Epic Baseball

I haven't put up too many pictures lately so in an attempt to rectify this I offer some silly pictures from today. On Friday, the prospects to do anything on Saturday night looked slim. Normally I would have been fine with that, especially during the winter months. But this is summer and I had really wanted to do something while the weather was still warm. Shikaoi is much like New York in that something always bubbles to the top. I was invited to one of the Usui's legendary yakiniku parties last night. Kazeteru was home from Fukoka university for summer vacation. At the party, I promised Matsumoto-san that Kazeteru and I would go and see his big-boy toy hobby Sunday morning. Matsumoto is a carpenter by trade and simply looking around his house and garden one can quickly see he's quite handy. He loves trains too. Together he has created a battery-powered rideable train in his (small Japanese) yard. I felt the whole thing was a bit surreal but fun. I especially enjoyed driving the train by myself, being careful not to take Matsumoto-san's (very precious) train off the track around a bend. I have included images of Matsumoto-san's ingenious turning wheel and also the view from the train going over a bridge in the garden.





The big news today was the history making baseball played between Hokkaido and Tokyo at the Koushien, the National High School Baseball Championship. After 3 hours and 45 minutes - in a final game that stretched 15 innings - the two teams battled to a 1-1 tie. I had arranged to watch the game at the Usui's house and we were all desperate for Hokkaido to win. Both teams were perfectly matched. The pitching was epic with both young pitchers embodying was the Japanese call "the fighting spirit". The players looked exhausted and the crowd started to looked droopy but some of the fastest pitches of the game came in the very last inning. When the Tokyo pitcher threw a 147 km/h strike I could hear on the TV the crowd's stunned amazement. The game ended after a 15 inning maximum rule was invoked. The officials announced a rematch for tomorrow at 1:00 PM. The worry of not being able to stand another entire game like today's without my heart giving out is tempered slightly by the fact that tomorrow is Monday and I have work. However, I'm certain it will be on every TV within reach. If it is another game like today's, it should be a great game.