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Now I am stalking college baseball players too!
Went to Jingu again today, sat in the outfield for free. Forgot sunscreen and it was sunny, so I spent most of the games with an umbrella open or hiding under a towel. I don't seem to have gotten too sunburnt though.
First game was Keio-Meiji again. Nakabayashi started for Keio AGAIN, wtf. Yusuke Nomura, who had the flu before, is apparently well enough to pitch 7 innings of 1-run ball (the only run being an HR by Urushibata), so Meiji won, so they will play a tiebreaker game tomorrow.
Second game was Waseda-Hosei. I moved to the Hosei side for this one... more interesting to cheer for Hosei, they were in a must-win situation as opposed to Waseda. PLUS I saw that Kisho Kagami was throwing in the bullpen -- even though Kazuhito Futagami was the starter, I wanted to watch Kagami, since he hadn't been on the roster on Saturday and I was worried about his arm. As it is, Futagami pitched a complete game win over Waseda -- BARELY, it was a 1-0 game and Waseda left a runner on third as the game ended in the bottom of the 9th. My friend Ogura came to find me in the 8th inning as she got bored sitting in the Hosei infield and ran out of camera battery.
Anyway, we went to leave the stadium after the game... and we ran into some other of the older fans (including the dude I sat next to yesterday, who turns out to be named Suda and is also friends with The Clan) and I ran into my friend that I've thought of as "Crazy College Baseball Hosei Alum Guy" but who turns out to be named Mizushima, I see him at Kamagaya sometimes and we chat about college ball, mostly Hosei of course. HOWEVER as it turns out he's not just a Hosei alum who goes to all the games, he's a freaking HOSEI BASEBALL TEAM alum. And as such he knows ALL the guys on the team, and funnier, they all call him "sempai". I'm not sure how old he is, I'm guessing a few years older than I am, not really sure.
He introduced me to like, almost all the regulars on the team, as the players were coming out to go home, dressed in their suit-like uniforms. It was actually kind of embarrassing, he's just pointing out all the guys like "want me to introduce you? do you want to get a photo with so-and-so?" And then he'd just say hi to the players and say "this is one of my Fighters fan friends, I'm trying to turn her into a Hosei fan too!" I felt like a huge dork in some cases but sometimes it was funny.
Actually, though, before Mizushima went crazy introducing me to people, I went off and tagged Kisho Kagami on my own -- I was like "I HAVE to get a photo with him and I'm not missing this chance", since Kagami is my favorite Hosei pitcher. Kagami turns out to be REALLY sweet, he was actually on his way out but he didn't mind getting a photo with me, and a photo with Ogura too, and I told him I was a huge fan of his and asked if he'd be pitching tomorrow, and he said he didn't think so because his arm still felt weird. I told him I hoped he got better soon and I wanted to come watch him pitch next week. Actually I'm surprised I handled it so well given that inwardly I was going OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. Heh.
He's so tall! And so cute!
Just Kagami by himself. Awwww.
This is a photo I took of him on Sept 26th, just for reference what he looks like when actually in uniform.
Anyway, as I said I met a whole bunch of the players...
This is Hisashi Takeuchi. I got his autograph too, on a photo Mizushima gave me. Takeuchi is entering the draft this fall. He CAN throw 95mph but doesn't usually. We'll see if anyone takes him.
For reference, I took this on Sept 26th too, Takeuchi in uniform. His glove says 真っ向勝負 which basically I think means something to the effect of "Bring it on". Literally, it's "challenge things head-on", I think. Either way, kinda cool.
Kazuhito Futagami, Hosei's ace pitcher, who WILL get drafted this fall. Unfortunately whoever took the photo, I think it was Ogura, kind of screwed up and it's super-blurry.
Outfielder Shingo Kamegai. He is apparently going to go "work" for Toyota next year, by which I mean play baseball for them. He's the one I was told is a lot like Inaba was when Inaba played for Hosei. Kamegai is also from Chukyodai Chukyo HS and from Aichi, and sadly currently has an injured leg. I was trying to think of something to say to him so I was basically like "Is your leg okay?" and he's like "It's pretty iffy... not really." I told him I saw him run out that grounder yesterday and was worried about him. He seemed surprised but pleased by that.
After that we get into people I would have never bugged on my own but who Mizushima kind of convinced me to get photos with...
Catcher Takuya Hiromoto and outfielder Ryo Imai, both 3rd-years. Also seemed kind of WTF about being asked to take a photo with a gaijin, though I told Imai I saw his victory home run last semester and it was cool and I hoped to see him play more. Mizushima was like "Very international, huh? This girl is a crazy baseball nut."
(Hiromoto and Imai in uniform. I took these photos during yesterday's game.)
I would have never had the guts to bug these guys on my own but... Kazuki Mishima and Hiroshi Taki. They are both freshmen and AWESOME. Mishima throws 150-154 and Taki is a pretty darn good shortstop. But I had no idea what the hell to say to them besides "you guys rule".
(Mishima and Taki in uniform, from yesterday)
Shuhei Ishikawa, the Hosei captain, and catcher-sometimes-1B. Ogura wanted a photo with him so we both annoyed him too.
Actually, she really wanted a photo with Kentaro Abe, the little dude who coaches 3rd base, but we didn't manage to bug him. Abe's this ridiculously genki dude with glasses who really gets into the game, and anyone who's watched a Hosei game usually recognizes him. (I think he's like 5'3" or so, though.)
Oh, this is Shuhei Ishikawa in uniform also for reference. I took this one yesterday.
Anyway, on the way out I exchanged contact info with Mizushima and he gave me a Hosei baseball club guidebook and was like "You're coming to the Hosei-Meiji games next weekend too, right? You gotta come sit in the ouendan with us... I'll see if we can get you a student ticket."
Part of me is like "wait a minute, if I sit in the ouendan I can't take photos, and uh, won't it be kind of weird and everyone will stare at me wondering what the white girl is doing there?" but the other part is like "OMG! NEW OUENDAN STYLE TO GET TO TRY OUT!" I mean, it'll be like being in Kiltie Band again, almost!
Yeah.
So after that I walked back to Shibuya, I stopped at Kua'aina on the way for dinner (figure I had a free baseball game so using the money I saved there to get a turkey sandwich). Then I came home home home and watched the Yakult-Chunichi playoff game on TV. Chunichi won, and it was very close again, 3-2. So there is more baseball tomorrow night -- gives me something to look forward to during the day! Yay.
As an aside, the entire walk back to Shibuya I was kind of talking to myself in an "OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE I JUST TALKED TO HALF OF THE HOSEI UNIVERSITY BASEBALL TEAM THEY MUST THINK I'M A FUCKING WEIRDO" sort of way, but hey, whatever.
First game was Keio-Meiji again. Nakabayashi started for Keio AGAIN, wtf. Yusuke Nomura, who had the flu before, is apparently well enough to pitch 7 innings of 1-run ball (the only run being an HR by Urushibata), so Meiji won, so they will play a tiebreaker game tomorrow.
Second game was Waseda-Hosei. I moved to the Hosei side for this one... more interesting to cheer for Hosei, they were in a must-win situation as opposed to Waseda. PLUS I saw that Kisho Kagami was throwing in the bullpen -- even though Kazuhito Futagami was the starter, I wanted to watch Kagami, since he hadn't been on the roster on Saturday and I was worried about his arm. As it is, Futagami pitched a complete game win over Waseda -- BARELY, it was a 1-0 game and Waseda left a runner on third as the game ended in the bottom of the 9th. My friend Ogura came to find me in the 8th inning as she got bored sitting in the Hosei infield and ran out of camera battery.
Anyway, we went to leave the stadium after the game... and we ran into some other of the older fans (including the dude I sat next to yesterday, who turns out to be named Suda and is also friends with The Clan) and I ran into my friend that I've thought of as "Crazy College Baseball Hosei Alum Guy" but who turns out to be named Mizushima, I see him at Kamagaya sometimes and we chat about college ball, mostly Hosei of course. HOWEVER as it turns out he's not just a Hosei alum who goes to all the games, he's a freaking HOSEI BASEBALL TEAM alum. And as such he knows ALL the guys on the team, and funnier, they all call him "sempai". I'm not sure how old he is, I'm guessing a few years older than I am, not really sure.
He introduced me to like, almost all the regulars on the team, as the players were coming out to go home, dressed in their suit-like uniforms. It was actually kind of embarrassing, he's just pointing out all the guys like "want me to introduce you? do you want to get a photo with so-and-so?" And then he'd just say hi to the players and say "this is one of my Fighters fan friends, I'm trying to turn her into a Hosei fan too!" I felt like a huge dork in some cases but sometimes it was funny.
Actually, though, before Mizushima went crazy introducing me to people, I went off and tagged Kisho Kagami on my own -- I was like "I HAVE to get a photo with him and I'm not missing this chance", since Kagami is my favorite Hosei pitcher. Kagami turns out to be REALLY sweet, he was actually on his way out but he didn't mind getting a photo with me, and a photo with Ogura too, and I told him I was a huge fan of his and asked if he'd be pitching tomorrow, and he said he didn't think so because his arm still felt weird. I told him I hoped he got better soon and I wanted to come watch him pitch next week. Actually I'm surprised I handled it so well given that inwardly I was going OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. Heh.
He's so tall! And so cute!
Just Kagami by himself. Awwww.
This is a photo I took of him on Sept 26th, just for reference what he looks like when actually in uniform.
Anyway, as I said I met a whole bunch of the players...
This is Hisashi Takeuchi. I got his autograph too, on a photo Mizushima gave me. Takeuchi is entering the draft this fall. He CAN throw 95mph but doesn't usually. We'll see if anyone takes him.
For reference, I took this on Sept 26th too, Takeuchi in uniform. His glove says 真っ向勝負 which basically I think means something to the effect of "Bring it on". Literally, it's "challenge things head-on", I think. Either way, kinda cool.
Kazuhito Futagami, Hosei's ace pitcher, who WILL get drafted this fall. Unfortunately whoever took the photo, I think it was Ogura, kind of screwed up and it's super-blurry.
Outfielder Shingo Kamegai. He is apparently going to go "work" for Toyota next year, by which I mean play baseball for them. He's the one I was told is a lot like Inaba was when Inaba played for Hosei. Kamegai is also from Chukyodai Chukyo HS and from Aichi, and sadly currently has an injured leg. I was trying to think of something to say to him so I was basically like "Is your leg okay?" and he's like "It's pretty iffy... not really." I told him I saw him run out that grounder yesterday and was worried about him. He seemed surprised but pleased by that.
After that we get into people I would have never bugged on my own but who Mizushima kind of convinced me to get photos with...
Catcher Takuya Hiromoto and outfielder Ryo Imai, both 3rd-years. Also seemed kind of WTF about being asked to take a photo with a gaijin, though I told Imai I saw his victory home run last semester and it was cool and I hoped to see him play more. Mizushima was like "Very international, huh? This girl is a crazy baseball nut."
(Hiromoto and Imai in uniform. I took these photos during yesterday's game.)
I would have never had the guts to bug these guys on my own but... Kazuki Mishima and Hiroshi Taki. They are both freshmen and AWESOME. Mishima throws 150-154 and Taki is a pretty darn good shortstop. But I had no idea what the hell to say to them besides "you guys rule".
(Mishima and Taki in uniform, from yesterday)
Shuhei Ishikawa, the Hosei captain, and catcher-sometimes-1B. Ogura wanted a photo with him so we both annoyed him too.
Actually, she really wanted a photo with Kentaro Abe, the little dude who coaches 3rd base, but we didn't manage to bug him. Abe's this ridiculously genki dude with glasses who really gets into the game, and anyone who's watched a Hosei game usually recognizes him. (I think he's like 5'3" or so, though.)
Oh, this is Shuhei Ishikawa in uniform also for reference. I took this one yesterday.
Anyway, on the way out I exchanged contact info with Mizushima and he gave me a Hosei baseball club guidebook and was like "You're coming to the Hosei-Meiji games next weekend too, right? You gotta come sit in the ouendan with us... I'll see if we can get you a student ticket."
Part of me is like "wait a minute, if I sit in the ouendan I can't take photos, and uh, won't it be kind of weird and everyone will stare at me wondering what the white girl is doing there?" but the other part is like "OMG! NEW OUENDAN STYLE TO GET TO TRY OUT!" I mean, it'll be like being in Kiltie Band again, almost!
Yeah.
So after that I walked back to Shibuya, I stopped at Kua'aina on the way for dinner (figure I had a free baseball game so using the money I saved there to get a turkey sandwich). Then I came home home home and watched the Yakult-Chunichi playoff game on TV. Chunichi won, and it was very close again, 3-2. So there is more baseball tomorrow night -- gives me something to look forward to during the day! Yay.
As an aside, the entire walk back to Shibuya I was kind of talking to myself in an "OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE I JUST TALKED TO HALF OF THE HOSEI UNIVERSITY BASEBALL TEAM THEY MUST THINK I'M A FUCKING WEIRDO" sort of way, but hey, whatever.