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
