Spring Break 04-01-2026

Hello! This post is coming out of the quiet study room in building 6. Today is the second day of classes after Spring Break, a week where I watched a lot of college basketball, American and Japanese baseball, and visited new cities.

My trip to Tokyo was my big trip of the semester. Watching the WBC rounds in Japan, especially those that featured Team Japan (more on that in an upcoming issue) was an experience that significantly beat any trip I could have drawn up in my head. The hype surrounding the tournament has carried into the start of the MLB season and the Orioles look solid so far. Team USA and Orioles superstar Gunnar Henderson got off to a slow start in the first series, but homered and singled a runner in today which is always good to see. The 4 major acquisitions of the Orioles offseason, one that was viewed around the community as one of the best in the league, have yet to hit their strides but I doubt it will take long.

Spring Break coincided with the Koshien High School Baseball Tournament here, a tournament that is equally known for the baseball being played as the enthusiasm it generates across the country. This was the 98th iteration and I was fortunate enough to make it to the quarter-finals rounds on Thursday and Friday. 4 games were played on both days at the beautiful 102 year old Koshien Stadium, home of the Hanshin Tigers, with the first pitch at 9 and the last at 7. While COVID shut down my Freshman year high school season before a single game was played, I can't imagine it held any resemblance to this tournament. Each team ushered in 2+ full sections of students, all matching, with a full band and cheer squad that was singing and chanting for every single pitch, no matter the score. Not only did the go nuts when their team did something well, but every good play or pitching change by either side was met with an applause. I love when fans cheer for other team successes, whenever I'm working an Orioles game and the opposing third baseman makes a diving play or Tarik Skubal leaves the game after delivering 7 shut out innings, I tip my hat. I think that anytime you see something happen really impressive at a baseball game you are lucky - it is just waaaaay more fun when it happens to your team.

Baseball wise, the most distinguishable elements were the amount of 'small ball' and the lengths of pitcher's leashes. It was common to see a starting pitcher throw 130 pitches, and even more common to see batters unselfishly bunt a runner over. Every player in the lineup was expected to be able to get a bunt down and do their job. Because pitching is significantly better than hitting in Japan, runs are a luxury and managers have to manufacture as many as they can. I saw 2 home runs hit in 8 games, both to about the second row of seats next to the foul pole in left field, and although they played in a professional stadium, it is not uncommon for high school teams in the US to beat that in 1. Because the tournament is so prestigious and winning is so important, players are trained in a military-like way. Every player has a shaved head, no cell phone, no girlfriend, and practice for 6+ hours every day. The worst part is that they also don't get to pick their number. Similar to the Murderer's Row Yankees, they are assigned a number by their position. While the Yankees' batting order assignments is different, the positional numbers allows managers to bench and switch players easily. If a player makes an error they are given a worse number and a spot on the bench.

I am in the midst of finishing my summary of the other days I spent in Tokyo watching more baseball and will publish those in between studying for Japanese and studying for my other classes. But mostly studying for Japanese. Thank you for reading.

Oliver