Chunichi Dragons vs.Yakult Swallows

On Wednesday night we had some free tickets to the baseball at Nagoya Dome and took the opportunity to see our first ever baseball match.

Japan is pretty baseball mad and the Chunichi Dragons are Nagoya's local team. My newspaper is always filled with baseball news from Japan and about Japanese players in the American leagues.

We had heard much about the atmosphere and the crowds and were keen to have a look.

Nagoya Dome. A friendly atmosphere. Lots of young kids selling beer, popcorn, bento boxes, coke etc.. all yelling their wares. The crowd itself was also moving and bustling. It was quite strange for me. At the cricket and soccer there is less movement. people watch the game and move on the breaks between play. Here it was non stop.

The usual merchandise for sale. Even a Chunichi Dragons - Hello Kitty scarf.

The Pre-game show.

Each player had their own music and chant. The crowd banged away their clackers all night with the different tunes. (My first video on the website)

A close up of the cute pink dragon

A huddle on the mound.

The game in progress

The scoreboard gave regular visual feedback. You can see the Koala mascot in the background.

Batter, batter, batter, batter

Koala ears...why do you ask is that girl wearing koala ears?

Yes, one of the mascots of the Chunichi Dragons is.... a koala.

The game swung both ways throughout the evening. I certainly enjoyed the night, especially watching the crowd.

Nagoya Dome from the car park. We left after nearly 3 hours at the game, at the end of the 7th inning.

At Nagoya Dome
Yakult 010 002 000 - 3 6 0
Chunichi 201 000 11x - 5 7 2
WP - Asao, 3-0
Sv - Iwase (9)
LP - Endo, 2-1
HR - Chunichi: N. Nakamura (8)
Attendance: 29,497
Time: 3:07

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Team	W	L	T	Pct.	GB
Yomiuri	25	16	0	.610	--
Chunichi	22	17	1	.564	2.0
Yokohama	20	17	0	.541	3.0
Hiroshima	19	20	0	.487	5.0
Hanshin	16	21	1	.432	7.0
Yakult	13	24	0	.351	10.0

Table from Japanball.com

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Chunichi Dragons vs.Yakult Swallows