A friend of mine just forwarded me this game preview, and I felt inclined to share it. What a great headline. I'm glad some mlb.com writers still have a sense of humor.
Bloomquist?! cf Figgins 2b Lopez 2b Izturis 3b Beltre 3b Cabrera ss Ibanez lf Guerrero dh Sexson 1b Anderson lf Broussard dh Rivera rf Johjima c Kendrick 1b Betancourt ss Napoli c SNELLING!!! rf Willits cf ---------- ---------- Hernandez (10-10, 4.50) Weaver (8-0, 2.14)
I have to admit that while I'll have the Angels-Mariners game up on the TV, I'll probably be paying a lot more attention to my laptop, where I'll be watching the first game of the semifinals of the Japanese high school baseball tournament at Koshien (which is broadcast over the net here; if the game's on there'll be a button that says "LIVE!"). South Hokkaido's Komadai Tomakomai high school is trying to make history by winning the tournament three years in a row, a feat which hasn't happened since Chukyo managed it in the early 1930's; opposing them is Chiben Wakayama, another powerhouse high school which was featured in the recent Kokoyakyu documentary which aired on KCTS in mid-July. The game starts at 11am over there, which is 7pm PDT. The other semi-final match of Kagoshima vs. Waseda is scheduled for 9:30pm.
I've never had the opportunity to watch live footage of the tournament before this year, and it's been amazing, and now I sort of understand why it gets almost as much, if not more, press coverage than pro baseball does in Japan. There's just something so wonderfully pure about these games, seeing these players give it all of their heart and soul for the dream of bringing honor to their school.
Well, poetry aside, I'm rooting for Komadai to win. I like rooting for history. Maybe this is why I'm not particularly depressed about the Mariners' divisional losing streak. It's HISTORY, I tell you!
HAPPY FELIX DAY!
LET'S GO MARINERS!