Sorry it’s been so long since our last entry. We’ve been battling through the end of a long, very difficult season. Actually things have been a little better of late as we have won seven of the last 10 and tonight was a special one.
I am honored to have been in uniform coaching for Bobby tonight as he reached another milestone in his career. Tonight was his 1,600 win as a manager surpassing his long time friend and mentor, Tommy Lasorda, who has 1599.
What a great achievement!
Bobby now has 1,117 wins in the states and 483 in Japan. Most of you know the great history, the magic and a World Series in New York in 2000, the great run and a Japan Championship in 2005. It’s been an incredible career for Bobby, a great friend to so many of us, a great dad, husband, son, mentor, boss… and the list goes on.
Currently in Japan, one of the great sports traditions is taking place, THE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP. (This year is the 91 year of the tournament.)
Each year, every high school, 4041 this year, from all 47 Prefectures in Japan compete for the National Championship. Prefectures are similar to states in America. Every prefecture sends one team to the championship tournament at the hallowed Koshien Stadium in Osaka, home of the Hanshen Tigers, which was originally built in 1924 specifically for this tournament before professional baseball was even formed.
It holds 55,000 people and is where we won our Nippon Series Championship in 2005. Koshien reminds me of a combination of Fenway and Wrigley and is steeped in tradition. Unlike Fenway and Wrigley, Koshien has an all dirt infield, which is very common at the high school level in Japan. For those of you who have played at Belltown Park in Stamford, you have an idea.
Tokyo and Hokkaido prefectures send 2 teams since they are so large geographically, so there are 49 teams that make it to Koshien. The tournament runs for about 2 weeks and the teams with the best ace pitcher usually advance. There are traditionally the same strong schools represented every year, but all one team needs is that stud pitcher to carry them through. Once the teams reach Koshien, it is very common for the ace pitcher to pitch just about every inning of every game en route to the championship.
Two years ago we watched a thrilling championship game that was suspended after 15 innings. They suspended the game due to extreme heat and fear of exhaustion. The teams came back the next day for another full 9 inning game to decide the championship. One of the teams had the same pitcher pitch all 15 innings on the first day then return and pitch all 9 the following day. Unheard of! Can you imagine a high school coach trying to get away with that in the states?
But here, that’s the tradition.
By the way, that pitcher’s name is Yuki Saitoh and he is now at Waseda University, a baseball powerhouse, and is billed as the next Japanese superstar pitcher. Saitoh’s pitching opponent in the championship game (or should I say games) was Masahiro Tanaka, one of the top pitcher’s in our league now, who we lost to last night, and was a member of the Japanese WBC team. Tanaka pitched 12 1/3 of the 15 innings and came back the next day to pitch 8 1/3.
Saitoh threw 6 complete games, 949 pitches in 69 innings (both tournament records) over the 2 week span, including 4 complete games, 43 innings and 553 pitches in the final 4 days of the tournament. He also had 78 strikeouts which is #2 on the all time list. Is that incredible or what!!!!!!!!!!!
In 1998 Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched 17 innings (250 pitches) in his quarterfinal game, 1 inning the next day in the semifinal game, then pitched a 9 inning no hitter the next day in the final game, which was the first tournament no hitter in 59 years.
This year’s top pitcher in the tournament is left hander Kikuchi, who has the interest of many MLB teams.
The tournament is absolutely awesome. Every game at Koshien, and many leading to Koshien, are televised and people are glued to TV’s all over the country. There are office pools similar to our NCAA basketball pools. Fans come from all over the country to cheer their teams on in the sweltering heat of August and the tears flow when they go down in defeat.
Each games starts with the sound of a siren going off in the background to signify the start of the game.
Prior to the game, both teams line up in front of home plate to wish each other luck. After the game they do the same but now the losing team congratulates the winners. The winners’ school fight song is then performed by that schools band as the players stand in front of the cheering section (Oendan).
Another popular tradition is as each team is eliminated from the tournament, all the players scoop some of the dirt from the field to save as a memory of the great tournament.
It really is hard to put into words. One really has to see it. Certainly one of the best traditions of Japan.
At the beginning of the game on Sunday we all had a pleasant surprise.
As always, as our starting lineup in being announced the right field cheering section (Oendan) rolls out and enormous banner that covers the entire section that says “Marines is my Life.”
Well today’s game was sponsored by Master Card and the sign was dedicated to Bobby and read “Bobby Forever”“Priceless” and in Japanese (Hiragana and Kanji) “Value that can’t be bought.”
Another nice gesture by the fans, along with a petition signed by 120,000 people, showing their support and love for Bobby.
The day ended as good as it began with a walk off (Sayonara) victory in the 11th on a base hit by our backup shortstop, and personal favorite of mine, Hayasaka.
About one month ago while watching CNN International, which is often our only source of English TV in Japan when we are on the road, we saw a segment on a small restaurant in Japan that has monkeys serving the customers.Very intriguing for someone who has years of restaurant experience.
At Bobby V’s, good service and training our staff properly is always the #1 priority.At times it is more difficult than others but I think we have done pretty well since we have been in business for 29 years.Now training monkeys on the other hand seems like a monumental task so we had to see this place.
Benny Agbayani and his wife Neila did some research and found out where this place was so on our last off day of the all star break the Agbayani’s (Benny, his wife Neila, Aleia (8), Ailana (4) and Bruin (2)) and the Ramppens journeyed off to this monkey restaurant.
Interesting journey:
We left Baytown on the 4:54 bus.We caught the 5:07 express train from Kaihinmakuhari to Tokyo.We took the 6:08 bullet train (Shinkansen) from Tokyo to Utsunomiya and then a 10 minute taxi ride to the restaurant arriving at 7:10.
So after over a 2 hour journey, we arrive at the monkey restaurant and I’m thinking, this place better be good.
It turned out to be a lot of fun. The monkeys actually did not serve any drinks or food and did not appear until we were finished eating.After dinner out came a monkey delivering warm, pre wrapped towels which is a tradition in Japan.The kids were all very excited but the Ramppen boys were a little nervous.He was very friendly and dressed as a waiter.He immediately jumped up on Benny’s shoulder and was just hanging out.He may have thought Benny was his father (just kidding Benny).
He mingled with all of us and then was accompanied by a bigger older monkey and they performed a 20 minute show with their trainer.They played baseball, basketball and did some pretty amusing tricks.
After the show, they brought out 3 very cute baby monkeys for a photo session.
Overall, the night was a lot of fun but a long journey and pretty expensive just to see a few monkeys serve napkins and do some tricks.The kids had fun so I guess as parents that’s all that matters.
We are in the middle of the All-Star break and have five days off. We will practice on two of those days and have the rest off so we have a lot of free time. Bobby, as always, has a full schedule of commitments, speaking engagements and so on, and will be entertaining Jenks, Moose, Jonah and Jonah’s brother Ian, (the guys who made the Zen of Bobby V). I will be spending time with Michelle and the boys playing baseball, bowling, water park, the movies and as much as we can fit into a few days.
Last night was one of Bobby’s engagements. It is Notre Dame week here in Tokyo and the Legends Football team is here to play the Japanese All-Star team in a game at the Tokyo Dome. Last night was the reception/pregame dinner attended by many alumni and ex-players along with legendary coach Lou Holtz at the Sanno Hotel in Tokyo. This was a can’t-miss event for me because one of the ex-players in attendance was Tim Brown. For those of who may not know — if that’s possible — I am a die hard Oakland Raiders fan and Tim Brown in my favorite all-time player.
Our good friend Larry Rocca, who is friends with Bill Moran and Jim Moynihan who are Notre Dame alums and ran the event, pulled some strings and arranged so that I would be sitting next to Tim Brown and his beautiful wife.
What a night. Bobby was asked to say a few words at the opening of the evening and was great as always. As he ended his speech he said some heart warming things about your truly and that I was sitting next to my favorite Raider, Tim Brown, which was pretty cool.
I was not disappointed. Tim Brown is an awesome guy and we talked like we were old buddies. I had a lot of questions about the past and present Raiders and the reasons why we have stunk for so long. Many Al Davis questions obviously. He spoke candidly about everything. After all those years of wearing his jersey and screaming like a mad man at the television, I got to meet #81. Great night. Sorry you couldn’t be there, Keith.
Sitting next to my man Tim Brown
The legendary Lou Holtz, who is a great speaker and pulled off a pretty impressive magic trick
FR & TB
Me, Lou, Bobby, Jenks, Ian and Moose (partially blocked)
Here’s one for the fans that you don’t often hear about.
In the third game of our recent series against the Fighters we were up against the mighty Yu Darvish, Japans’ top pitcher.He was up to form again and had a no-hitter through six innings.As our team was coming off the field to hit in the 7th, our hitting coach, Takahashi-san, called the team together in front of the dugout for a little motivational speech.
Dugout meetings are very popular in Japan.In High School there is usually a gathering in front of the dugout between every inning.At the major league level it happens more like once or twice a game.
So after Takahashi-san finished his brief inspirational talk, Bobby jumped into the center of the group and with his usual high energy and powerful voice he offered $500 to the guy who gets the first hit, $1,000 to the guy who scores the first run and $5,000 to the guy who knocks in the game winning run.
THE PLAYERS COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!!!!!!Talk about immediate energy.Everybody loosened up and started to have some fun –which is the way the game should be played.We broke up the no hitter that inning and threatened to score but came up short.In the 9th our all-star center fielder, Saburo hit a solo home run but we ended up losing 2-1.So the loss cost Bobby and extra $1,500 but as always he added a different dimension to the game that most people never hear about.
We are currently in Hokkaido, the northern most region of the country that is very close to Russia, for a 3 game series against the now first place Fighters.
Hokkaido is absolutely beautiful. The weather is similar to northern New England so right now there is no humidity and it is very comfortable compared to the high humidity of the Tokyo area. Hokkaido has beautiful mountain ranges and is surrounded by 3 bodies of water, the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Sea of Japan to the west and the Sea of Okhotsk to the north.In the winter the skiing is world class and Bobby and I have had the good fortune to hit the slopes twice in the last few years. We were lucky enough to have preseason games (called open season games in Japan) in Hokkaido followed by an off day which worked out perfectly for us.
The first trip went something like this:
Since we were here for baseball games (in a dome of course), we only had our baseball gear and no ski wear, but we were told that ski resorts in Japan rent clothes along with equipment, which we had never heard of. So we head out early in the morning for one of the local mountains about an hour and a half away and walk into the rental shop and of course everyone freaks out when they see Bobby. Once they get their emotions under control and Bobby signs a bunch of autographs, as usual, we tell them we need skis, boots and poles but also need clothes. Within about 1 minute (no measuring, no questions) 6 people come out from the back room with head to toe ski wear for both of us and amazingly, everything fit perfectly. How they figured out our sizes so quickly was incredible. The equipment was also great so off we went.
We had a great day!We were accompanied by Andrew Jenks, Andrew Muscato and Jonah Quickmire Pettigrew, who were here filming the award winning documentary “The Zen of Bobby V.”If you haven’t seen it, you must. If you want to know what Bobby’s life has been like here for the past 6 years and see what Japanese baseball is all about, check it out. You can also watch footage of our day on the slopes.
Bobby and I have been skiing together for close to 30 years. Back in the restaurant days Bobby took several of the restaurant employees on an annual ski trip to the best mountains all over the world. I think we were on our 23rd or 24th annual trip before things got sidetracked with our journey to Japan. Pretty nice perk for his employees huh?Bobby and Mike Allegra actually started the tradition before I was even around. Mike was one of Bobby’s original key players in the restaurants and is one of our dearest and best friends, who we have shared so many wonderful times with, including our great ski trips. If you ’re reading Mikey, we miss ya and love ya.
Our second trip was the next year to a more famous mountain called Niseko. Same routine with the clothes and skis but this time we had an added bonus. A few off duty ski instructors recognized Bobby (shocker) while we were skiing and offered to be our personal guides for the day, which was awesome. They found fresh snow for us all over the mountain and we had a blast!
Check out the photos and please, check out “The Zen of Bobby V” if you haven’t seen it yet, it really is awesome!
Ferris Wheels are everywhere in Japan including on the ski slopes
Bobby in the Gondola on the way to the top
One of many Bobby/Frank ski photo's we have taken from all over the world
After losing 7 games in a row, we finally won tonight 7-4 over the first place Hawks and Ct’s own, Gary Burnham was the hero.
After a 12 day, 9 game road trip to Sendai, Hokkaido and Osaka, we returned home to Marines Stadium for a 3 game series against the Hawks. Unlike the US, all series in Japan are 3 games except for Inter league play when the series are only 2 games.
We got off to a rocky start giving up 1 in the first inning and 2 in the third to fall behind 3-0 but in the bottom of the third we rallied for 3 to tie it up.
In the bottom of the 6th with a runner on 2B, Ct’s own, Gary Burnham, delivered a 2 run Home Run to right that turned out to be the winning runs as we went on to win 7-3.
In Japan, every game awards a hero of the game. After the game, the hero is interviewed on the field in front of all the fans, who always stick around to celebrate. After the interview, the hero heads out to the right field cheering section, where our most loyal fans sit, where he does a little ritual with the team mascots and basks in the glory as the fans sing the hero’s fight song. He then heads back to the dugout shaking hands and giving high fives to all the adoring fans waiting along the rail. Then it is on to interviews with the press followed by another celebration with the fans in front of the stadium on a small stage where the fans wait for the day’s hero to make and appearance and say a few words.
It really is incredible and a wonderful experience for those fortunate enough to have the opportunity. Gary had a blast as did his lovely fiancé , Rachel, also from the great state of Connecticut.
Besides being a heck of a player, great guy and ultimate competitor, Gary is a guy who truly loves baseball and is proud to put on a uniform each and every day. Among his many accomplishments, Gary holds the all time home run record for the Redding Phillies. Check out the link below which pays tribute to the Redding Home Run Champ.
