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I was there.
As in, I was at the Seibu Dome when Kazuhiro Kiyohara last stepped on the field in uniform, almost 23 years after he FIRST stepped on the field there in uniform.
I took this picture.
His real retirement game is tomorrow -- today he was out there having BP thrown to him by his high school teammate Masumi Kuwata (in Pirates uniform). But... you could say this was his Kanto retirement.
Honestly, I'm not a Kiyohara fan, but we are getting to the point where lifelong 20-year careers in Japan aren't going to be as common anymore, now that all the stars leave halfway. He might be the last guy to hit 500 homeruns in a Japan career, too.
I was given comp tickets to the game by a friend who works for Seibu and I invited my friend Simon to come with me and it was a decent time. Kazuhisa Ishii started for the Lions, and Mamoru Kishida for the Buffaloes, and there were back-to-back homeruns by Seibu's Gotoh and Okawari-kun. The game went into extra innings 3-3, and Orix manager Ohishi COULDN'T pinch-hit Kiyohara because he wanted to actually win the game, heh. They did, 4-3, at like 10:30pm. Then the Kiyohara impromptu ceremony, and the planned Lions final game ceremony, and I wasn't on a train until like 11pm, didn't get home until like almost 1am. Rode as far as Ikebukuro with Simon and bugged him to tell me about Japanese hockey.
Oh yeah, I bought two tickets to the Seibu playoff game on Sunday October 19. Now I just gotta figure out what team will be the opponent and who to convince to come with me.
Today was really busy at work. At least I was able to take a nice walk in the late afternoon, to pay my bills and get sushi for dinner. And after work I stopped in to play Pop'n, which I still suck at, but at least I can pass more level 28 songs lately, which is nice.
It's my dad's birthday in America right now so I finally caught him on Skype! But now I need to go to sleep I think.
I took this picture.
His real retirement game is tomorrow -- today he was out there having BP thrown to him by his high school teammate Masumi Kuwata (in Pirates uniform). But... you could say this was his Kanto retirement.
Honestly, I'm not a Kiyohara fan, but we are getting to the point where lifelong 20-year careers in Japan aren't going to be as common anymore, now that all the stars leave halfway. He might be the last guy to hit 500 homeruns in a Japan career, too.
I was given comp tickets to the game by a friend who works for Seibu and I invited my friend Simon to come with me and it was a decent time. Kazuhisa Ishii started for the Lions, and Mamoru Kishida for the Buffaloes, and there were back-to-back homeruns by Seibu's Gotoh and Okawari-kun. The game went into extra innings 3-3, and Orix manager Ohishi COULDN'T pinch-hit Kiyohara because he wanted to actually win the game, heh. They did, 4-3, at like 10:30pm. Then the Kiyohara impromptu ceremony, and the planned Lions final game ceremony, and I wasn't on a train until like 11pm, didn't get home until like almost 1am. Rode as far as Ikebukuro with Simon and bugged him to tell me about Japanese hockey.
Oh yeah, I bought two tickets to the Seibu playoff game on Sunday October 19. Now I just gotta figure out what team will be the opponent and who to convince to come with me.
Today was really busy at work. At least I was able to take a nice walk in the late afternoon, to pay my bills and get sushi for dinner. And after work I stopped in to play Pop'n, which I still suck at, but at least I can pass more level 28 songs lately, which is nice.
It's my dad's birthday in America right now so I finally caught him on Skype! But now I need to go to sleep I think.