today at chiba marine stadium
i talked to 4 japanese players
2 foreign players
1 ouendan leader
1 irish dude who has been part of the lotte ouendan for 4 years
various other folks
oh yeah, and of course bobby and larry and frank and paul and the whole gang.
this week, Bobby gave me his business card! and he gave our little trio of fangirls a box of cakes. which we forgot to take most of. oops.
and I got a business card from a PR person with Seibu. cool.
the guy in uniform is Lotte second baseman Shunichi Nemoto. i LOVE this guy. he might very well surpass my love for Satozaki and Shunsuke... well... okay... maybe no...
the other two are Yayoi and Ono-san. Yayoi really, really, really wanted to meet Nemoto last time but couldn't. and despite being totally outgoing and a LOT bolder than me in general, she seemed kind of nervous... and I was chatting with Alex the intern and explained that Yayoi really wanted to meet Nemoto, and he said that the guys were going to go on the field pretty soon. so I swear to god, it was ME who went up to him and said (in Japanese), "excuse me, Mr. Nemoto-player, but err... can my friends and I take a picture together with you?"
here's us with Yusuke Kawasaki, a lefty relief guy. I also asked him about taking a photo :)
Kawasaki was signing stuff for fans in the stands, so as he came through the dugout after, I asked him if we could take a picture with him and he made a big smile and said of course we could. Funny part is that I'm not sure my friends actually knew who he was, but I was psyched. It's a terrible picture of me though, but that's ok.
the other two Japanese players I talked to -- well, one I am not sure who it was sadly. it was a ni-gun pitcher, I asked him when the game was starting, and who the starting pitcher would be, and commented how it was hot outside and a few other things. I know I will recognize him next time I see him but, oops.
the fourth was Yasutaka Hattori, the lotte #1 pick in last year's industry/college draft. he was also out in the press room for charting. he has a really distinctive face and I went back in to say goodbye to Rob from the Asahi shinbun and I look up and I'm like "Hattori! whoa!" and he looked at me and smiled and all I could think of to say was "ganbatte kudasai."
the two foreign players I talked to:
Jose Ortiz, I just saw him a few times and each time said hi and wished him good luck and all.
Benny Agbayani, this was our conversation:
Me: "Hey Benny?"
Benny [looks at me kinda funny]: "Yeah? What?"
Me: "Err... do you know where Bobby is?"
Benny: "hm.. I think he's still in his office."
Me: "Thanks! Good luck today!"
Yayoi seriously gave Nemoto her business card and introduced herself and all. She's nuts. So then I took her and Ono over to Bobby's office, and she traded business cards with Bobby too!! So I asked him for one too. Figured it couldn't hurt. And now I have Bobby's business card :)
I'm not joking about the Irish dude in the ouendan. His name is Declan and he has been part of the group since 2005. he's really nice, and I'm still kind of surprised, mostly that Larry and Bobby weren't aware of him. He looks a lot like![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
damienroc actually, oddly enough.
The ouendan leader guy, thanks to Larry, got us hooked up to sit in the middle of the ouendan group and gave us flags to wave and all. fun stuff. Another guy came up to me and talked in pretty good English and said "we're all crazy but please write nice things about us in your blog, okay?"
here's me and Ono with our flags.
ANYWAY, the best part is--
It was Shunsuke Day, and Shunsuke RULED -- complete game shutout in 88 pitches.
But it gets better.
The Marines scored SIXTEEN RUNS. SIXTEEN. SIXTEEN!! So we spent most of the game on our feet jumping up and down and yelling.
Funny how this happens to me every now and then.
I hope they don't expect me to go sit in the stands EVERY time now.
but, I'm also rethinking my Kyushu plan and thinking that catching a Marines game might be pretty cool. Sigh! Maybe I should see what day my boyfriend Shunsuke Watanabe is pitching. (Or as Larry said, "Given the way he pitched for you today, I'm going to start calling him your husband instead.")
Oh yeah, Larry gave me a bunch of interleague art posters and a Shunsuke/Imae poster. Wheeeeee! So awesome.
after the game I met up with Lisa -- and her friends in Kemigawahama -- and they had a dinner party. it was 2 couples plus me and Lisa, thus 6 people, of which there were 3 americans, 1 canadian, and 2 japanese. Everyone spoke both english and Japanese, so a weird mix of conversation. fun though. It was almost like being in a normal country where people come over to someone's apartment to hang out and eat dinner and chat and all. amazing!
2 foreign players
1 ouendan leader
1 irish dude who has been part of the lotte ouendan for 4 years
various other folks
oh yeah, and of course bobby and larry and frank and paul and the whole gang.
this week, Bobby gave me his business card! and he gave our little trio of fangirls a box of cakes. which we forgot to take most of. oops.
and I got a business card from a PR person with Seibu. cool.
the guy in uniform is Lotte second baseman Shunichi Nemoto. i LOVE this guy. he might very well surpass my love for Satozaki and Shunsuke... well... okay... maybe no...
the other two are Yayoi and Ono-san. Yayoi really, really, really wanted to meet Nemoto last time but couldn't. and despite being totally outgoing and a LOT bolder than me in general, she seemed kind of nervous... and I was chatting with Alex the intern and explained that Yayoi really wanted to meet Nemoto, and he said that the guys were going to go on the field pretty soon. so I swear to god, it was ME who went up to him and said (in Japanese), "excuse me, Mr. Nemoto-player, but err... can my friends and I take a picture together with you?"
here's us with Yusuke Kawasaki, a lefty relief guy. I also asked him about taking a photo :)
Kawasaki was signing stuff for fans in the stands, so as he came through the dugout after, I asked him if we could take a picture with him and he made a big smile and said of course we could. Funny part is that I'm not sure my friends actually knew who he was, but I was psyched. It's a terrible picture of me though, but that's ok.
the other two Japanese players I talked to -- well, one I am not sure who it was sadly. it was a ni-gun pitcher, I asked him when the game was starting, and who the starting pitcher would be, and commented how it was hot outside and a few other things. I know I will recognize him next time I see him but, oops.
the fourth was Yasutaka Hattori, the lotte #1 pick in last year's industry/college draft. he was also out in the press room for charting. he has a really distinctive face and I went back in to say goodbye to Rob from the Asahi shinbun and I look up and I'm like "Hattori! whoa!" and he looked at me and smiled and all I could think of to say was "ganbatte kudasai."
the two foreign players I talked to:
Jose Ortiz, I just saw him a few times and each time said hi and wished him good luck and all.
Benny Agbayani, this was our conversation:
Me: "Hey Benny?"
Benny [looks at me kinda funny]: "Yeah? What?"
Me: "Err... do you know where Bobby is?"
Benny: "hm.. I think he's still in his office."
Me: "Thanks! Good luck today!"
Yayoi seriously gave Nemoto her business card and introduced herself and all. She's nuts. So then I took her and Ono over to Bobby's office, and she traded business cards with Bobby too!! So I asked him for one too. Figured it couldn't hurt. And now I have Bobby's business card :)
I'm not joking about the Irish dude in the ouendan. His name is Declan and he has been part of the group since 2005. he's really nice, and I'm still kind of surprised, mostly that Larry and Bobby weren't aware of him. He looks a lot like
damienroc actually, oddly enough.The ouendan leader guy, thanks to Larry, got us hooked up to sit in the middle of the ouendan group and gave us flags to wave and all. fun stuff. Another guy came up to me and talked in pretty good English and said "we're all crazy but please write nice things about us in your blog, okay?"
here's me and Ono with our flags.
ANYWAY, the best part is--
It was Shunsuke Day, and Shunsuke RULED -- complete game shutout in 88 pitches.
But it gets better.
The Marines scored SIXTEEN RUNS. SIXTEEN. SIXTEEN!! So we spent most of the game on our feet jumping up and down and yelling.
Funny how this happens to me every now and then.
I hope they don't expect me to go sit in the stands EVERY time now.
but, I'm also rethinking my Kyushu plan and thinking that catching a Marines game might be pretty cool. Sigh! Maybe I should see what day my boyfriend Shunsuke Watanabe is pitching. (Or as Larry said, "Given the way he pitched for you today, I'm going to start calling him your husband instead.")
Oh yeah, Larry gave me a bunch of interleague art posters and a Shunsuke/Imae poster. Wheeeeee! So awesome.
after the game I met up with Lisa -- and her friends in Kemigawahama -- and they had a dinner party. it was 2 couples plus me and Lisa, thus 6 people, of which there were 3 americans, 1 canadian, and 2 japanese. Everyone spoke both english and Japanese, so a weird mix of conversation. fun though. It was almost like being in a normal country where people come over to someone's apartment to hang out and eat dinner and chat and all. amazing!