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Old Feb 26, 2014, 11:32 pm
  #16  
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Originally Posted by gnaget
Yokohama is a really nice place. I like it better than Tokyo in many ways. You could make a day trip there and include a ball game.

From watching games on TV, the Nagoya Dome (or whatever it is called) looks like the most sterile and dull ballpark in Japan. Always lots and lots of empty seats.

Oh, you can completely self cater in Japan for sporting events. I once saw a guy bring an entire thermos-barrel of soup. They have ok food at the ballpark, but I usually picked up some decent quality sushi from a department store and brought some Yona-Yona beer (microbrew). Technically, you can't bring cans and glass bottles, but they never check your bags. For football (soccer) they actually search your bags and it became a great sport to smuggle them in. They have tables where you are supposed to pour your beer into paper cups. They are convinced that hooliganism is linked to football even though the fans are as straightlaced as you can imagine.
At a baseball game last year in Seoul there was a guy peddling beer from a 5.5 gallon keg (or something akin to that) in his backpack while walking around the bleachers. Brilliant!

Yokohama is on the list of possibilities... thanks.
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Old Feb 28, 2014, 3:54 pm
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Originally Posted by dsquared37
At a baseball game last year in Seoul there was a guy peddling beer from a 5.5 gallon keg (or something akin to that) in his backpack while walking around the bleachers. Brilliant!

Yokohama is on the list of possibilities... thanks.
In Japan you will see young girls do that job and they will have them from the three big breweries: Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo (Yebisu beer).
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Old Feb 28, 2014, 6:51 pm
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Another vote for going to Yokohama--we did a day trip capped off by a baseball game. We had no issues just walking up and buying tickets, even though they were playing the Giants. We sat in the cheap seats near the cheering section and the owner of the Baystars actually came through shaking hands and thanking the fans. And miraculously, the Baystars won!

Originally Posted by gnaget
In Japan you will see young girls do that job and they will have them from the three big breweries: Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo (Yebisu beer).
Our assessment from the one game we went to: the better looking girls sell beer, the less cute ones sell bento.

Here's a previous thread on buying Japanese baseball tickets:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan...lows-game.html
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Old Mar 7, 2014, 6:30 am
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I have used the Giants online site in the past. Convenient.

This time, I booked an overnight layover the first week of May (flight lands NRT at 2:00pm) just to check out a game. Loved it the last time I was there. 18 hours in Tokyo - baseball, a few drinks and a Capsule Hotel, then a 11:00am flight out the next day.

My choices are the Swallows at Jingu Stadium or the Giants at Tokyo Dome. As I have already been to the Tokyo Dome, I think I'm going to try Jingu. As it is a Tuesday night, I should be able to walk up and get a single ticket.

dsquared37 (or anyone else), if by chance you'll be there May 6 and want to join me for the game, drop me a msg.
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Old Mar 7, 2014, 7:29 am
  #20  
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Originally Posted by BangkokTraveler
I have used the Giants online site in the past. Convenient.

This time, I booked an overnight layover the first week of May (flight lands NRT at 2:00pm) just to check out a game. Loved it the last time I was there. 18 hours in Tokyo - baseball, a few drinks and a Capsule Hotel, then a 11:00am flight out the next day.

My choices are the Swallows at Jingu Stadium or the Giants at Tokyo Dome. As I have already been to the Tokyo Dome, I think I'm going to try Jingu. As it is a Tuesday night, I should be able to walk up and get a single ticket.

dsquared37 (or anyone else), if by chance you'll be there May 6 and want to join me for the game, drop me a msg.
Several posters earlier seemed to be partial to the (hapless?) Swallows. As it's an outdoor park it would be my choice... unfortunately only the other 4 Tokyo teams play at home the two days we're in Tokyo.

We'll be long gone by the 6th but you've got a great and short itin.
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Old Mar 8, 2014, 11:28 pm
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Well, they weren't hapless in 2011 when I was first exposed to them. They were leading the division for most of the season, came second and beat the Giants in the first round of the playoffs. I went to two of these three games, which was a lot of fun. All games played at Jingu because the better regular season team gets home field for all divisional playoff games. (Not for the Japan Series final though).

If you live around Shibuya parts of Minato or more on the west side then you gravitate toward the Swallows. I had about a 2.5 km walk to the stadium and you could remarkably park at a meter right outside the stadium and pay 300 yen for an hour 6-7 pm. After that the meters were not operating. Imagine doing that in the States!

My local pharmacist (a crazy old man) has an elephant (the symbol of a pharmacy) dressed in a Swallows uniform. Across the street the greengrocer would always have baseball games on his radio. One evening I asked him if it was the Swallows game and he nervously ran over and changed the station (Giants turncoat!). As if I could follow the commentary!

Note that the Swallows also have a bond to FC Tokyo.
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Old Apr 16, 2014, 6:21 am
  #22  
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Originally Posted by gnaget
In Japan you will see young girls do that job and they will have them from the three big breweries: Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo (Yebisu beer).
In Tokyo Dome those girls were working hard and dripping sweat!!!

So we attended a Giants vs Carp game in which the Giants won but the Carp section won us over with their intensity and horns. Damn I love a horn section!!!

A few days later we attended a Tigers vs Giants game in which the Tigers squandered bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the ninth but came through in the same set up with a Segimoto hit in the 10th to end the game.

We'll try to catch a Carp vs Tigers game tomorrow if the rain stays away.
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Old Apr 21, 2014, 5:03 pm
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We are staying at the Park Hyatt Tokyo soon and looking for advice on which stadium would be more convenient (via transit) for a Sunday afternoon game: Yokohama BayStars or Chiba Lotte Marines? From this thread I gather we don't need to worry about buying tix in advance?

If neither is convenient I guess the fall back position would be to hit Osaka the following Sunday for a Tigers game.

Sadly for this SF fan it appears we will miss the Giants, but hopefully we can find some gear
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Old Apr 21, 2014, 6:10 pm
  #24  
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Swallows games are a lot more fun than the Giants imho.
Cheers
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Old Apr 22, 2014, 3:56 am
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Originally Posted by Boraxo
We are staying at the Park Hyatt Tokyo soon and looking for advice on which stadium would be more convenient (via transit) for a Sunday afternoon game: Yokohama BayStars or Chiba Lotte Marines?
Yokohama would be easier IMHO.
Subway Oedo line to Daimon.
Then a short walk to transfer to JR (Hamamatsucho station).
From Hamamatsucho, take Keihin-Tohoku line to Kannai.
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Old Apr 22, 2014, 11:56 am
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by Boraxo
We are staying at the Park Hyatt Tokyo soon and looking for advice on which stadium would be more convenient (via transit) for a Sunday afternoon game: Yokohama BayStars or Chiba Lotte Marines? From this thread I gather we don't need to worry about buying tix in advance?

If neither is convenient I guess the fall back position would be to hit Osaka the following Sunday for a Tigers game.
I'd hold out for the Tigers at Koshien if I were you. It would be akin to going to Fenway or Wrigley.

Sadly for this SF fan it appears we will miss the Giants, but hopefully we can find some gear
They have a decent sized team store in the Tokyo Skytree complex. Not sure if they have any other ones in Tokyo but I'm sure some of the forum regulars would be able to answer that for you.
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Old Apr 23, 2014, 5:58 am
  #27  
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Originally Posted by kevincrumbs
I'd hold out for the Tigers at Koshien if I were you. It would be akin to going to Fenway or Wrigley.
I must agree. The ballbark is very cool (down to the analog Citizen clock atop the centerfield scoreboard) and the fans are ravenous. Outside, behind home plate, is a plaque honoring Babe Ruth as well.. although the fans drinking under it seemed completely lost on why I'd want a pic of it.

Me thinks you mentioned the only 3 (pro?) ballparks where The Babe homered in that are still extant.

We also caught a game at New Municipal Stadium in Hiroshima (AKA Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium) and it was new and comfy. A weekday evening game with the threat of rain that kept many fans away but another passionate fan base.

Outdoor stadiums are where it's at.
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Old Apr 23, 2014, 6:03 am
  #28  
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Originally Posted by Boraxo

Sadly for this SF fan it appears we will miss the Giants, but hopefully we can find some gear
Having lived in SF, though not a Giants fan, I thought about getting some gear for friends' kids... but decided not to. Not really a fan of the YG logo.

As it turns out we went to Tokyo Dome on a 'Legends' game night and were given books with 80year anniversary pins inside the bags that I'll give to the tikes next time I'm in the bay area.
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Old Apr 23, 2014, 6:29 am
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Originally Posted by dsquared37
Me thinks you mentioned the only 3 (pro?) ballparks where The Babe homered in that are still extant.
He didn't hit a home run at Meiji Jingu stadium, then?
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Old Apr 23, 2014, 9:35 am
  #30  
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Originally Posted by jib71
He didn't hit a home run at Meiji Jingu stadium, then?
I can't locate anything saying he did. Rather the only mention of Ruth in Meiji Jingu Stadium I can find is in this wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingu_Stadium:

"The second oldest baseball stadium in Japan, Meiji Jingu Stadium is one of the few Professional stadiums still in existence where Babe Ruth played."

Some interesting and quick reads are:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...0471/index.htm

http://www.baberuthcentral.com/babes...trip-to-japan/

Another article (can't find it now) states that he hit his first home run in Japan in Sendai in the 4th game of the 18 game tour.
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