Keep Your Eye On The Ball

Last night Arthur and I took a walk down to Koshien Stadium to see how many people were sleeping outside to buy tickets for today's opening ceremony and games for 2019 Summer High School Baseball Tournament. There were not many at all - about thirty - so I decided that I would try and get tickets for today's events.

I got up at 4 am, then walked to Koshien Stadium at 4:45. I sat down almost at the front of the queue to buy tickets at 4:55 and read my book to pass the time. The ticket offices opened at 7:00. By then, there were a a lot of people lining up to buy tickets but, once everyone had bought their tickets, the stadium was only about half full. Perhaps a lot of people have been deterred by the hotter than usual summer we are experiencing because Koshien Stadium is usually full to capacity during the Spring and Summer High School Baseball Tournaments. Today it reached 36 degrees celsius, or 96.8 degrees fahrenheit. I am not going to bother queuing from such an early time when I come tomorrow.

I watched the opening ceremony and then was pleased to see that this year, the 101st Summer High School Baseball Tournament, they dropped the first ball from the ABC News helicopter hovering low above the stadium. That is the helicopter which I blipped yesterday. The first ball was then pitched by someone involved in the Japanese Olympics of 2020 but I didn't catch who it was (I will update the blip if I find out later.)

The first game between Hachinoe Kousei and Homare Kouko was not very exciting, despite the first inning opening with a four point home run. The game ended with Hachinoe Kousei winning nine points to zero, so there wasn't much tension in the game.

The second game, between Sagakita and Kamimura Gakkuen, was a bit more exciting but, again, with a final score of two points to seven, Kamimura's victory was never really in doubt pretty much from the start. The most exciting part of the game was when one of Sagakita's fielders made a dreadful error by failing to stop a ball that was rolling along the ground right by his feet. The ball rolled all the way to the back fence, by which time two of Kamimura's team had run home. Oh dear, I felt so bad for that poor fielder!

I must really love baseball to endure that heat; the stadium has no roof. I'll be back again tomorrow, hopefully with Arthur.

A Brief History Of Koshien High School Baseball Tournament.