This story starts 30 years ago in 1989 when two young lads quit their jobs with Dick Clark Productions to see the USA (L-R: Tom, Kari Clark, Dick Clark, Jeff James).
We had the best going-away party — ever (look for us in the red circles).
We hit the road in our Chevy van with two goals: travel to every state in the U.S., and to see a baseball game at every major league stadium (there were 26 at that time, but with expansion since then, there are now 30).
Way back in 1989, we used paper maps (note the license plate on our van).
The van was our home…
…which required repair (we had back-to-back flat tires on our way to Alaska).
This photo required the greatest effort…
… which is why we booked a 2-day ferry through the Alaskan panhandle for our return to Canada.
Bathing was sporadic and improvised…
… which led to a low-maintenance haircut.
We visited many people along the way, including my mother (who is still going strong at age 95).
I also re-connected with an old college friend over dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Little did we know, we would be married 3 years later and eventually live in Tokyo.
And we saw lots of baseball during our 6-month journey. This is Yankee Stadium (now gone).
This is Shea Stadium (now gone).
This is Candlestick Park in San Francisco (now gone).
This is the Houston Astrodome (now gone).
Thankfully, the beautiful stadium at Kansas City still remains.
We worked our way into the Phillies bull pen…
… and met Astros coach, Art Howe (he would later coach the Oakland Athletics utilizing Billy Beans’ Moneyball strategy).
Ever since visiting all the stadiums in 1989, the burning question remained: what to do for an encore? The answer arose just in time for the 30th anniversary…
…Japan baseball.
So I set a quest to see a game at all 12 NPB stadiums (Nippon Professional Baseball).
My favorite team is the Swallows (more on that later).
My journey started last summer at Zozo Marine Stadium where I cheered for the Lotte Chiba Marines (team names include 3 parts: corporate sponsor, city, team name).
The Marines take their branding seriously…
…everyone dresses the part.
The stadiums are filled with crisscrossing young ladies serving beer from a mini-keg.
This queue at Koshien Stadium in Osaka…
… is for refills.
I prefer the outdoor stadiums like Koshien…
… where everyone is a Tigers fan, including Colonel Sanders.
Here at Rakuten Seimei Park in Sendai, I cheered for the Golden Eagles.
The 7th inning stretch is completely different from American baseball. Instead of singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” the fans blow up elongated balloons…
… and let them fly (there are noise-makers in the stems).
There are two leagues with six teams each. Last summer, I traveled to Kumamoto for the All-Star game where I rooted for the Central League (home of the Swallows). Unfortunately, the Pacific League was victorious that evening.
Every team has a mascot (this sextet represents the Central League). Second from left is the Swallow’s Tsubakuro,
The stadium was small and intimate. The outfield “seats” were filled with potential baseball stars of the future.
Jumping ahead to this summer, I continued the quest in Osaka. The Osaka Dome is in the heart of the city.
This is where the Buffalos play…
…Ichiro’s former team for 9 years before departing to the major leagues in the U.S. where he still holds many batting records. After 28 total seasons, he retired in March at age 45. He is clearly the most beloved baseball player in Japan.
I’m not a big fan of dome stadiums, but the Softbank Hawks in Fukuoka have a beautiful arena.
At the northern end of Japan in Hokkaido sits the Sapporo Dome (it looks like a spaceship)…
…home of the Nippon Ham Fighters…
… and also the former home of #11, Shohei Ohtani. At age 18, the high school sensation signed with the Fighters as a dual player: pitcher / outfielder. He remained in Sapporo for 5 years before moving to the Los Angeles Angels in 2018 where he became the American League Rookie of the year.
This is why the stores in Sapporo are filled with LA Angels Ohtani shirts (he now wears #17 in LA). Everyone loves Ohtani, where he’s known as the Japanese Babe Ruth for his pitching and power hitting.
He has lucrative marketing deals with Seiko Watches and MUFG Bank in Japan.
Just down the street from Tokyo are the Yokohama DeNA BayStars…
… where the fans actively participate in the mid-inning festivities.
We enjoyed the game with Red Sox fans from Maine.
On August 23 – my 60th birthday — a large group from the office gathered at Meiji Stadium to enjoy a Swallows game.
How fitting that I celebrated my 30th birthday watching the Baltimore Orioles, and my 60th with the Tokyo Swallows (along with Kayla and Dan).
These birds of a feather entertain baseball fans on opposite sides of the globe.
Without a doubt, this is my favorite stadium in Japan – Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium in Hiroshima.
The passion runs deep as even the man-hole covers adorn the Carp logo.
It was a beautiful September day…
… as the fans soaked in the sun (note there is always one section of the stadium dedicated to the “away” team, in this case, the Hanshin Tigers in yellow).
It’s no surprise that team mascot Slyly was developed by Bonnie Erikson, creator of the Muppets’ Miss Piggy, AND the Phillie Phanatic.
Inside the suit is a Philadelphia native and former Phanatic, who brought his mid-inning antics to Hiroshima.
The balloons came out for the 7th inning stretch…
… and filled the stadium with joy.
But this 30th anniversary odyssey would not be complete without Jeff. He made the journey across the Pacific Ocean to enjoy some games with me. Here we are watching the Chunichi Nagoya Dragons (clearly the logo is copied from the LA Dodgers).
The next day, we cheered for the Swallows as the “away team” at Yokohama.
Our seats were directly in front of the Swallows band.
The Swallows cheerleader kept everyone in sync throughout the game.
Jeff traveled to Japan with his sons Joey and Wyatt. As Joey explains, baseball in Japan is the same as the U.S., but yet different:
“They follow all the same basic rules, and game play works just about the same, but the fans couldn’t have been more different. While one might fear getting a beer dumped on them in the stands at Dodger Stadium, the worst thing that could happen to you at a BayStars game is getting hit in the face with a long blue balloon, released promptly at the end of the seventh inning stretch. Whether it’s dancing with umbrellas or banging on a drum, there’s always something to keep the fans busy at a baseball game in Tokyo. Not only that, everyone was incredible respectful and kind to the opposing team. They even had a special designated section to sit in! This is where we sat for a Swallows game, which is Tom’s favorite team and now mine as well. We were less than 4 seats away from the team’s official band, featuring drummers, several trumpeters, and flag wavers. It was quite a fun time!”
The Seibu Saitama Lions play at MetLife stadium, which is a quasi dome.
The original stadium was later covered with an umbrella, which is not connected to the stadium itself.
The Lions vs. the Marines provided a great game. We nearly witnessed an inside-the-park home run, but the player was tagged out at home plate.
We wrapped up the journey – and my 12th stadium – at Tokyo Dome, home of the Giants. Jeff brought with him the original license plate from our van 30 years ago.
How these stories end started on the same path, but with a different result. 30 years ago, we had just arrived in San Francisco for the World Series (SF Giants vs. the cross-bay Oakland Athletics). Thanks to my brother Dave, we had secured tickets for game 5. [Internet photo]
But just before game 3 on October 17, the San Andreas Fault shifted, sending a 6.9 magnitude earthquake throughout the region. [Internet photo]
A section of the Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed (we had crossed this bridge only 19 hours earlier). [Internet photo]
Jeff grabbed our VHS camcorder and shot this video of the quake (click on the image above).
We purchased these ugly shirts…
…which read: I survived the great quake 1989.
The World Series was delayed 10 days, but it certainly didn’t help the Giants as they were swept in 4 games, thus, there was no game 5. [Internet photo]
After spending 6 months crisscrossing the U.S. and seeing a major league game at every stadium, the World Series “cherry on the cake” was denied us. [Internet photo]
Fast forward to October 2019 in Japan, and with great luck through the lottery system, I secured tickets for the Nippon Series for games 3 and 5 (Tokyo Giants vs. the Fukuoka Hawks). Deja vu all over again, the Tokyo Giants were swept in 4 games, just as the SF Giants were swept 30 years ago. Thankfully I attended game 3 and was able to complete this baseball quest with a championship game experience.
We are both older, and hopefully wiser. I’ve doubled in age since then (30 to 60). What life lessons can I share? Take risks, and live life to the fullest.
Now it’s time to dream about the next adventure.
Enjoy. ts
Ukrainian Tom 