Fans at Ballparks

- To my knowledge, in Japan, the majority of fans that support the home team sit on the 1B side while the Visiting team's fan sit on the 3B side.

Right. But I once knew a guy who would sit in the 3B side at home games because he found the cheering squads scary. Go figure...

- I love it when they call out the player's name urging him to "hit the ball out."

Yeah, I was fascinated by this way of rooting for your team at first. I'd never seen it until I came to Japan, of course. Rugby, the main sport (national obsession?) where I come from, isn't really conductive to organised cheering, because there are spontaneous ups and downs in play every minute or so. In cricket, on the other hand, there's just about no action at all on the spectators' part, with the exception of those (literally) riotous fans in India and Pakistan.

But I like Japan's regimented cheering style. It probably wouldn't suit fans in some other countries, but what the hey, it's the way it's done here, it's unique, and it gets to be fun very quickly!

- By the way I hate those noisy sticks (thunder sticks?)

The sound of a crammed-full Koshien stadium, with 50,000 Hanshin fans whacking those things (augmented by a bass drum or two) can raise the hairs on the back of your neck. I'm sure it's very intimidating for less experienced opposition players.

Forgive my ignorance, but don't the oendan boys sit in the outfield? I thought the expensive A-seats around the infield were occupied by sarariman.

Where they are located may depend on the team and the stadium. In Yankee Stadium the right field bleacher seats are occupied by a group called the Bleacher Creatures. As the first pitch of the game is thrown they begin chanting the name of each player in order. They will not stop until that particular player ackowledges them with a wave or salute. During the game they may start a chant to ridicule a player on the opposing team.

But the constant cheering done by the Japanese fans is unique. I wonder when it originated.

Yes, the "oendan" cheering sections are more between 1st base to right-center for "home" fans and between 3rd base and left-center for "visiting" fans.

This type of cheering has been copied by Korean and Taiwanese fans.

Ichiro has a great Japanese and American cheering section in the right field bleachers at Safeco Field.

In the Dominican Republic baseball is main sport, second sport, third sport, etc. The fans try to get tickets behind their preferd team's dogout, but it is common to see a lot flags mixed around the crowd. A blue flag beside a yellow flag is normal. Many coming to the ballpark don't seem to know which side the home team is on, because the visitor's flags are scattered around the stands.

Where you from Tokarishi?. I thought you were from Japan.

Actually, you bring up an interesting point - not knowing which side the home team is on.

For professional baseball in Japan, the home team is always on the first base side, the visitors on the third base side. This makes it easy for fans going to any stadium to know which side to sit on. And it may also add to why fans tend to segregate themselves in the stands so efficiently.

Sure, you've got home and away fans mixed in with each other in the infield stands in Japan. But that's usually because the right side of the stadium is already full. But you'll be hard pressed to find a visitor fan in the right field bleachers.

- Where you from Tokarishi?. I thought you were from Japan.

New Zealand. Size=same as Japan; population=3.5 million (people, not sheep - there's more of them); religion=rugby! Of course NZers know baseball, and know what it's about, but we don't play it. That's strange really, because we're quite strong at softball.

In New Zealand, rugby is everything, when our national team (the All Blacks) wins, stock markets rise; when they lose, you can see the ugly side of NZ's people. Unfortunately, baseball doesn't really have a chance.

But I digress...!

Westbaystars-san makes a good point about the "efficient segregation" of fans in Japan. I suppose these fans' customs are just assumed - almost innate - and not initially understandable to outsiders. I remember, at my first baseball game, making comments like "Hey, those guys have stopped cheering for their team" at the change of innings - in all innocence! My friend looked at me, his face said "Are you dumb, or something?" and he said "Yeah, well it's the other team's turn to bat."

Now, of course, I have to restrain myself when I take "uninitiated" friends to the baseball and they start humming the Giants' songs!

I'm ambivalent about the cheering sections at Japanese ballgames. If you get used to them, it's possible to "tune" them out, but the banner-wavers are pretty much impossible to ignore. They wave the flag so close to your head that they replace air-conditioning.