Thursday, July 07, 2005

アメリカの誕生日の野球

Monday was the 4th of July, which is America's Independence Day Holiday. 6 of my friends and I went to watch a Major League Baseball game in the city. The San Francisco Giants were playing the Cincinnati Reds at the baseball stadium. We took the subway there and then walked to the stadium along the waterfront, known as The Embarcadero.

The Ferry Building, along the Embarcadero.


Since it was daytime, I was able to get a nice clear picture of the Bay Bridge.


And since I was there with my friends, I was able to have myself in the picture too. :-P


kai, Flora and eric waiting.


We walked undernearth the bridge to get to the stadium, which let me get this nice view from closer up.


Here is the SBC Park, it was only finished about 5 years ago, its one of the nicest in the Major Leagues.


SBC is the name of the phone company. It used to be Pacific Bell.


At the main entrance they have this statue of Willie Mays, he was a very famous player in the 1950s and 60s.


I decided to get another picture from the front. Its a nice statue. But when I looked at it closer I was suprised to see something strange...


oops! :-P


We met up with my friend Lisa and her husband Don. she is a librarian who works at a University.


We had very good seats. High up but right behind home plate. The view is great from here.


The stadium is right on the water. Many boats sit in the water right behind the outfield.


Since it was Independence Day, they had many US Military there for the national anthem at the start of the game.



It was very sunny at the start of the game. Luckily we were in the shade after the 2nd or 3rd inning.


If a big homerun is hit, it goes into the water and some people in small boats will grab it.


One of my favorite things to do at a baseball game is to take action pictures. I took a LOT of them. The batter is about to bunt the ball.


Mmmm, garlic fries! Gilroy is a town south of San Francsico that is famous for garlic farming.


The view from the top of the left field tier is great too. Even though it was very sunny, it actually was nice and cool, only about 17-18 degrees and breezy. It does not get very hot in San Francisco during the summer.


The view from the outfield is very nicely maintained. Here two outfielders are going after a ground ball.


You can see the ball in mid-air as the batter is starting to swing.


When the Giants hit a homerun, they shoot smoke up around the outfield.


"Lou Seal" is the name of the mascot for the Giants. During the game he comes out and dances on top of the dugout. He also throws out bags of peanuts to the fans.

Its traditional in American Baseball during the 7th inning to stop and have the '7th inning stretch.' Everyone stands up and sings 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'. Here's a video




Late in the game, something funny happened. A 'streaker' came onto the field (see the guy near the '404' sign? he is only wearing black pants, no shirt). A streaker is someone who runs in front of a crowd naked. It happens sometimes in big sporting events (usually when people are very drunk).


He wasn't naked when he first climbed down... but then after a few seconds he decided to go all the way. Of course I had to capture it on film! :-D


He pulled his pants up and the security guards took him away. :-o


Many big ships come through the bay, the port of Oakland, on the opposite site of the bay is one of the biggest on the American west coast.


Group shot (except not all of us, since it was taken by Burnowt)


After the game there were a bunch of SF Police on motorcycles waiting outside for crowd control.


Lisa looks so happy, she got a box of Hakata Torimon.


It was a lot of fun for me to see my friends and enjoy a fun 4th of July in America.


Afterwards we went to an Italian restaurant nearby for dinner. It was oishii.


This restaurant is 'family style', and they have lots of Italian pictures on the walls all over the place.


On the way back to the subway, we passed by the Sony Metreon, which is a shopping mall downtown. They have a big movie theater on top and a lot of shops and restaurants.


地下鉄で帰った。

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