All Star Game

The 1000^th person came just after midnight Friday, 18^th. 誰だったんだろう。恥ずかしくなかったら、知らせてください。

Random Thoughts: Japan in this year’s All Star Game
The All-Star Game this past Tuesday was rather interesting. It was, according to all the hype, a new kind of All-Star game. No longer your father’s Mid Summer’s classic, this game was played for higher stakes this year—home field advantage in the World Series. The league of the winning team would play games one, two, and if necessary six and seven in the World Series. (If you’re unfamiliar, the WS is a best of seven series, the first team to win four takes the crown.) This advantage is nothing to sneeze at. Of the last eight series decided by a seventh game, the team with home field advantage has won—get this—EVERY SINGLE ONE. Of the last 12 that have gone to the sixth game, 11 have gone to the team that opened the Series. Up until now, the World Series home field advantage has alternated between the American and National Leagues, last year being the American leagues turn. In a way, the American league had less pressure: if they lost, hey, the National league was supposed to get home filed advantage anyway. But still, when Shigetoshi Hasegawa of the Seattle Mariners gave up a two run home run that allowed the National League to take the lead, I’d bet every baseball fan in Japan watching was shocked. Hasegawa, as the losing pitcher of record, was certainly relieved when Blalock of Texas took back the lead in the eighth and the A-League ultimately won…

BTW: Why would every so many fans in Japan be watching? They had a vested interested in it. While Ichiro is a star and easily deserved to be a starter, Hideki Matsui of the (hated) Yankees was a starter ONLY because of international ballot stuffing—starting players are voted in by the fans and internet voting is available with a maximum of 10 votes per registered e-mail. Japanese voters made sure that their darling, formerly of the (hated) Yomiuri Giants, made the starting lineup. Now, Matsui has been doing well of late and perhaps deserved to be in the game, but not as a starter…

More Random Thoughts: Losing Weight
Ugh, a most unpleasant thought for Onigiriman. Eating is not a necessity to live, it is a pleasure to be savored. As a result, I eat for taste, without concern for calories or cholesterol. As a result… well, I’m not called Onigiriman for nothin’. Anyway, the only way to regain my girlish figure is to exercise, and so I have been running religiously since January this year. Well, let me tell you that I have been eating—and drinking—whatever I want and still lost 13 pounds. This feat has been accomplished by running about 15 miles a week. So far, since my New Year’s resolution, I have run for more than 450 miles. Ok, ok, so it took over six months to do this, but 450 miles! *pats self on back.* Unfortunately, the knees seem to be going, the hips joints ache, and my ankles need to be massaged. Once you near 50, the whole body begins to go down hill, not just the choice parts…