kazumune's Xanga

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Thu, 12 May 2005 05:08:26 GMT

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Thu, 12 May 2005 04:41:39 GMT

Hanshin Tigers
History

The first champions
The Hanshin Tigers baseball club was founded on December 10, 1935. They took part in the first professional baseball "season" in Japan the following year, which consisted of three spring tournaments played at Koshien Kyujo (ballpark), Narumi Kyujo in Nagoya and Hiratsuka near Osaka. The Tigers won the 1936 spring league, making them Japan's first pro champions

The successful 1938 team

Rivalry
From 1936 to 1938, the Tigers were the best team in Japanese pro baseball. However, from 1939 the Tokyo-based Yomiuri Giants began to dominate, beginning the bitter rivalry between the two teams which continues today. In Central League pennant races the Tigers have come second to the Giants on 13 occasions, including 6 times in the 1950s alone! No wonder Hanshin fans hate the Giants with a passion!

Gene Bacque

In the '60s, Hanshin won two CL pennants ('62 and '64), and the decade was also memorable for the efforts of pitcher Gene Bacque, who compiled a 100-80 record with a 2.83 ERA in eight years with the Tigers - winning Japan's equivalent of the Cy Young Award - the Sawamura Award - in 1964. He is the only foreign pitcher ever to be honored in this way.

1985 and Randy Bass
The Tigers were extremely successful in the early years, winning championships in 1936-38, 1944 and 1947, and compiling a 730-472 franchise record by 1950 (when the two-league system was introduced). But they have won the Central League pennant only four times - in 1962, 1964, 1985, and 2003.

The year 1985 is still fondly remembered by all Hanshin fans. Not only did the club win the Japan Series for the first time, but their first baseman Randy Bass won the Triple Crown award AND the Japan Series MVP award as well - in the process elevating himself to God-like status in the Kansai region.

He probably would have set a new home run record, too, except for the skullduggery of the Giants. In the very last game of the 1985 regular season, the Giants gave Randy Bass four free passes - you see, he was one homer away from matching the legendary Giants slugger Sadaharu Oh's single season home run record.

And who was the Giants' manager that day? None other than Mr. Oh himself!

Celebrating the 1985 championship

Wild scenes at Dotonbori
When the Hanshin Tigers won the Japan Series in 1985, the fans went delirious. Among other things, they hijacked a train in Tokyo, and at Dotonbori, one of the entertainment districts in Osaka, people were jumping into the polluted river. The story goes that as the crowd yelled their way through the Hanshin roster, someone who looked like each of the players jumped into the river.

Can you spot the difference?

Apparently nobody looked like Randy Bass, so some bright spark thought the life-sized statue of Colonel Sanders outside the local KFC would do. Well, he had a beard, he wasn't Japanese...

Anyway, you can guess the rest - Colonel Sanders found himself at the bottom of the river.

The colonel's curse
The whereabouts of the Colonel remain a mystery to this day. They've even had divers down in the murky depths trying to find him, but to no avail. It is said that the Hanshin Tigers will never win again until he is found.

The Tigers finally won the CL pennant again in 2003 after 18 very lean years, leading to a repeat of the crazy celebrations of the mid '80s. But they lost the ultimate prize to the Daiei Hawks in 7 games. And the Hawks were managed by... you guessed it - Sadaharu Oh! The curse continues.

The KFC near Koshien stadium

The author having an audience with God

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Thu, 12 May 2005 03:28:51 GMT

Koshien Stadium

Historic Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya is the oldest and most famous ballpark in Japan and the home of the Hanshin Tigers. It was built in 1924 and has been the scene of many great baseball feats over the years.

Plaque at Koshien honoring Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth even played there once - in 1934, when a visiting major league team came to Japan to play a series of exhibition games.

Koshien is the scene of the spring and summer high school baseball tournaments (simply known as "Koshien"), which are televised live throughout Japan and which attract a huge audience. To play at Koshien is the dream of all young Japanese baseball players!

Even though it has the best maintained outfield in Japan (yes, real grass!), the "sacred" Koshien dirt sometimes provides nightmares for the infielders. And the stadium itself is showing its age and really needs a facelift. The seats and aisles are extremely narrow, there are no private boxes, and the amenities are pretty basic. There have been proposals to upgrade the place, including even adding a dome (which of course would be universally hated).

Even so, it's still worth going out there to cheer the local team (which usually needs all the support it can get) and to soak up the atmosphere of the place.

From Osaka, simply get on a Kobe-bound Hanshin Railway train to Koshien station. The journey takes about 15 minutes. The ballpark is a short 3 minute walk from the station - just follow the crowd.

Ticket prices range from 1400 to 3500 yen (a little more when the Giants are in town), with kids' tickets starting from 500 yen. You can buy tickets at the ground or at one of the many general ticket outlets in Kansai. But if the Tigers are playing well, you'll have to book well ahead!

The famous outfield bleachers

KOSHIEN STADIUM

Tel: (0798) 47-1041
Capacity: 55,000
Dimensions:
Center: 122 meters (403 feet)
Lines: 96 meters (317 feet)

Ticket information

Infield reserved, S: 3500 yen; A: 3000 yen; B: 2500 yen
General admission, adult: 2200 yen; child: 1100 yen
Outfield reserved: 1700 yen
Outfield seat, adult: 1400 yen; child: 500 yen

Location

Koshien Station, Hanshin Dentetsu: 3 minute walk

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Thu, 12 May 2005 03:27:39 GMT

Meet the Mascots!

Lucky (left) and To-Lucky

The Hanshin Tigers mascots are "To-Lucky" (or "Trackey" or "Torakki") and "Lucky". They come to every home game and help cheer the team on with their enthusiastic antics. Trackey always entertains the crowd with unbelievable acrobatic feats, including backflips and a Spiderman act where he launches himself at the wire fence and tries to hang on - and gets chided by Lucky for showing off.

Of course they're the best mascots in Japan (much better than those silly Yomiuri Giants creatures - whatever they're supposed to be - big orange cockroaches, perhaps?).

To-Lucky and Lucky are featured in the scoreboard graphics at Koshien Stadium. Produced by Magnetic Dreams.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Thu, 12 May 2005 03:26:16 GMT

The Hanshin Tigers Fight Song

Rokko Oroshi (The Wind of Mount Rokko) is a popular song in Kansai. In fact, some school children learn to sing Rokko Oroshi even before they learn Japan's national anthem!

The Tigers' fight song can be sung at karaoke bars and at company gatherings, but the best time to sing it is at Koshien after the Tigers have beaten the Giants!

Rokko Oroshi
Rokko oroshi ni sasso to
Soten kakeru nichirin no
Seishun no haki uruwashiku
Kagayaku wagana zo Hanshin Taigasu
O-o-o-o Hanshin Taigasu
Fure-fure-fure-fure
Toshi hatsuratsu tatsu ya ima
Nekketsu sude ni teki o tsuku
Ju-o no iki takaraka ni
Muteki no warera zo Hanshin Taigasu
O-o-o-o Hanshin Taigasu
Fure-fure-fure-fure

The Wind of Mount Rokko
(The official English version, but not a direct translation.)
Dashing swiftly through the wind blowin' from Rokko
Like the big sun soaring in the clear blue sky
Mighty spirit of the youth shows the victor's grace
The name that shines in glory "Hanshin Tigers"
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Hanshin Tigers
Hooray, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!
Powerful hits and skillful pitch achieved a thousand times
Trained with every discipline here at Koshien
Crowned with constant victory glorious, matchless feat
Always proud, invincible "Hanshin Tigers"
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Hanshin Tigers
Hooray, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray!

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Thu, 12 May 2005 03:20:18 GMT

~THE GREATEST TEST OF TRUE LOVE~

The most important, most critical component in successful loving is commitment. Not love.

It's easy to love without commitment. People do it all the time. Easy to love, to give of oneself for a while. But commitment implies bonding in such a way that one promises to keep the fires of love burning indefinitely. It also means shutting one's heart to the possibility of loving another who might even be more attractive, even more lovable. Not easy. This is why solid commitments are not at all as common as we are led to believe. In fact, more often than not, I think that the commitment two lovers make are not equal. What I mean is that the commitment of one might be a whole lot more or a whole lot less than the partner's. We see it all the time. One loves more than the other and is more committed than the other. We have often seen lopsided love relationships where one partner is giving so much more to the relationship than the other.

But writers and poets seem to always indicate that love isn't just a two-way street, but an equal two-way street. That hardly ever happens. It is impossible to determine exactly how much a man loves a woman or how much a woman cares for a man. Love cannot be measured and that can be a huge problem. You can love someone and tell him "I love you" and you're telling the truth. But how much do you love him? Enough to let him court you? Enough to marry him? Enough to die for him? THE GREATEST TEST OF TRUE LOVE is commitment. And the greatest indicator of deep love is deep commitment. I have heard people say all the right words, make all the right moves and pledge undying love, only to walk away weeks or months later. Were they in love? Sure they were. But not enough to allow them to hold strong in their love. Not enough to keep a commitment regardless of the pain.

Lover gets this sinking feeling when there is a sense that one is more committed than the other. When one is giving a lot more than one is receiving. When one's love is a lot more solid than the creaky love of the partner. When a couple believe strongly that their commitment to each other is rock solid, there is a deep sense of security, a feeling that it's OK to give all because the gift of yourself is safe in the hands of the beloved. If, however, there is doubt or, even worse, the conviction that one is engaged in one-way giving, in a one-way commitment that is lopsided, then there is a tendency to pull back and not give as much. And when that happens, love begins to fade.

In the countless counseling sessions I have had with troubled couples over the years, there has always been the problem of a failing commitment on the part of at least one of the partners. Unless there is the raising of the level of commitment, the relationship is doomed. It's finished. Sooner or later the stresses will take their toll and the relationship will begin to fall apart. On the other hand, look carefully at couples who are still very much in love after 20, 25 years. Their commitment to each other cannot be shaken. Neither can their love.