Chapter 69 Yakult Swallows

For some reason, I'm partial to the Yakult Swallows in professional baseball.Although it is biased, it is not about participating in the cheerleading team or doing some specific things such as giving pocket money to the players. It is just a person who secretly hopes that Yakult will win. In the movie "Dear Hunter," there's a game called Russian roulette, in which you load a round into the magazine of a revolver, spin the wheel sharply, aim it at your head, and pull the trigger.And supporting Yakult is similar to playing Russian roulette with four bullets loaded into six magazines, because the winning probability is about one-third.It won't do health good to root for such a team.

I started to support Yakult Swallows when I first came to Tokyo 18 years ago.At that time, it was still called "Sankei Astro Boy", but its strength was weaker than its name.I have always believed that baseball should support local teams in principle.Now that you are in Tokyo, you should support the Tokyo team.After repeated comparisons of the four teams in Beijing (Giants, Astro Boys, Toei Flyers, Tokyo Orions), Yakult was finally left by subtraction.I often go to the Tokyo Baseball Stadium without the convenience of the location, and the giants are too crowded, so I generally don't like the stadium in Korakuen.

In this regard, Jingu is a very happy course.There were many trees around. At that time, the outfield was still a bare embankment. It was a sense of happiness for Gu Lu to lie crookedly and drink beer to watch the game.It's just that when the wind blows, the dust and sand are strong, and the rice balls I brought taste like salad, which is a problem even if it is said to be a problem.Matinee games often strip their upper body to sunbathe.It is also joyful to see the empty and few people during the giant battle.In a word, going to Jingu Stadium is not so much because I like Yakult, but because I like the stadium itself and support Yakult in the result.

Empty outfield seats are perfect for a tryst with a girl.You can drink beer and eat box lunch while breathing the outdoor air. The ticket price is also cheaper than that of a movie theater, and you can watch the football game as much as you like. I still remember that in the double game between Yakult and the Giants 14 or 15 years ago, I sat with the girls on the right side of the right stand and watched the game as usual.If it were now, there would be a lot of quarrel over the Okada cheerleaders, but the cheerleaders at that time were extremely quiet, nothing more than a drum and a flute.As for the result of the game, whether Yakult won or lost, I can't remember now, but a high-fly ball hit by a Giants batsman remains vividly in my memory as a very symbolic scene.The fly was an outfield fly, as light as a painting, and the batter tossed the bat into the field and headed for first base, shaking his head. Yakult's right-winger (poor, name withheld) thought he was safe, and slowly advanced five meters, waiting for the ball to drop.Ordinary scene.Then the ball - unbelievable - landed with a thump about five meters behind the right winger's leather glove.The incident happened on a sunny afternoon.The audience was stunned and speechless for a long time.

"Hey, is this the team you're supporting?" the girl asked me, the right winger, who was muttering something embarrassed. "Yes, but..." I replied. "Can't switch to another team?" she said. But I ignored her good advice and am still a fan of Yakult Swallows, and even feel that as I get older, the affection has shifted more and more.I don't quite understand why this is so, and I don't have much confidence in whether it is correct. It feels like "the aftermath of a one-night stand." During that time, I witnessed countless jaw-dropping scenes.Pitcher Matsuoka had pitched a perfect pitch to the Giants in a narrow escape, only to lose in an official game by one man.After all, I don't support Yakult because I like the defeat, I feel frustrated every time.

However, the quality obtained by supporting Yakult is not without, that is tolerance for failure.It's annoying to fail, but it's hard to live for a long time if you worry about everything about it-this is such a kind of optimism.It seems to me that Giants fans can't afford to lose by comparison. When Yakult won the battle between Yakult and Giant, a giant fan friend called me and said "kicked the pig", which was really embarrassing.