Baseball in Japan

Okay, for those of you who happen to actually read my blog I realize that this post is in fact extremely late. But let me remind you that I do in fact have a life which requires the basic necessities of eating, sleeping, and being a social creature. That being said, I apologize for my lateness and will try to keep up with my strange stories/mishaps/accomplishments/cautionary tales as they happen. Scouts honor! (as I cross my fingers behind my back) lol.

Very briefly I would just like to state that while baseball 野球 [やきゅう] has essentially been a sports tradition in the United States for a longer period of time than it has in Japan, never would I have imagined the fervor and excitement that I have read about actually happening right before my eyes. If you happen to be a baseball fan over in the U.S. consider yourself beaten out in terms of team pride because the Japanese people have got it down to a science. No literally, they have set chants and cheers that they do for each player and the whole team whenever they are at bat. It is absolutely astounding and I love that I got to experience it with some really fun people. That's not to say that baseball in America isn't fun (though in my limited experience - one White Sox game - let's just say that I might have fallen asleep had I not been excited about going to my first baseball game ever), I just want to throw it out there that these Japanese baseball fans do it pretty big. Jus' sayin'. As it has been called in the past, the 大和魂 [やまとだましい | "Japanese Spirit"] is at work. Mind you this is a one game experience so my opinion may neither be completely accurate nor does it exemplify every single game played in Japan.

The following video features clips from the Chiba Lotte Marines vs. Saitama Seibu Lions (members of Japan's Pacific League [pros]). Enjoy the video and again, keep an eye out for future posts!
じゃまた！