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I went to see the mighty Hanshin Tigers baseball team on Friday. They’d won all of their last 10 games and were top of their league.

Naturally I was there and they lost.

We were in the best seats I have ever been in. Right in the home run zone in the noisy section close up with the season ticket holders and most devoted fans.

It was noisy, it was sweaty and it was incredibly fun.

The goal of the people in that area is not to watch the game it seeems but to chant each player’s song. This usually goes like, “Hit it hard [plus player's name!] The fans whack miniature bats together as they shout. This creates an amazing atmosphere.

They don’t seem to be that interested in the game itself but shouting it and following along with the designated cheer leaders (above)who help synchronize the cries of thousands of people at far ends of the stadium into one. At that distance, you can`t really follow along with what`s happening anyway.

I love going to Koshien Stadiumand even though they lost, it was such a good time.

After last season`s Hanshin Tigers baseball team`s loss to the Lotte Marines, I decided to boycott all products made by the Korean sweet maker and Marines` sponsor Lotte. This boycott came to an abrupt halt this morning when a teacher at the elementary school I teach at offered me two chocolate Lotte cookies.

I ate them. I was hungry. I have no principles.

Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Lotte

People often complain about the inpenetrability of cricket and its terminology but I am struck by the language used in baseball - a game I once took as inpenetrable and confusing itself. Being only able to watch it in England late at night and seeing seemingly illegal throw after illegal throw permitted it was not such an easy game to take to as football where the simple object is to kick a pig`s bladder inbetween two posts.

I have grown nevertheless to love the sport of baseball and the mightiest of all baseball teams the world over Hanshin Tigers yet I saw the following passage in a newspaper article and would appreciate some clarification:

“Lefebvre has done a magnificent job and, except for a couple of sandlot blunders such as no one covering third base when the shortstop and third baseman went after a pop-up in short left field with a runner on second, and the second baseman overthrowing the pitcher while returning the ball to the mound…”

If someone could please clarify what just went on I would be supremely grateful.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Baseball, Cricket

The mighty Hanshin Tigers baseball team after losing the first two games in the Japan Series 10-2 and 10-1 lost the third and fourth games in the seven match series to the Lotte Marines. I am quite devastated and I`m never chewing any Korean Lotte gum again.

In commiseration, I present not quite the Hanshin Tiger but the Hanshin Cat.

Thanks to Davecat for the picture.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English

The very mighty Hanshin Tigers Baseball Team have just won the 2005 Japanese League in their 70th anniversary year by beating their hated rivals the Tokyo Giants. Here`s a picture of the yet mightier team member Akahoshi.

They did this by overcoming the curse of Colonel Sanders described in the Mainichi News below:

Hanshin’s winning season in 2003 ended an 18-year pennant drought that was referred to by Tiger fans as “The Curse of the Colonel.”

In 1985, an overzealous Hanshin fan threw a statue of Colonel Sanders taken from a nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet into Osaka’s Dotonbori River. The statue was never retrieved and the team’s losing ways were attributed to the missing mannequin. (AP)

It`s the perfect time to sing the Hanshin Tigers Fight Song - Fure, fure fure fure!

There`s more at the Unoffical Hanshin Tigers Page (in English.)

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, Baseball, Hanshin, Tigers, Hanshin Tigers