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Bobby's Final Home Game
You know, to put things in a weird perspective, I just went and looked back on 8 years of my LJ on this date or thereabouts, and something that bugs me is that I feel like I used to do a lot more *writing* about my life, and not so much just recounting the day's events.
Or maybe it was just that two years ago was when the Great De-Bugging at GEOS happened. Man, that was two years ago.
Time is really weird. This morning the L'arc en Ciel song "Blurry Eyes" came onto my iPod and I was trying to remember how long ago it was that I first heard it -- I think it was about 13 years ago now, sometime in the fall 1996 semester at CMU. This is already somewhat crazy on its own, but to put it into even more perspective, most of my 1st-year students were born in 1996.
Last night, despite rain falling the entire time, I went to Chiba Marine Stadium for Bobby's last home game. (If you don't keep up with Japanese baseball, the Lotte organization basically told Bobby before this season started that they weren't going to bring him back in 2010, and chaos ensued as the fans revolted against the front office, essentially.) I got to Kaihin-Makuhari at 6:15 thanks to lagging trains, and got to the stadium a bit after 6:30. I tried to get a Bobby Burger, my last ever, but they were either sold out or not being sold at all, so instead I had Domino's Pizza, and it was actually good. I got to my seat just as Saburo was hitting a home run to make the game 2-1. The Marines tied it up a bit later 2-2, where it stayed for a while, against Rakuten starter Hisashi Iwakuma. (Yoshihisa Naruse started for Lotte.)
Fortunately, the Marines managed to win the game with some late-inning heroics. Even better, Bobby let Satoru Komiyama pitch the last out of the game and get the save officially -- making him the oldest guy in Japan to record a save. It was Satoru Komiyama's retirement ceremony day, too.
Komiyama gave a speech (and his teenage kids gave flowers to Bobby), and then Bobby gave a speech -- in Japanese, with his interpreter Nakasone "translating" it into English. It was very sad but very much appreciated by all of the fans. After the speech, he received some things (despite the rain, which never ever stopped falling), and then he went around the field waving goodbye to everyone. He was joined by Benny and Gary and Chase and Frank and Paul, basically all of the foreign guys leaving the team too (Brian Sikorski was with the other players I think, as it is not clear what his fate is yet). They had to stop by the right-field stands for a while as the fans switched banners and yelled various things (there was even a Ramppen #83 banner, and the fans gave a yell for "NAKASONE!! NAKASONE!!" with the rest of the players/staff).
When they got back to the Marines dugout, all of the players stormed Bobby for a doage, and also threw Benny and Komiyama in the air as well.
Gary and Chase had actually been sitting in the stands for the game and they joined the Lotte cheering section for the 4th inning -- we were trying to figure out why the hell the ouendan were playing "Let's Go Gary Burnham" and "Here We Go Chase Lambin" when Shoitsu Ohmatsu was up to bat, until they showed the guys on the big screen. I saw them later on -- they were actually only sitting one section over from where I was, but it was so cold and so wet and I had been holding my bag on my lap to keep it from getting wet that I really didn't want to move at all.
Anyway, the upshot is that it was a LONG COLD WET DAY, being as I got up at 6:30, went to work, went to Chiba after that, had the long game and the post-game ceremonies, then had to walk back to the station afterwards, then took the long train ride home... I think I got home around 12:30am.
But I am glad I could see the ceremony and all. I'm just totally zonked now.
ALSO, remember that the Fighters needed either to win a game, or to have Rakuten lose a game, to clinch 1st place? Well, with the Marines winning, Rakuten lost, so the Fighters clinched... this happened in the midst of them playing extra innings after Hisashi Takeda blew the save. Fortunately, the Fighters did win the game in the 12th inning, though by that point they already knew they had 1st place locked up.
My friends in Hokkaido say they threw some colored streamers on my behalf as well.
What a day.
Or maybe it was just that two years ago was when the Great De-Bugging at GEOS happened. Man, that was two years ago.
Time is really weird. This morning the L'arc en Ciel song "Blurry Eyes" came onto my iPod and I was trying to remember how long ago it was that I first heard it -- I think it was about 13 years ago now, sometime in the fall 1996 semester at CMU. This is already somewhat crazy on its own, but to put it into even more perspective, most of my 1st-year students were born in 1996.
Last night, despite rain falling the entire time, I went to Chiba Marine Stadium for Bobby's last home game. (If you don't keep up with Japanese baseball, the Lotte organization basically told Bobby before this season started that they weren't going to bring him back in 2010, and chaos ensued as the fans revolted against the front office, essentially.) I got to Kaihin-Makuhari at 6:15 thanks to lagging trains, and got to the stadium a bit after 6:30. I tried to get a Bobby Burger, my last ever, but they were either sold out or not being sold at all, so instead I had Domino's Pizza, and it was actually good. I got to my seat just as Saburo was hitting a home run to make the game 2-1. The Marines tied it up a bit later 2-2, where it stayed for a while, against Rakuten starter Hisashi Iwakuma. (Yoshihisa Naruse started for Lotte.)
Fortunately, the Marines managed to win the game with some late-inning heroics. Even better, Bobby let Satoru Komiyama pitch the last out of the game and get the save officially -- making him the oldest guy in Japan to record a save. It was Satoru Komiyama's retirement ceremony day, too.
Komiyama gave a speech (and his teenage kids gave flowers to Bobby), and then Bobby gave a speech -- in Japanese, with his interpreter Nakasone "translating" it into English. It was very sad but very much appreciated by all of the fans. After the speech, he received some things (despite the rain, which never ever stopped falling), and then he went around the field waving goodbye to everyone. He was joined by Benny and Gary and Chase and Frank and Paul, basically all of the foreign guys leaving the team too (Brian Sikorski was with the other players I think, as it is not clear what his fate is yet). They had to stop by the right-field stands for a while as the fans switched banners and yelled various things (there was even a Ramppen #83 banner, and the fans gave a yell for "NAKASONE!! NAKASONE!!" with the rest of the players/staff).
When they got back to the Marines dugout, all of the players stormed Bobby for a doage, and also threw Benny and Komiyama in the air as well.
Gary and Chase had actually been sitting in the stands for the game and they joined the Lotte cheering section for the 4th inning -- we were trying to figure out why the hell the ouendan were playing "Let's Go Gary Burnham" and "Here We Go Chase Lambin" when Shoitsu Ohmatsu was up to bat, until they showed the guys on the big screen. I saw them later on -- they were actually only sitting one section over from where I was, but it was so cold and so wet and I had been holding my bag on my lap to keep it from getting wet that I really didn't want to move at all.
Anyway, the upshot is that it was a LONG COLD WET DAY, being as I got up at 6:30, went to work, went to Chiba after that, had the long game and the post-game ceremonies, then had to walk back to the station afterwards, then took the long train ride home... I think I got home around 12:30am.
But I am glad I could see the ceremony and all. I'm just totally zonked now.
ALSO, remember that the Fighters needed either to win a game, or to have Rakuten lose a game, to clinch 1st place? Well, with the Marines winning, Rakuten lost, so the Fighters clinched... this happened in the midst of them playing extra innings after Hisashi Takeda blew the save. Fortunately, the Fighters did win the game in the 12th inning, though by that point they already knew they had 1st place locked up.
My friends in Hokkaido say they threw some colored streamers on my behalf as well.
What a day.
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I'm sorry to hear Rakuten lost, but good for you re: Fighters clinching!