I hope you don’t think I am in a down mood after the last game. I’m NOT! I’m in a GREAT mood! See, we’re now perfectly set-up to throw our three best starters, at home, all in a row. Chunichi is certainly without their ace for the next three games (Chen) as they wasted him on a game where our staff gave up 12. HA! Played them perfectly. If I were king (and let me make it perfectly clear: I am not) I would start Watanabe, Karakawa, and after we win those first two Naruse on 4 days rest. Close it out at home, spray the champagne, I lose my voice.

It’s all so simple.

Anyway the next game is at Chiba Marine and we will WIN. And it will be LOUD.

NPB has cranked up the ol merch machine for the Japan Series. They don’t have so many ways to make money so they break out every possible bit of goodies in the hopes that fevered fans will buy it all. I would totally buy the black muffler in the top picture, but I can’t. See, despite the league office knowing We Lotte Fans are a bunch of towel waving freaks they printed so few of these mufflers that they sold out of them. For the entire series. By 4:30 on Saturday, 1:45 before Game 1 even starts. A well thought-out scheme! I did manage to get a program, which is pretty cool. It has the summary of the season to date including all the Climax Series action.

I don’t know what crazed fan would buy some of this stuff. Mini golden noisemakers with the Nippon Series logo? No thank you!

The T-Shirts are all right, though.

These hats are heinous, though. The salesgirl REALLY tried hard to sell me on one of the black ones:
“How about a nice hat?”
“Um, I already have plenty of hats”
“You don’t have this one!”
“Well, I’ll buy any old thing with a Marines logo, but that doesn’t even have one.”
“Yes it does! See, look on the side.”
“Oh, well… no.”
“Please, you’ll be the first sucker-I mean, customer today.”
“Ha, thought so.”

And just because you know we do – WE LOVE MARINES!