I purchased tickets in advance.
In June, I purchased game tickets for September. A couple days before the Tiger’s game I showed my tickets to a person working in a tourist information office. The other worker stepped closer. They were very impressed with what they called “premium tickets.” They said many Japanese fans could not get tickets. That’s likely true because I did not see any empty seats at the Stadium.
I rode on the Nankai Electric Rail.
In Japan, public transportation is easy and affordable.
It took me about a half hour to get there. That included a tenth of a mile walk to Namba station, 22 minutes on the Nankai Electric Rail, and two tenths of a mile walk to Koshien Stadium. Getting off the rail, I followed a father/son who were dressed in baseball jerseys.
Koshien Stadium is my favorite venue in Japan.
Before the game, I visited the Tigers Team Shop. My main purchase was a bright yellow Tigers shirt (it’s for pickleball). It cost 3300 yen. Although that sounds expensive, it was very affordable.
In Japan, Koshien Stadium is my new favorite venue. Although it had no roof, it had much to recommend it. The sky starkly changed from bright daylight (partly cloudy) to darkness that made the stadium lights stand out and also drew my attention to the moon. The concave seat bottoms were comfortable and the seats definitely had more legroom than Kyocera Dome (which I enjoyed, see this AZ Snake Pit article).
Koshien Stadium offers something to fans that I’d like to see at Chase Field! A soft-sided cooler with the word Tigers was delivered to an aisle seat in front of me. Inside were two bento boxes of food and a flask of beer. Talk about convenient! And every seat had a fold-out table with a drink holder just the right size for a cup of beer. That table had zero impact on leg room.
The stadium has no infield grass! And the clay is dark grey. During the seventh inning stretch, raking the infield is a much bigger task than in Phoenix. They supplemented their crew of skilled rake-holders with three mini-vehicles that raked! It would likely be super-fun to drive one of those vehicles.
It’s a good thing I arrived early because all seven runs were scored in the first inning (final score 6-1). The fans went wild celbrating a Tigers’ grand slam. A hair challenged guy (bald like me), who sat far to my right, enthusiastically high-fived me. I knew it was going to happen – he had interacted with everyone he could reach, and a few he could not. If I had spun 360 and said, ‘down low’, that too would have happened. After the first inning, the pitchers dominated the game. Most interesting was a submarine pitcher.
The Tigers won the game. I very much enjoyed my experience. Two days later they clinched the Central League Championship, which was the fastest league title win in Japanese baseball history.
My return odyssey was memorable.
After the game, instead of riding the Nankai Electric Rail, I followed the crowd to take the Metro (subway) back to my hotel. After purchasing a ticket to Namba station, I was puzzled about which Metro train to take. A Tigers’ employee started a conversation in English. She must be one-in-a-million to work for the Tigers. Her job is multifaceted – it includes giving gifts, collecting foul balls, and support of their fan club. She liked meeting someone who writes about the Arizona Diamondbacks. She was most delighted to hear about the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. To my surprise, we were both going to Namba station. She invited me to tag along. It was a wild ride!
We boarded the Metro train. At the train’s first stop we got off, walked into one side of a stationary train and out the other side, and then immediately boarded another train about to depart the station. It would reach Namba faster because it made less stops on the way. As I marveled at what had just happened, the train departed. We quickly reached our destination!
Thank you N! You are a blessing to everyone around you!
