my camera and backing them up, I pretty much completely crashed at 10ish.