Dragons at Marines, June 4 2008

Satoru Komiyama finishes pitcher's batting practice.
Tomoya Satozaki is cracking up at something, but I have no clue what.
The Boy Who Couldn't Lose, Yoshihisa Naruse.
Kazuhiro Wada speaks softly and carries a big stick.

Hirokazu Ibata seems to distrust crazy American women wielding cameras.
Masahiro Araki plays catch.
Norihiro SMASH!
Catcher Daisuke Tanaka practices fielding.

More Daisuke Tanaka. Can you see the ball in this picture?
Tyrone Woods plays catch.
Mr. Dragons himself, Kazuyoshi Tatsunami.
Ibata takes some tee swings.

Masatoshi Ogawa also takes catcher's practice.
My favorite Dragons coach, Yutaka Hasebe.
Tanishige, masquerading as a third baseman.
Marines stretch.

Tatsunami comes over to chat with the "enemy".
Bobby asked me a question about camera lenses and I demonstrated exactly why my cheapo zoom lens is crappy. I think this is a funny shot though
Bobby exchanges lineup cards with Ochiai. It is a media event.
Koichi Hori.

Shunichi Nemoto
Julio Zuleta
Masahiko Tanaka, backup catcher/infielder/etc.
Dugout, focus on first-base coach Kenji Morozumi.

Coach Frank Ramppen hits grounders.
Tanaka as the Man In Black.
Satozaki as a storm trooper?
Dugout again, focus on Benny Agbayani.

Daisuke Tanaka does more practice.
Wow, Kazuki is actually smiling!
Some fans of Masa Yamamoto hold up a sign hoping to see his 200th win.
Mar-kun, one of the Marines mascots.

Another Mar-kun, and lil' Rine-chan.
Shaolon and Paolon also arrive.
"Uh, that is really difficult," said Bobby.
"What? Riding and waving to the crowd?" I asked.
"No, riding a bicycle on turf."
Wow, Daisuke Hayakawa has nice hair.

Alright, so for some reason I couldn't quite understand, Araki and Shimizu were being presented with melons by the day's sponsor or whatever.
Araki says, "I can has a melon!"
Shimizu vaguely ponders whether the melon is more suitable to baseball or bowling.
Mascots galore -- and now, the Melon Mascot as well.

Doala proposes to Rine-chan, but she turns him down because she's secretly really in love with Morino.
Karakawa and Nemoto are wondering when they became cartoon characters too.
Nemoto tries to escape from the entourage.
Masa Yamamoto warms up.

Masa on the mound.
Masa Yamamoto.
Masa Yamamoto.
Masa Yamamoto.

Julio Zuleta prepares to hit a home run.
Zuleta rounds third and high-fives coach Nishimura.
Zuleta high-fives everyone back at the plate.
Shunsuke Watanabe and his high socks!

Chunichi fans cheer for Byung-gyu Lee.
Shunsuke Watanabe.
Masa Yamamoto throws on the side.
Masa Yamamoto.

Daisuke Tanaka.
Masa Yamamoto.
Shunsuke!
Kazuhiro Wada loses the ball in the lights, which results in an ITP homer for Takehara.

Takehara runs like crazy.
Masa is not happy about all this.
Ibata runs home and scores, but hurts his leg in the process.
Atsushi Fujii.

This is actually my favorite shot of the entire night, for some reason.
Masa tells Kohei Oda that he needs a new trick.
Tyrone swings.
Michihisa Sawai.

Shinsuke Saitoh comes in to pitch, and arrives in a nice shiny bullpen car.
Ochiai says, "Here's the ball. Don't screw it up."
Doala makes some new friends.
Shinsuke Saitoh.

Shinsuke Saitoh.
Tyrone high-fives people after his 2-run homer.
Tyrone high-fives the dugout.
Shunichi Nemoto has entered the building!

Akifumi to Ochiai, "Aw cmon dad, I just found this ball, can't I keep it? Huh? Huh? Can I?"
Akifumi Takahashi wanders back to the dugout.
Kazuki Yoshimi exchanges secret messages with Tanaka.
Kazuki Yoshimi!

Kazuki Yoshimi!
Time for a good old traditional Daida Tatsunami.
Unfortunately, Tatsunami strikes out.
Bobby receives flowers for his 1500th win between both countries.

I want this awesome Morino jersey.
This dude has the lyrics to Moe Yo Dragons on his jersey.
And here's one with the cheer song for Ibata.
Here's me with Tyrone Woods, who was nice enough to let me ask him stupid questions for ten minutes.

DJ Doala, in the bowels of Chiba Marine Stadium.
I begged to get a picture with Doala. It was one of my goals for this year.