Hawks baseball, Homerun records and Karaoke

Before I get started... major props go out to my friend Julie Hassen for writing me a snail mail letter- (Jules, i got it!)- and from France, no less. (I will write back when you are settled in Berkeley- get me your addess!) In a world that is far too-connected in an impersonal way... letter writing (like I've written before) is an absolute necessity and skill... and I intend to practice it~!... Going on with life....

Like I forewarned you in my last post, I was plotting to go to a baseball game… and last night, we saw our local team, the Fukuoka Softbank (Sea) Hawks. Fukuoka is the major city, Softbank is the corporate sponsor and the team is the Seahawks, but they normally don’t use the “Sea” part… Go Hawks! To say the least. Though our team (second place currently) lost 2-1 to the top team in the league (Nihonham, from Hokkaido), three of my fellow teachers: Wendy, Jamie and Allison, my supervisor- Shintani sensei, and I had a great night.

(The florescent-colored vendors carried mini-kegs on their backs and sold draft beer! Big beers!)

The Yahoo! Dome was incredible… and perhaps the next time, they will open the retractable roof (done after every home win!). There was endless cheering during the Hawks’ at-bats and cheer-leaders to keep us fired up until the game was over. And let me tell you about seventh-inning stretches that are worthy of describing… every person (40,000 fans, even the opposing team’s people) with a huge yellow balloon… and at the end of the team song… letting them go… yellow everywhere, balloons flying, jovial and excited fans… who needs cracker jacks? (Especially when they sell fried squid at the food stands!)

I almost forgot to put this in… Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s record recently. I should congratulate him on such a wonderful milestone. BUT, I think it’s important to mention that the Hawk’s manager, Mr. Sadahara Oh (perhaps, Oh-sensei) also broke Aaron’s record; he hit over 860 home-runs when he played (years ago.) Now in his 60’s, Mr. Oh is one of the most respected men in Japanese baseball… and was the manager of the Japanese national team that won the world series of baseball last year…
(Hard-core fans overwhelm the right-side outfield)

So, according to my calculations and deductions, judgments and analysis… Barry is still second in homers- behind Mr. Oh, who, perhaps, earned his record in harder conditions. Steroids and asterisks discussions aside Barry has another 90 to go, because the homerun leader is Mr. Oh… But, semantics and statistics are quite maniputable, no? For instance: Major League Baseball also stakes a claim to the “World” Series… Here’s another insight for you: “America’s” pastime is played by a majority of immigrants* in its own country and played possible better in another country. We better hope that MLB players start playing hard all the time and not just during their contract years; they must practice and focus on the game… or our pastime will continue to just be a namesake. Wow, a long diatribe there.

We came back to Kurume and found “Magic World” in order to drown our miseries after the loss… drown misery in joy through SINGING! Yeah, you knew it was coming… a description of my first Japanese Karaoke experience. Small room, five of us, lots of singing… the ladies were all about JT, Britney, and Beyonce while Shintani sensei sang perfect renditions of “Let It Be” and “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling.” I came in adding vocals on a couple of songs and starred solo in Donavon Frankenreiter’s “Free.” “Between Me and You” was tough, as Allison and I rapped on, singing on behalf of Ja Rule and Ashanti… next time I will find a Japanese song… it was a great way to relax, share a couple of laughs and get a small bite to eat. Really. Healthy and fun and comfortable- not a performance in front of a bar of strangers, but a warm time between friends.

A great night, lots of fun, rather pricey… but it’s something that would probably be right down your alley (hahah, you’d have liked it, yeah, you’d have enjoyed that kind of thing…)

This morning (as I write this) we’re in the office after little sleep and then tomorrow back to the big city for a meeting and maybe more…

Soon,