Since I've mentioned baseball I figure I should elaborate. This will probably offend some die hard American baseball fans out there and I'm sorry (sort of) but Japanese baseball is so much more fun then American baseball!! Number one, there is a band...for each side!!! Trumpets (and those who know me, know how I feel about trumpets) and drums!! Second there are Cheer Leaders (the home team we saw play, Lions, has actual cheerleaders) and there are cheers and chants for each of the players. There is coordination and flags and the fans actually get involved! Third the beer comes to you on the back of a "beer girl" (for lack of a better term) in a tiny keg!! No flat beer at these games, it's poured (with exactly an inch and a half of foam) right in front of you! On the flip side they don't do hot dogs well at all....but the french fries are 1000x better than American french fries. Sorry guys, told you I'd offend some people. As far as action goes, we got to see 2 home runs and a triple play! In one game!! Now I'm not a baseball expert and I admit I haven't been to dozens (or hundreds) of games, but I do know how rare a triple play is, and heck, a home run is the icing on the baseball cake.
The only other experience I can equate Japanese baseball to is soccer. I actually felt like I was at a Portland Timbers game. The home team fans kept up a steady stream of cheers and elation throughout the ENTIRE game. It was awesome! I wasn't even disappointed when the game ended in a tie in the 10th inning....and as the entire male populations yells "Why would they do that?! There has to be a winner!!!" keep in mind that Japanese public transportation will not deviate from it's schedule.
All in all, I suppose flexible transportation along with the hot dogs, could be two things they work on, but all in all, my BEST baseball experience. I might even get season tickets. Go Seibu Lions!
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