When You Wander

I had heard the hype, but it wasn’t until I stepped off the subway that I actually understood.

Hanshin Tigers pride. Fans decked out in yellow and black gleaming from head to toe. Some wear jerseys, others wear lions (lion costumes, that is)… If your loyalty to the Tigers isn’t glaring obvious, you aren’t doing it right.

The closest MLB comparison I can give is going to a Cubs game. The fans are loyal regardless of how terrible or great the Tigers may be playing this season. And by the time our game started, there weren’t many empty seats left in the stands…

Nick and I were lucky enough to sit near one of the most  passionate fans in the stadium. Dressed like a tiger, wearing tigers…

Even his bag had fur.

And that cape. I meaaaan, basically, he just put every MLB fan I’ve ever known to shame. America, we need to step up our game!

Something else that was cool? Every Tiger’s player had his own cheer when he came up to bat. Every single one! The fans chanted the words throughout the entire at-bat, only pausing as each pitch was thrown.

Now for the highlight of the evening. I read a Hanshin Tigers blog before attending this game, in which the blogger instructed game goers to buy balloons, no questions asked. So…we did. And when the bottom of the 7th inning came around, we soon knew why.

This was AMAZING. As the top of the 7th wrapped up, everyone in the stands blew up these long, colored balloons. We actually made the mistake of tying ours, silly amateurs that we are, and then quickly had to untie them before the excitement began.

I can’t find the words to describe the experience. Incredible? Surreal? United? Well anyway, I did manage to get the gist of it on video. Because my free wordpress account does not allow me to post videos, you can experience this incredible, surreal, united moment by going to my instagram account (below).

I can’t help but hope that a few teams in the MLB inherit this ridiculously awesome Tigers tradition. Who doesn’t love balloons, especially when they’re shaped like….well, you know.

Don’t ask me who won the game, because it wasn’t the Tigers (the score wasn’t even close) and I can’t even remember who they were playing. It doesn’t matter though. It didn’t matter. Regardless, the fans stayed until the very end, cheered until the very end.

Attending a Tiger’s game isn’t just something to do. It’s an authentic Kansai experience. I arrived at Koshien Stadium curious and left devoted to a team I barely know anything about. But if there is one thing I do know, it’s that no baseball team can be more loved by their fans than this one.

Go Tigers!