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I swear to god my life is ruled by baseball ticket availability sometimes
And boy has it been fucked up the last day or two.
So, I never really talked about Sunday on here -- but basically I went to the Seibu Dome for the Fighters-Lions game. Shinozawa K had emailed me about it and the group saved me a seat (by which I mean a patch of turf, being as Seibu Dump has no seats in the outfield). Unfortunately, I was so apathetic about going, that I didn't get there until 12:48 for a 1pm game, and had to wait in line for like 20 minutes to buy a ticket. Oops. Got in just in time for the top of the 2nd inning to end -- it was a FAST game. Fighters lost 3-0 and the entire thing was over by 3:30.
On the way home I stopped in Ikebukuro to get baseball cards and dinner.
Today... today I was emailing with my friend Steve about going to the Marines-Eagles game at the Tokyo Dome tomorrow. Being as the Fighters never ever sell out weeknight games there, we figured we'd just show up, buy some infield unreserved tickets, and find a nice patch of seats to sit in.
WRONG. All the unreserved tickets sold out. WTF?!
I went to the Tokyo Dome tonight to get tickets, and on the Lotte side it was basically "Unreserved is totally sold out -- and Reserved B is almost sold out... plenty of S and A though..."
Steve decided he didn't feel like coming up for that, so I bought one ticket.
My ticket is IN THE SECOND ROW BEHIND THE MARINES DUGOUT
How is that possible if the game is "almost sold out"?
I think something is fucked up here but I'm really not sure what. If I show up tomorrow and the place is mostly empty I'm going to be pretty annoyed.
Anyway, after buying some baseball magazines and stopping in Yodobashi Akiba on the way home for dinner and to look at some photo stuff (I got katsu for dinner at the place I went to with Ken and Mike, and it was great), I figured I should probably get my baseball tickets for this weekend in Sendai. So I stopped by Lawson's.
...and Lawson's was SOLD OUT OF TICKETS FOR THE WEEKEND GAMES.
Holy shit WHAT? I mean, we are talking the LAST PLACE FIGHTERS against the NOT SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER EAGLES here. I sent email to Shinozawa K like "I screwed up, I don't think I can go to Sendai, Lawson's was sold out of tickets."
He wrote back, "They're still available online on the Eagles site. Go there and you can reserve them and pick them up at 7-11."
So -- despite that I have NEVER ever managed to do Japanese baseball tickets online before -- I figured I'd give it a shot.
And bizarrely, not only was I able to reserve the tickets, but get this -- the tickets cost 1200 yen normally, for unreserved outfield. BUT for some reason there is an "April Sale" and so tickets were 500 yen off. Then they add a 158 yen service fee. But even with the fee, it is still 858 yen and cheaper than it'd be otherwise!
Shinozawa J actually called me on the phone, she was like "Do you need help? Can you understand the system?" I told her I reserved the tickets and was going to 7-11 as soon as I found my bicycle key, and she told me to be careful.
But, no hitches. Went to 7-11, and aside from bugging the cashier because I couldn't figure out how to input stuff into the machine -- and he said it was actually easier for him to just get the uketsukebango and put it in himself anyway -- I paid and got my tickets. Hooray!
I should ride my bike more.
And I should obviously buy tickets more in advance.
Now I just need to get my shinkansen tickets and make a hotel reservation. God forbid someone totally blocks out Sendai this weekend...
My friend Ogasawara sent me email tonight for the first time in ages, kinda like "Did you know Hillman's Hangout closed? Were you at Seibu this weekend?" That's so weird, and it sucks that the Hangout closed if it's true.
Also, I'm reading this month's "Grand Slam" magazine, which is all about industrial/amateur baseball here. Let me tell you that it is WEIRD to see guys on the teams' rosters who I have actually met in person, or have watched in college for years. A feature article on Nakabayashi and Suda as "Soukeisen aces" was just plain weird... and a whole bunch of the Hosei guys are on various teams now. Kamegai looks GOOD in his Toyota uniform :) And even crazier is seeing Tada-kun from Meiji on the Nihon Seimei roster... I just saw him and said hi at Jingu last weekend!
Whee.
Also I am clear for going back to the US on Golden Week. Hooray. I'll be in Seattle in only 8 days now! :)
So, I never really talked about Sunday on here -- but basically I went to the Seibu Dome for the Fighters-Lions game. Shinozawa K had emailed me about it and the group saved me a seat (by which I mean a patch of turf, being as Seibu Dump has no seats in the outfield). Unfortunately, I was so apathetic about going, that I didn't get there until 12:48 for a 1pm game, and had to wait in line for like 20 minutes to buy a ticket. Oops. Got in just in time for the top of the 2nd inning to end -- it was a FAST game. Fighters lost 3-0 and the entire thing was over by 3:30.
On the way home I stopped in Ikebukuro to get baseball cards and dinner.
Today... today I was emailing with my friend Steve about going to the Marines-Eagles game at the Tokyo Dome tomorrow. Being as the Fighters never ever sell out weeknight games there, we figured we'd just show up, buy some infield unreserved tickets, and find a nice patch of seats to sit in.
WRONG. All the unreserved tickets sold out. WTF?!
I went to the Tokyo Dome tonight to get tickets, and on the Lotte side it was basically "Unreserved is totally sold out -- and Reserved B is almost sold out... plenty of S and A though..."
Steve decided he didn't feel like coming up for that, so I bought one ticket.
My ticket is IN THE SECOND ROW BEHIND THE MARINES DUGOUT
How is that possible if the game is "almost sold out"?
I think something is fucked up here but I'm really not sure what. If I show up tomorrow and the place is mostly empty I'm going to be pretty annoyed.
Anyway, after buying some baseball magazines and stopping in Yodobashi Akiba on the way home for dinner and to look at some photo stuff (I got katsu for dinner at the place I went to with Ken and Mike, and it was great), I figured I should probably get my baseball tickets for this weekend in Sendai. So I stopped by Lawson's.
...and Lawson's was SOLD OUT OF TICKETS FOR THE WEEKEND GAMES.
Holy shit WHAT? I mean, we are talking the LAST PLACE FIGHTERS against the NOT SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER EAGLES here. I sent email to Shinozawa K like "I screwed up, I don't think I can go to Sendai, Lawson's was sold out of tickets."
He wrote back, "They're still available online on the Eagles site. Go there and you can reserve them and pick them up at 7-11."
So -- despite that I have NEVER ever managed to do Japanese baseball tickets online before -- I figured I'd give it a shot.
And bizarrely, not only was I able to reserve the tickets, but get this -- the tickets cost 1200 yen normally, for unreserved outfield. BUT for some reason there is an "April Sale" and so tickets were 500 yen off. Then they add a 158 yen service fee. But even with the fee, it is still 858 yen and cheaper than it'd be otherwise!
Shinozawa J actually called me on the phone, she was like "Do you need help? Can you understand the system?" I told her I reserved the tickets and was going to 7-11 as soon as I found my bicycle key, and she told me to be careful.
But, no hitches. Went to 7-11, and aside from bugging the cashier because I couldn't figure out how to input stuff into the machine -- and he said it was actually easier for him to just get the uketsukebango and put it in himself anyway -- I paid and got my tickets. Hooray!
I should ride my bike more.
And I should obviously buy tickets more in advance.
Now I just need to get my shinkansen tickets and make a hotel reservation. God forbid someone totally blocks out Sendai this weekend...
My friend Ogasawara sent me email tonight for the first time in ages, kinda like "Did you know Hillman's Hangout closed? Were you at Seibu this weekend?" That's so weird, and it sucks that the Hangout closed if it's true.
Also, I'm reading this month's "Grand Slam" magazine, which is all about industrial/amateur baseball here. Let me tell you that it is WEIRD to see guys on the teams' rosters who I have actually met in person, or have watched in college for years. A feature article on Nakabayashi and Suda as "Soukeisen aces" was just plain weird... and a whole bunch of the Hosei guys are on various teams now. Kamegai looks GOOD in his Toyota uniform :) And even crazier is seeing Tada-kun from Meiji on the Nihon Seimei roster... I just saw him and said hi at Jingu last weekend!
Whee.
Also I am clear for going back to the US on Golden Week. Hooray. I'll be in Seattle in only 8 days now! :)
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Hey, you hear that, Helens? Stay calm for another week or so!
(Did your friend (or you, if whoever was stuck over there is reading this ;) ) make it back from France yet?)