05/06 - Along the Path

I found a Denny's 

run by Seven Eleven

twenty-four hours.

Running the sidewalk,

bats and gloves pull me over

to watch the kids rake.

Today was my last full day off efore the term starts, so I wanted to relax a bit, get a run in, and recharge a little as I adjust to the colossal time difference. I had a great long run and found lots of cool things in my area along the way. I ended up finding a really serene park, which has tennis courts and a small track next to it, lots of shop, the National School for Nursing, and several restaurants. Among the restaurants, I couldn't help but laugh when I ran past a Denny's. It's open 24 hours, and according to the signage is operated by Seven Eleven Corporation. No idea how that works, but Motel Village eat your heart out. 

On the way home, I passed a gravelly field type area that I'd only glimpsed at on the way out and saw there was a baseball practice starting. The kids were about 8-12 years old I would guess, and were wearing full team uniforms, matching cleats and even classic style stirrup socks with sanis (if you have no idea what I'm talking about read more about stirrups here, but I almost guarantee you won't care as much as I do: http://www.uni-watch.com/2010/03/28/for-the-love-of-the-stirrup/).

The team was called the Kunegawa Fighters, using the same logo and script as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighter, but different colours. They had a whole warmup toss routing that they yelled in unison at times during that was fantastic to see. While they did it, the coaches lined the batters boxes, home plate area and on-deck circles with Major League style precision. For practice!!! Eventually the boys came in two at a time to take batting practice. I was thoroughly impressed at the BP session, as the adult coaches threw quite hard and even mixed in some curveballs. Each boy started by bunting until they had completed four or five successful ones, then started hitting. Looked like the oldest boys got to hit first, which would make sense according to other customs I've heard of. The coach stood behind the plate and gave them tips, and I noticed an Ichiro-esque batting stance and swing were quite popular. The kids could definitely hit. Now for the best part. I stood watching, grabbing a couple foul balls and tossing them back to some boys who thanked me about 5 times in Japanese for each returned ball, mostly sticking out like a sore thumb. Then the moms that were gathered by me started dishing out coffee from a thermos and some biscuits. They brought me over a cup of coffee and a biscuit. I don't like coffee but I couldn't possibly say no and it was so polite and generous the way they did it. It was truly a great experience! 

I wish I had some pictures, but sadly I didn’t take my camera with me since I was running. I’ll possibly add a picture of the Denny’s at a later date. The time spent watching the practice could never be recreated, so I’ll just have to remember it.

Later in the day I ate a big Japanese hot dog from the supermarket and caught some NPB games on TV. So it was definitely a baseball filled day. I had even watched some of the Jays win early that morning. The games on TV were interesting. Willy Mo Pena was playing for one team and hit a towering home run that looked like it went off the roof of the stadium. I remember watching him in the Majors. He sure stands out a lot more playing here. They were also notable because it is very popular to go to games during Golden Week, the holiday that has been taking place. Both games I saw bits of featured an absurdly active Seventh Inning Stretch. Both featured cheerleaders and the release of large, long helium filled balloons by the whole crowd, which look like sperm under a microscope as they dart up into the air. One also featured some sort of fish head/trojan helmet wearing robot man/mascot leading a dance routine. Kinda beats Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

Today’s second haiku concludes with the word “rake”. I chose it for a little bit of a double meaning. The first meaning is baseball slang for hitting well, smacking the ball in every direction. The second meaning I had in mind was to do with the raking of Japanese zen rock gardens. I had seen a peaceful area in the park, and the baseball area, which had no grass, was very well groomed and peacefully tucked away as well. If nothing else, I can’t imagine modern baseball slang has been incorporated in an haiku too often before. So the poem has that going for it!