I still have to upload all of the pictures on Photobucket, which is going to take me quite a while, but I'm back from Spring Training with way too many of them (including many - probably too many - videos of Jed taking BP). I'll do a full-write up when I have more time (hopefully sometime this week), but in short I did two Mets games (one against the Orioles - I SAW UEHARA KOJI! - and one against the Fish) and one Sox game (against the Cardinals).

Until everything is uploaded, I'll leave you with my profile picture from Facebook, which was taken by soprano_no_eiji .

(P.S. - As I was on the train down to Florida, I realized I also forgot to wish misscalculation a happy birthday! My apologies for being so late - I really need to be on my computer more!)


EDIT: And today is both cootie_10 and jollygreenpear's birthdays, too! Happy birthday to both of you! And in addition I missed blinding_voip's birthday while I was in Florida, so happy belated birthday to you, too! (I was at the game where your Fish did a lovely bashup job on Redding on Thursday.)

Katsucon is steadily getting worse. This year's con wasn't bad, per se...but the venue was horrible, the events were poorly timed and not spaced out well, and the attendance cap should have been much lower. So nobody I went with, myself included, had very much fun. On top of that, the lack of baseball got to me quickly (nobody recognizing me dressed as Junta did not help) and two of the people staying in our room were quite keen on getting drunk (one of them actually passed out the first night, which was a little nervewracking).

I will list the few good things here, though:

~ I was with my favorite person in the world, so it was all okay. The con was boring in most places, but as long as we were together, it was fine and we were good. I don't know what I would have done or how I would have handled myself without you. You're the best friend I've ever had and I owe you so, so so much. <3 
~ Gakuen Heaven. OH MY GOD. This is a GOOD SHOW.
~ I managed to buy Junta. While dressed as Junta. Without being recognized. Actually, there are these Oofuri phone charms released by Yujin, and the second set contained two different Juntas. soprano_no_eiji found a vendor selling set two and she bought Nishihiro and Oki and I bought both Juntas. I am terrible. But Junta is pretty so I don't care.

( Here they all are! I didn't take many pictures at the con, sadly. )

In short, I cannot wait for Otakon. Something that's actually organized will be very, very nice.

(P.S. - Jed, I love you. I will be coming to watch you play in three weeks and I cannot wait!)

This is honestly really nice to look at right before you go to sleep.

( So it's hard to decide what's prettier, his ERA or him... )

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

...because it keeps taking me away from here for annoyingly lengthy periods of time. And then I miss everybody so much and I get all sad.

A few bullets, because I have been busy and argh:

1. There is a Yu Darvish on my wall. It is a giant calendar. soprano_no_eiji bought it for me because she is awesome. When I get back from my weekend excursion (Katsucon '09), I will have to post pictures. I like his ERA. It kind of overwhelms me. (And yet that's not what I stare at every night before I go to bed.)

2. I will be at Katsucon this weekend in DC - this year I'm cosplaying Junta because he is a complete genius (i.e. a gigantic loser) and (literally?) is married to his batterymate and is incredibly funny and kind of giggles too much (which is way too freaking cute).

3. Finally, and this is the most important news, hence me saving it for last...

soprano_no_eiji and I will be spending our spring break this year in Florida watching two Mets games and one Sox game. So I'm going to actually be at some Spring Training games, which totally makes my life complete! Does anyone here know how much a radar gun would cost me? I'm going to be scoring and scouting prospects (for fun...and to try to convince people that I am a real scout, not a blogger who likes Minor League ball), and a radar gun would make me that much more convincing...

 

Nothing says Happy New Year like curling up on the couch and watching Don Larsen hurl a masterpiece.

So I got MLB Power Pros 2008 this year, and at last I can play as the one and only Jed Lowrie! I made a horrible video of myself taking BP as everyone's favorite Stanford graduate. Note that when Jed is batting he is wearing the team's practice jersey - that's a new detail added in this version of the game.

The camera was on top of my couch, which is why it's off a little bit. Whoops, self.


I apologize for disappearing this month again - finals combined with a ton of work around the house (my mom broke her wrist in November) make for a lack of downtime, so I am really sorry if I missed anything important in any of your lives in the meantime.

This is just a quickie because I have a ton of work to do, as has generally been the case this semester, but I just thought this was an interesting idea. I'm not sure either of them is entirely ready (although I do love them both very much and have decided that I am legally married to Dusty Brown's throwing arm) - I guess we'll just have to see how things work out. (The ideal scenario would be to keep Tek around a little longer to mentor them for maybe a season or so and then let them blossom on their own, but I just don't know if that's happening...)

Also, I actually wrote some of Londinium today. What?

EDIT: I know I've said this before and I will definitely say it again, but I adore the way Jed uses the English language. I love how technical he sounds!

...but I shall not let it!

Last year, the offseason did come pretty darn close to killing me. Oh, it made a valiant attempt at it. But I escaped by discovering the oh-so-glorious Ookiku Furikabutte was indeed available for me to watch on Veoh in January. (For those who want to know, Oofuri's first DVD set, containing the first 13 episodes, is set to be released this upcoming January, and I'll try to come up with an official date as soon as possible!)

Anyway, to continue my theme of surviving the offseason with baseball manga and anime, this year I compiled a list of various baseball series on OneManga.com to read, and I'm posting the links here! We could all use some baseball in December, after all. (I have included a summary of each series, as well, so you can see if it's your cup of tea. Every baseball manga is a little different!)

~ Ookiku Furikabutte by Higuchi Asa: Okay, so this is obviously my favorite manga of all time at the moment. The anime will finally arrive licensed in the United States soon, as I mentioned above, and I am way too excited about that. Anyhow, the plot revolves around Clay Buchholz Mihashi Ren, who arrives at his new high school with absolutely no confidence in his pitching whatsoever because of his volatile relationship with his middle school teammates. Over time, though, his new teammates at Nishiura High School accept him, and his growing bond with his new batterymate, Abe Takaya, helps him to build his self-esteem back up. (Of course, my favorite team isn't the main one, Nishiura, but one of their opponents, Tosei - I call them the "crack school" because they're all crazy. And their battery is married!)

~ Daiya no A (Ace of Diamond) by Terajima Yuji: I just discovered Daiya no A (also Daiya no Esu or Daiei) recently, and I fell in love with it. Our main character is Sawamura Eijun (named for Sawamura Eiji, for whom the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young Award is named), a southpaw pitcher with excellent movement on his fastball (because it's a shonen manga, Eijun's fastball gets a long, silly name - 'rainbow curve naturally moving pitch,' which I think roughly translates to 'rising fastball' in realistic baseball jargon). Scouted out of his Nagano Prefecture middle school by a scout from a Tokyo baseball power school, Eijun ends up at Seidou High School - but sadly, we don't see much past his experimental trials there when still in middle school, because the scanlators have only finished the first two chapters. (And although I try very hard not to be shallow, I must say this - the catcher Eijun first works with, Miyuki Kazuya, is sex on legs.)

~ Nine by Adachi Mitsuru: Adachi is a highly prolific writer of baseball manga, and several of his works will appear on this list. Nine is one of the earliest ones, and it's much shorter in length than Touch and H2, which are the pieces that Adachi is perhaps best known for. I just finished reading this one yesterday, in fact, and it's a cute little story about a middle school track star, Niimi Katsuya, and his best friend, Kawasawa Susumu, the middle school prefectural judo champion, who join Seishuu High School's baseball team in order to help cheer up the coach's daughter, Nakao Yuri. The story follows these two, as well as ace southpaw Kurahashi Eiji, as they navigate their three years of high school, complete with romance and plenty of baseball, and save the high school team, eventually making it strong enough to shoot for Koshien.

~ Cross Game by Adachi Mitsuru: This one's still running. Cross Game follows Kitamura Koh and his friendship with Tsukishima Wakaba, who shares his birthday. The two are very close, and Wakaba's younger sister, Aoba, is rather jealous of their relationship. Suddenly, when she is in fifth grade, Wakaba dies in a swimming accident, and everything changes. The rest of the story follows Koh and his friends as they continue to play baseball in middle and high school (Koh initially pretended not to have any interest in the game, but he trained in secret for years) and his changing relationship with Aoba, who herself is a fantastic pitcher. Interestingly enough, Koh and Aoba's high school is also called Seishuu High, and a part of me wonders if this is supposed to be the same high school from Nine some years later or not (Niimi's class was the Class of 1980-81). (If you cannot tell by this horrible summary of the series, I have not started reading this yet.)

~ H2 by Adachi Mitsuru: The third Adachi series I have on this list (there's one more coming up later!). H2 is about three friends who played together in middle school, Kunimi Hiro, Noda Atsushi and Tachibana Hideo. When a doctor misdiagnoses Kunimi and Noda and tells them they cannot play baseball anymore, they decide to attend Senkawa High School in order to escape the game. Tachibana, on the other hand, goes on to play at the prestigious baseball school Meiwa Daiichi, and manages to become a starter in his freshman season. Kunimi and Noda discover that they have indeed visited with a quack doctor, and they work to transform Senkawa's little baseball club into a full-fledged team, eventually challenging Meiwa Daiichi to move on to play in the Koshien tournament. (I should note that Kunimi and Noda are Senkawa's battery; Kunimi pitches and Noda catches. Tachibana plays third base, as star players are wont to do.)

~ Mr. Fullswing by Suzuki Shinya: This is complete and utter crack. Our main character is Saruno Amakuni, who joins the prestigious Junichi High School baseball team in order to impress and get closer to the team's manager, Torii Nagi. Saruno has absolutely no baseball skills whatsoever and barely understands how to play the game, but he's a natural hitter. Sort of. It seems that even here he is inept, only being able to get his bat on fastballs - breaking balls and off-speed pitches give him trouble, as he's a beginner. Over time, though, he and the other first-years grow in skill and are able to keep up with the upperclassmen as Junichi shoots for Koshien. (My favorite character is first-year second baseman Tomaru Pino - he's got the mentality of a five-year-old and is obsessed with his GBA, but he's extremely fast. He's just way too adorable.)

~ Rookies by Morita Masanori: This is far more serious than Misufuru. Futagotomagawa High School receives a new Japanese teacher, Kawato, who sets out to reform the suspended baseball club, whose members have been banned from school competitions for a year due to a brawl they started during a game. Although at first the players appear uninterested, they eventually become inspired and are motivated to shoot for Koshien once more. (I have not really read this one yet, either. Waaaah. But I started it about two minutes ago to confirm the name of the high school!)

~ Stripe Blue by Moritaka Yuji and Matsushima Yukitaro: As much a romance manga as it is a baseball manga, Stripe Blue's plot concerns a love triangle between Ozawa Abo, an ambidextrous pitcher, and two girls, the spirited Eguchi Hana, a pitcher herself (who gets even more attention as a ballplayer than Ozawa), and wallflower Asai Noriko. In addition to deciding which of these two girls he prefers, he also has to decide which hand to throw with - as a left-hander, his control is impeccable, but when throwing right-handed his Maddux-like control goes entirely out the window and he becomes a fireballer. (I have not started reading this, so I really can't add any more to this at the moment. Sorry!)

~ Touch by Adachi Mitsuru: And finally, we arrive at the most famous Adachi manga of all time - Touch follows a pair of pitcher twins, the Uesugi brothers (Tatsuya and Kazuya), and their friend and next-door neighbor, Asakura Minami. Tatsuya possesses natural talent, but is lazy, whilst Kazuya has to work for everything, but has the work ethic to succeed. Tatsuya declines to directly compete with his brother, even letting Kazuya and Minami get together as they get older although he loves Minami too. Interestingly, Minami secretly prefers Tatsuya. Tragically, in high school, Kazuya runs into the street to save a young boy from being hit by a truck and dies. The rest of the story follows Tatsuya as he picks up where his brother left off, helping out the baseball team as best as he can and becoming the team's ace in Kazuya's place. Touch really isn't for the faint of heart, but if you're looking for a great, engrossing story that centers around baseball and the memories of a former player bringing everyone together again, this is the one. (Random, more lighthearted tidbit - Kazuya is the namesake for Miyuki Kazuya of Daiya no A.)

That's everything I have access to at the moment - the people scanlating Daiya no A are scanlating Major, as well, but they did not start with the very beginning, and if I'm going to take on that epic, which follows the career of Shigeno Goro from kindergarten to the Majors (both in Japan and America - he even participates in the Baseball World Cup, which is essentially the World Baseball Classic disguised a little bit), I want to start from the very beginning. This should keep me busy for months, anyway.

First and foremost, I really have to apologize for disappearing for roughly two months. I was attacked by approximately five or six history papers, and they really were not fun. In addition, my weekends have been preoccupied with various things (as those who are friends with me on Facebook can attest to). As a consequence of my disturbingly busy life, I have a ton of catching up to do, so I'm going to try my very best!

1. I did start reading Daiya no A, and it is amazingly awesome. The scanlations for this delightful piece can be read here. (Eijun is at BMU now under the LJ name bmurainbowcurve .)

2. I did a good many things over these past two months - I just haven't been near a computer with spare time for very long! If you're not friends with me on Facebook, Junta keeps a pretty good record of what I'm up to (see tosei_10 ).

3. Tazawa. A few months ago, I was looking at scouting videos of him (okay, so I was on YouTube, but that counts, right?) and I definitely liked what I saw there, but I need to do more research on him before I can really determine how I feel. I was excited when we picked him up nonetheless, but there is more research to be done.

4. UHM, DUSTIN. YOUR AWESOME OVERWHELMS ME.

5. Eri Yoshida! Got drafted! And is younger than me! Shit! Anyhow, seeing her getting drafted got me incredibly excited. That's a huge step for baseball right there - and the fact that she's only sixteen impresses the crap out of me. She also gets bonus points for aspiring to be just like Wake.

6. Seibu won the Japan Series! Eeeee! That totally redeemed the results of the American postseason for me. Seeing that young team with its brand new manager play their way to victory was just absolutely wonderful - I can't wait to keep watching them for years to come, because they're so fresh and full of life and exciting!

7. And finally...from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, I bring you...this. (The audio in the background is my entire family reacting to the sight of a certain '80s pop icon emerging from inside a float.)

First off, as somebody who has quickly developed a severe enjoyment for being behind the plate through her 1860s baseball games (thanks, Oofuri, this is probably your fault, too), watching Tek stop the squeeze play was really freaking cool.

Secondly...Jed, words cannot express how proud I am of you. This time last year I was watching you in Arizona! And look at you now, winning games and everything! Nicely done, you!

...I don't feel like looking at the matchup between the Sox and the Rays right now - I'll do that when I'm less tired. I had a historiography or two to write last week, and so I'm wiped. That almost sounds like fate, though, doesn't it?

(P.S. - Anyone else catch Justin crediting Jed on TBS? That reminds me of that lovely interview they did for Baseball Prospectus here. Someday I want to transcribe that entire thing, because it's both informative and hilarious. I also have it on my iPod because I am a loser.)

This series looks like it could be a lot of fun. Given my addiction to baseball manga, I'll take anything I can get, but this one won the Shogakukan Manga Award in the shonen category this year, which caught my eye. Unfortunately, I don't see too much out there related to it, which is depressing.

Baka-Updates lists the summary: It is a manga of high school baseball. The main character, who is a pitcher from a country high school, accidentally gets teamed up with a catcher from a school with an elite baseball team. He decides to quit his school to attend the school that this catcher plays.....

This is the Japanese Wikipedia article on it. As I say here pretty often, my Japanese is still limited, but I can read various baseball terms, so I was able to pick things up from it here and there. Now if only more people would show interest in this series...

Just a quick post before dinner - I will get back to comments later, since Yahoo! is not being kind enough to let me check my e-mail at the moment. Sorry - I'm not trying to blow anyone off!

Found some footage on NPB Tracker (where I was reading up about Tazawa and trying to get a better look at his stuff) of Tsuyoshi Shinjo, one of my first favorite ballplayers. He homered in the first game I have memories of being at, although that was overshadowed by a Piazza walk-off against Atlanta that day. In this video, he's still with Hanshin - he homers, moves defensively to second base and performs well, and then tops it off by hitting a pitch that looks somewhat like an intentional ball (but could just be a pitch way to the outside) to drive in a run and win the game.

(Also, check out the page of links where I found it - there's some footage of 18-year-old Daisuke Matsuzaka throwing around 97 mph, too.)

EDIT: An Oki Caramelldansen? For serious? I love it. (Note: Oki from Oofuri, not Okaji.)

Between finally getting better and finding that this movie is on YesAsia.com, I think my day is made.

(Okay, that and the Sox totally kicking ass, too. Go Wake!)

This was probably the most emotionally important hit I ever saw. I remember it like it was yesterday - I can recall the entire day that made it so important very clearly, because my father was flying out to Chicago that morning and his plane was two gates away from the ones used in the terror attacks. He called to let my mother know he was okay; by the time I was done with that school day I ran outside to my mom's car, sobbing, hoping he was fine, and was informed that he indeed was.

And a few weeks later, there was this home run. It was beautiful. It was poignant. It was just what New York needed.

It still gives me chills to watch it.

(Also, happy birthday to Jacoby Ellsbury! Can't forget that!)

Dear Tito,

Why not Pauley or Smith? Surely they were safer options than Timlin, right? I thought you'd realized by now that he wasn't safe in close games, but I guess not. He was fantastic back in '04, but it's been four long years, and over that time a person who's already aging often finds that they don't have the stuff they used to - people aren't exactly robots, and they break down. I love that you stand by your veteran players - that's very admirable - but there's nothing wrong with trusting the kids once in a while. I know I do. I would've trusted Kottaras' bat, too, on that note - I find it's rather useful when you need a hit now and again, and I know he's available. I don't know much about David Ross' abilities, but I think Kottaras might have been the better option here. Timlin is still the issue here, however - he's not who he used to be, and I feel horrible about saying this about someone on the '04 team, but he's probably done after this season. I like that you trust him, but there are certain situations that I don't let people I trust into because I know it's beyond their range of ability, and unfortunately you're going to have to start treating Timlin like Gagne here if you want to win games like this. Just consider David Pauley and Chris Smith next time - they're not bad pitchers, you know.

Sincerely,
Some heartbroken kid in a Pennyslvania dorm room wearing her rally cap and swearing wildly, surely waking up half her building

Emotional attachment really hurts. There were so many chances in this game, and the bats just floundered. I can't believe it. On the plus side, the crying is making my sinus infection clear up.

I love this game, but I know someday it's going to kill me. I should probably eat healthier, what with the way this game gets my blood going - it's going to give me a heart attack someday if I'm not careful.

College, it turns out, has been even busier than summer was this year.

At least I've always had something to do, but somehow I don't think I'll be doing much gamethreading now that I'm back, either, which I apologize about - I thought having a more regular schedule would help, but in this case my schedule's just been odd. Not that it hasn't been fun, because it seriously has been (I even called a rattlesnake at the zoo at Hershey 'Brandon Webb' very loudly in front of a bunch of confused people; there is video of this in an earlier post of mine).

The thing that made my weekend was the Rays being swept. It put me in an incredibly good mood (1.5 back!), which helps to counter the fact that I am getting one of my signature sinus infections at the moment. I am currently in the sore throat stage, which will progress to the sore throat has healed but now my nose is constantly stuffy stage in a few days. It doesn't keep me out of class or anything, but it's annoying and it hurts to swallow. Campbell's chicken noodle has been the midnight snack of choice lately.

I'm trying to check my Facebook once a day. I'm not really a Facebook person (I much prefer LJ), but I'm making an effort to at least keep up with people for a change. I kind of forgot I had a Facebook when I first started it and didn't use it for roughly a month and a half, but now that my kid brother has one, too, it's easier for me to remember to check it because he and I can keep in touch more easily with it. I also started an album in which people can view the odd things I draw in my notes in class. But the point of this is that I'm trying a little experiment here. For those who know who Sheridan is, you can now friend him on Facebook, as well (search 'Sheridan Travers') - and he and I are listed as being 'in a relationship' at the moment. I am trying to see if I can convince people that Sheridan is both real and my boyfriend who lives in Rhode Island and goes to school in Vermont. People who know me from school and friend me may be persuadable, as they don't know about Slumberwood at all, so we'll see how this goes...

Otherwise, that's about it. Yay.

Tosei Mafia. I'm serious. (They show up about halfway through...)

School starts tomorrow. Aw, well.

I just had what may have been the funniest weekend of my life, too. I spent half of it as Takase Junta, but that is completely beside the point.

I have a feeling that this is going to be the best school year ever. Period.

EDIT: For example, the other day I saw a diamondback rattlesnake at the zoo at Hershey. I proceeded to call it Brandon Webb in front of a bunch of people. They clearly were not baseball fans because they looked at me funny.

DUSTIN PEDROIA IS THE COOLEST PERSON IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. NUFF SAID.