Marinerds, etc.

Being a Fighters fan means having 500 instant friends the minute you sit down in the Fighters' outfield cheering section wearing a Nippon Ham jersey.

Being a Fighters fan means that to you, the 19-year-old phenom pitcher of the year was Yu Darvish.

Being a Fighters fan means you can identify the flag of Panama, and you know that "Panama" is really the Spanish word for "country where powerful switch-hitters come from".

Being a Fighters fan means knowing that "Macias" and "Seguignol" both really have four syllables.

Being a Fighters fan means knowing when "Ogasawara" has five syllables and when it has three.

Being a Fighters fan means getting a huge grin on your face when the oendan leaders unfurl the "Ogasawara" banner, because it means that 1) the most fun hitter to watch in the world is at bat, and 2) it's time to sing the Ogasawara song!

Being a Fighters fan means singing "Oi, oi, Hokkaido" and high-fiving everyone within reach when a run is scored.

Being a Fighters fan means having more than one nutty outfielder who wears funny costumes before and after games.

Being a Fighters fan means you should go eat at Yakiniku Erika, which is a 5-minute walk from Nippori station.

Being a Fighters fan means knowing the last two lines were referring to Hichori Morimoto.

Being a Fighters fan means seeing the kanji "稀哲" and reading it "Hichori". (A strange unique name for a strange unique boy.)

Being a Fighters fan means sitting on a subway next to a complete stranger wearing an Ogasawara jersey and chatting about baseball as if you've been life-long friends.

Being a Fighters fan means you have to put up with Shinjo's crazy-ass stunts.

Being a Fighters fan means you actually ENJOY putting up with Shinjo's crazy-ass stunts.

Being a Fighters fan means you know the Seguignol wave and the Yukio Tanaka jump.

Being a Fighters fan means that you don't care how many years Yukio is past his prime, damnit, he's Yukio Freaking Tanaka and you'll cheer your head off for him.

Being a Fighters fan means that you've watched Kensuke Tanaka go from being "the other" Tanaka to being "the other" half of an awesome middle infield with Makoto Kaneko.

Being a Fighters fan means pretending Kazunari Sanematsu never existed.

Being a Fighters fan means that Tomoya Yagi was the 2006 PL Rookie of the Year, no matter what the judges decide.

Being a Fighters fan means that NO, the Texas Rangers (or anyone else) can't have Trey Hillman.

Being a Fighters fan means knowing that even though the new mascot BB the Bear is pretty dorky, he's nowhere near as bad as Fighty the... flamingo? pterodactyl? big ugly pink bird? was.

Being a Fighters fan means wearing fuzzy bear ears and waving an inflatable blue dolphin and being surrounded by hundreds of other crazy people doing the same thing.

Being a Fighters fan means having a deep spiritual connection with the island of Hokkaido even though you've never been there.

Being a Fighters fan means, most of all, that WE ARE NUMBER ONE!


Second Stage. Darvish. Sugiuchi. Wednesday at 6pm (2am PDT).