Tag: baseball

Catching a Ballgame

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"Kids at the Game" Arlington, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/1250 sec, ISO200
 “Kids at the Game” Arlington, 2016

こんばんは！

Today we drove up to watch the Texas Rangers play the Oakland A’s in Arlington. It’s a bit of a drive to get up there from Austin but it was fun because all six of us (my family plus our friends Matt and Kumiko) drove up in my mini-van. 🚐

The weather was blazing at the park ☀, and the seats that I had bought were in full sun… it was way too hot and we only sat there for an inning before relocating to a shadier part of the park. In fact, the women didn’t even venture down to the seats in the sun! I don’t blame them. 😩

Must remember to only buy covered seats for the day games!

"Spectators" Arlington, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/640 sec, ISO800
 “Spectators” Arlington, 2016

We then found some other seats in the shade, and watched the rest of the ballgame. Too bad the Rangers lost, but it was still fun!

After the game, it was time to head over to Kula Sushi for dinner. That was a great experience! Kula Sushi is a kaiten-zushi, or conveyor belt serving style. But Kula takes it even further, because you can order anything on the menu via a tablet, and it will be prepared and sent to the table via another conveyor belt which is above the main belt. It’s very hi-tech! Loved it!

"Sushi Time" Carrollton, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5, 1/90 sec, ISO3200
 “Sushi Time” Carrollton, 2016

Anyways, that is all for today. It was a long drive back home, and now it’s late. In fact, I need to cheat a little and set the posting time an hour back so that I can have a Sunday post. 😜

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Baseball in Miami

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"At the Marlins Game" Miami, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec, ISO1600
 “At the Marlins Game” Miami, 2016

Hello! How’s it going?

Today a few of us decided to catch a Marlins game while we had a free day. The Mets were in town visiting and we got some great seats on the right-field side. I had forgotten that Ichiro played for the Marlins, but when we got to our seats we noticed there were a lot of Japanese fans in the seats. Then I realized that we had the chance to see the great Ichiro!

Unfortunately he wasn’t in the lineup… All the Japanese fans were bummed, I’m sure. But happily, in the 8th inning Ichiro came up to bat as a pinch hitter. He ended up striking out, but it was cool to see him play at least a little bit. ⚾️

I’m happy I have gotten to see some great ballplayers during my lifetime. Besides Ichiro, I have seen Derek Jeter, Clayton Kershaw, Mike Piazza, Tony Gwynn, and Ozzie Smith among others. Hall-of-Famers!

It’s so fun to visit the different MLB stadiums around the country. This was the 7th MLB stadium I have been to, and I’ve been to 3 in Japan.

In the end, the Mets beat the Marlins 0-3 but we still had a fantastic time. I’m so glad we went!

"Baseball Panorama" Miami, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/7.1, 1/125 sec, ISO1250
 “Baseball Panorama” Miami, 2016

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Note: This post was written on 8/1/2016

Cage Work

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"At the Cages" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/15 sec, ISO800
 “At the Cages” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！

Well, the weather is heating up around here. ☀️ I received an email from the electric company asking us to try not to use lots of energy between the hours of 2pm and 6pm. They recommend setting the thermostat to 80° F and not to use appliances. I guess setting the thermostat to use less energy is a good thing at all times, right?

Today’s photo is of my son Koa at the batting cages. This session, he did great, and was hitting the balls much better than last time. It was funny because the batting cage facility was crowded with high school girls practicing their softball batting. I think Koa was trying to concentrate more because of the female presence! He usually goofs around more, but tonight he was more serious and the results were that he was able to connect a lot more consistently. One of the softball coaches actually told Koa that he had a good swing!

For the photo I used a slower shutter speed of 1/15 second so I could show some of the motion instead of just freezing the action. The shutter clicked right after he hit the ball, and you can see the white streak of the ball shooting up towards center field.

I hope you had a nice Wednesday!

おやすみなさい！ – B Barron Fujimoto

Vin’s last year

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We’ve been enjoying watching baseball on MLB.TV this year, thanks to T-mobile’s perk to its customers. It’s so great to be able to see all of the Dodger games live, and to hear Vin Scully call the game. But the other day when we were watching, I started thinking about how different Dodger baseball will be starting next year after Vin Scully retires.

For all my life (and pretty much all Dodger fans), I’ve listened to Vin call the games… and I am of the generation that will remember sitting in Dodger Stadium, hearing Vin’s voice filling the air from all the transistor radios that people would bring to the game. It was quite an auditory spectacle, and something that ended when scoreboards got more elaborate and transistor radios became less common. I’m so happy to have experienced that period of history!

There were three magical things about a game at Dodger Stadium for me. Hearing Vin’s voice over the radios, listening to Nancy Bea Hefley/Helen Dell playing the organ, and eating Farmer John Dodger Dogs. Sadly, only the Dodger Dogs will be left after this year is over.

It’s going to be very odd knowing that Vin will not be calling any more games, but I am glad we all got to enjoy many, many years of his amazing work.