Autumn Baseball Tournament

In early October, I was invited to spend a warm Saturday afternoon watching high school baseball. This tournament was for Kanagawa High School boys, first to second year students only.

I'm not a huge baseball fan, but I love being outdoors and watching sports is a favorite of most Canadians, so I agreed to go.

The tickets:

The baseball ground:

The park itself was located in a massive sports area in Southern Kanagawa, 10 minutes by train from Yokohama. While walking to the baseball stadium, we passed by: a running track, a soccer field, an art museum, water fountains, two swimming pools and tennis courts -- all located in this sports area. I thought Japan really invests in "quality of life" for its citizens.

In an earlier post on high school baseball, I mentioned how the opposing teams bow to each other before play begins. I finally caught a photo of this unique tradition:

The players line up....

....and bow. 

Unfortunately, the team I came to cheer, lost, but still, it was a good time.

Japanese baseball is almost finished up for the year. Next year, in spring, play begins again. These high school tournaments are a great deal -- only ¥500 ($5) per person.