Barnstorming Tour (Early March)

Well we wrapped up camp in Ishigaki and Bobby thought it would be a good idea for me, Gary, and a couple other players to fly to our minor league camp in Sendai Kagoshima so that we could get some extra at-bats. Sounded like a good plan to me. Well it ended up bein about 10 hours of travel for 5 at bats! We flew into Kagoshima, which is the southern most part of the mainland, its absolutely beautiful. To make a long story short, we were with the minor league team for about 48 hours, got 5 at bats one day (I went 2 for 5) and got rained out the next. We then hopped on another plane and flew BACK to the Okinawa islands to meet the team in Naha, which is on the main island of Okinawa. It too was beautiful. We play one game there which I started and went 1 for 2. We fly out after the game to Nagasaki, a city in the mainland. This is of course where the U.S. A-bombed after the Japanese didn't surrender following our fist A-bomb on Hiroshima. Its a really cool city built between two mountain sides on a canal.(this is the reason why the bomb was so destructive, the blast shot down the valley and obliterated everything in its path) You definitely get looked at kinda funny while walking around the city. But its pretty impressive how the city flourishes now, just 60 years later. Our hotel was right on the water and the view was spectacular. (Our hotels are as big league as it gets, I'm definitely spoiled.) Well the next day is an off-day, so we have a meal ticket to the restaurant in the hotel that is worth 60 bucks. Gary and I head down and find the restaurant has a damn POOL right in the middle of it with all kinds of fish swimmin around!!! Me and Gary cant believe it, in stead of a bar, its a dang pool. So the menu is pretty tough to read. I had one of our trainers help me order, but I still had no idea what I ended up ordering. It was a 50 dollar meal, so I figured it had to be good. As we wait for our food, this guy kept takin this huge net and pullin fish out of the tank right in front of us! Chase, "I guess my meal is gonna be fresh!" Well plates start comin and they didn't stop for about two hours! I guess I ordered a 6 course meal. Miso soup, salad, Sashimi, noodles, and then the main dish was a WHOLE fish!...teeth, eyes, tail and all! (I think it was a Sea Bream). I don't know where to start so I just start pokin it with my chopsticks and the meat just starts fallin off the fish! And come to find out...it tastes GREAT! I'm eatin meat straight off the fishes face and I'm lovin it! I start tellin Gary how I was the kid who ate 3 things in the world growin up (chicken nuggets, pizza, and grilled cheese.) I end up crushin this fish and the only thing left is the bones, the tail, and eyeballs!!! More food keeps comin and I am about to pop when it it finally stops. Ha...what a meal!!! Like I said, the next day was an off-day and we decided to walk around the city. Its got some really interesting history. Nagasaki was the only port in all of Japan that was aloud to import and export things during the 17th and 18th century, and they where only aloud 1 shipment a year! So it was the only place in Japan that got any kind of foreign influence. A Dutch guy landed there first and was forced to stay when they shut off the borders of Japan. Well because of this, the cities history is very European! The have Catholic churches, normal looking houses, German pubs, all kinds of non-Japanese stuff. Anyway, we walk around and end up in a dang mall of all things and find a book store. We ask if they had an English section and they did. But come to find out, all the books are about Japan!...geez thanks! All in all, it was a pretty uneventful off day compared to some of my previous ones. The next day we have a game, and I am starting at third base again. I go 0 for 2 after fouling a cutter from Daryl Rasner right off my knee cap...OUCH! The park is super cool though. Tons of fans and to my surprise, the cheering section from our home stadium travels with us. They make all kinds of noise threw out the entire game! They have a song for each player and they beat drums and blow horns continuously! They keep singin for about an hour after the game! Its SOOO cool. The next day is another game and I am again starting and playing right field. I go 1 for 3. After the game we jump on ANOTHER plane bound for a city called Nagoya. We get there and we are in ANOTHER immaculate hotel over looking the Nagoya Castle!!! Its a thousand year old Japanese castle that the Samurai's who protected the village lived in. We have an off day the next day and of course me and Gary go check out the castle. It was REALLY cool. It has a huge moat surrounding the entire castle and there were deer down in the dry part of the moat! Chase, "I wish I had my bow!" We read about the history, check out all the exhibits, snap a couple pics and head back to the hotel. Gary, "Am I really getting paid to see samurai castles and play baseball?" I'm so lucky to have Gary with me. He is just as appreciative of this adventure as me. We are like two kids in Disney Land! The next day was a game and its in the home stadium of the Chinichi Dragons, which is a Dome! Its freakin awsome. Its a big league dome. I didn't start and was on deck when our first baseman ran thrue a stop sign at third and got thrown out at home to end the game when were down by four! OUCH! Oh Well....Gary hit a bases loaded double. That's it for now. We have a couple more stops on this barnstorming tour before we get back to our home stadium in Chiba. I will try and keep y'all updated. To be continued.....

Chase