Well, good and bad things...

[dr4b]

I don't know how I am still awake. I woke up at 7am today to go to Chiba, got to the stadium at 10, left the stadium around 5:30pm, arrived at volleyball at 7:30pm, left volleyball a little after 10pm, arrived home around 11pm...

Uh, anyway, so I didn't manage to talk to Lew Ford today at all :( That was the bad part. The good part is...

After the Hanshin players did their initial stretching and stuff, relief pitcher Jeff Williams came up to ME and said, "Hey, are you Deanna?"

I'm not making that up.

I nearly fainted. Seriously. He was like "I've read your blog, it's really good," and I'm just like "Uhh... uhh... uhh... REALLY? Thank you!"

I sat around in the Hanshin dugout for a while with Jim Allen. First we talked to Scott Atchison for a while and then to Jeff Williams again. I could not fucking believe it. I probably acted like a complete retard, but, uh, so can I retire now that I have actually been approached by a PLAYER who KNEW WHO I WAS????



My other accomplishment was finally actually saying something to a Japanese player. Even though all it was was, "Ganbatte Saburo!", he acknowledged it and replied! Now if only I could manage to not get completely tongue-tied around Satozaki...

I sat in the auxiliary press box with Asahi Shinbun's Rob Smaal for 2/3 of the game and in the camera well for the other third. Marines got off to a 7-0 lead and actually managed to give up enough runs to be tied 9-9 in the 9th. Fortunately ZULETA SMASH!!1!11! struck back and the Marines won 10-9 in the bottom. Whew.

Then I journeyed back to Tokyo, to Takadanobaba, and played volleyball. I really wish I could play more often, seriously. I was on fairly bad teams but enjoyed myself anyway, I think.

Oh, and now my apartment FINALLY has a screen door, so I can open the back door and get air without worrying about bugs. They were SUPPOSED to put it in yesterday and I had entirely rearranged my apartment to make room for it, only they didn't, so I told my landlady to just do it today even though I wouldn't be home. So she did. I've got the AC on right now just because of humidity, but I will try to open the door more at night instead I think.

What a crazy day.

Comments

[bhudson.livejournal.com]

See, baseball players are just normal people who read blogs, too :)

[zqfmbg.livejournal.com]

In that picture I see the "APITA" in the background and think "a pain in the ass".

[bhudson.livejournal.com]

I was thinking "mmm, lunch!"

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

Nah, you shouldn't quit until every player knows who you are. :)

[the2belo.livejournal.com]

WTF

Yeah, you can't quit now. You're no longer an unknown. :D

[kawaru.livejournal.com]

That's so cool that they read your blog and know who you are!

Oh, and believe it or not, I have my heater on right now. Rainy season has made it cold down here again.

[ohhim.livejournal.com]

Well - given the limited quantity of English media on Japanese Baseball, your blog posts, interviews, pictures, etc... provide one of the most accessible, and culturally fascinating takes on baseball in Japan.

If I were an American player who both wanted to provide some insight to my family of what I was doing over here, or just wanted to get a small dose of the buzz I had hoped to achieve in the majors, your blog is a great starting point. I wouldn't be surprised if he's hit up marinerds a few times since the game to see if you posted a picture or mentioned him (so he can send a note to friends back home).

[dr4b]

Maybe, although I don't often go to Tigers games.
I actually do have a good hunch who told him about my blog and I have to dig up their email address to thank them for giving me a heart attack...

[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

It's a bit of a flip cliché to say "You win at blogging!" but, even if blogging is not something that anyone ever wins, you sure have a lot of VPs in a relatively small number of turns. :-)