Chiba Lotte Marines

Hi. I am Pa-League no Aniki. I am a Lotte Marine fan myself. The Marines' cheering section in the right field bleachers owe much of their cheering style to J-league soccer supporters, I heard. The way they cheer and sing a different theme song for each player is a breath of fresh air compared to a mindless, noisier-the-better megaphone shouts and horn blowing.

Since the beginning of this season, the Yomiuri Giants' fans have been imitating a lot of the Lotte cheering songs without giving credit to the Lotte fans. While some die-hard Lotte lovers knock "the Yomiuris" for their lack of originality and respect, people in both teams' cheering sections seem to enjoy a pretty good relationship.

Another thing that impresses me about the Marine fans in the rightfield bleachers is that in the name of sportsmanship, they make it a no-no to jeer the opposing team.

However, all cheer and no jeer makes the Pacific League a dull league. Jeering, in fact, is considered by die-hard Japanese Pacific League lovers as one of the essential attractions of Pacific League games.

And that's why, we, the "baka" boys of Makuhari, jeer to our hearts' content from our 3rd level homeplate section seats to keep alive the good old Pacific League spirit. We try not to sit near the bleachers so as not to upset anybody, though. ;-p

Can you update me on the condition Marines ace Tomohiro Kuroki?

Hi. Today (Aug 21) I went to see a Marines 2-gun (minor league) game in Toda against the Yakult Swallows. I saw the likes of Shingo "Sunday" Ono, Frank Bolick and Ryosuke Sawai on the field, but I didn't see Tomohiro "Johnny" Kuroki at all. Nearly all players who are about ready to go off the DL play a few "adjustment games" in the 2-gun minors.

But I did see a new ad, about a month ago, in the fan club booklet showing Johnny smiling with one of those "minus ion" health enhancement rings. He looked quite healthy in the ad, but you can't tell from the ad the state of his mind or the recovery of his shoulder problem.

Chiba Lotte Marines fans were hoping for his comeback this summer, but the way things stand right now, it will have to be much later than that. As far as I know there are no confirmed reports of his possible comeback dates. A few months ago I read an article which said Johnny Kuroki had recovered just about enough to start throwing balls.

Johnny shouldn't make a premature comeback. He has had a series of injuries and has suffered through a series of premature comebacks. Obviously his dedication to his team made him pitch prematurely against his own good judgment. I remember reading Pedro Martinez suffered a similar fate last year and paid dearly for his over-dedication to the game.

But those days are hopefully over. I, for one, will be quite happy to see him make a strong comeback in time for the next season. He is one of the best Pacific League pitchers and nobody, including Johnny himself, should make him head for a forced premature comeback.

Off the field he is known to be a nice person who is loyal to his fans. We can't afford to lose him.