first win
Sorry i havent been writing on this blog for a while, i was on a road trip for a while and of course they dont have internet at the hotels here. What was i thinking, internet service at a hotel, what a preposterous idea!!! And then my parents came in town so i have a chance to show them around town a little bit and introduce them to the Japanese way of life because this is their first time here. Last night i pitched and finally got my first win here in Japan, I was able to pitch 7 innings and i gave up 2 runs to the Chiba Lotte Marines who are managed by Bobby Valentine. I came out of the game after the 7th losing 2-1 but Nakajima helped me out a lot by hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the 7th inning so i finally recorded my first win here. It was one of those days when i didnt have my good stuff at all, i felt like i just couldnt throw any of my pitches for strikes and it was miserably hot and humid too, but when you have days like that, you really find out what you are made of. I told myself that this is my game whether i dont have my good stuff or not i am going to pitch well and give us a chance to win and things worked out in the end. I really think the fans here in Japan are soooo much better than the fans in Major League Baseball, the fans here really get into the game and are dancing and singing and bands are playing, it really makes a great atmosphere to pitch and play in and i think that is really cool. Tomorrow i think i might have to introduce my parents to Roppongi and walk around a little bit, i think they will think it is pretty cool. I might take them to Kyoto also, i heard from some of the guys and some friends i met in Roppongi that Kyoto is beautiful and it would be a great place to visit and show my parents so i will have to let everyone know how that goes.
Saturday's Start
Well things didnt go so well on saturday in my start against the tokyo Giants, i couldnt get the ball down in the zone and everything was up so they had a field day hitting that high fastball. I also decided that someone needed to get hit or brushed back off the plate and so when i did hit a guy he threw his helmet on the gound and stared at me so i walked toward him and started yelling at him but apparently he had nothing to say or maybe it was that he didnt understand anything i was saying, i kinda forgot about the whole language barrier but it happens. I am just glad that start is over with and time to concentrate on my next start which will be in about 9 days. All these off days they have over here kill me, i cant get used to having so much time off in between starts, maybe i will have to ask if i can pitch in a minor league game in between or something because if i dont then i will have to deal with trying to keep the ball down in my next start also. After the game Saturday was another story though, talk about a great time, i went to Roppongi with some friends and stayed out all night until about 6 am the next morning and now i feel better and i have forgotten about that last start. Met a lot of cool people that night and also met the owner of a club named Edo so i am starting to have a pretty good time here now. Until next time.
Roppongi
I'm startin to enjoy it here a little more now that i have discovered Roppongi, don't love Japan, but it is getting better. I think i have been to Roppongi 4 out of the last 5 days and nights and it's nice to be able to talk to people in English and if you know me at all you know i like to meet new people whenever i have a chance, and lately i have. I went to my first movie since i have been in Japan today in Roppongi and first of all, way overpriced!!! It cost like 15 dollars for a ticket to a show here and then an arm and a leg for popcorn and a drink but luckily i have two of both so i will just limp around until they grow back. Here you get to pick your seat off a chart when you buy your ticket so you just don't go and sit down wherever you like, like you do in America, but not a bad idea. The movie was in English with Japanese subtitles so that was cool because i just can't picture Johnny Depp and Kiera Knightley, who is beautiful by the way, speaking in Japanese!! Pirates of the Caribbean was a pretty good movie though and i had a blast again in Roppongi, still have'nt found Java Jive or Lexington Queen yet though. Headin to Korean Barbecue again with the guys so i'm flyin, until later.
Big league time
Well, i thought i was going to get one more minor league start before going back to the big league team because i am not quite 100 % yet but my arm feels good and the big league team needs some help so i am going to pitch on Thursday for the big league team and hopefully i can make a difference and we can start winning again, we are way too good to not be winning. I'm hoping that my arm will get back to 100% sooner than later but i have to understand that i was out for about a month and a half so i have to be patient and things will come around. As far as Japan goes, i am finding some good places to go out in Roppongi with my buddies finally. It is almost like i am back in the States when going out in Roppongi because there are so many foreigners down there that it feels very comfortable, although i am trying to find a few places that i was told about by a friend to go to but i cant seem to find them, if anyone has any knowledge of Roppongi could you get back to me. The places i am looking for are Lexington Queen and Java Jive. Thank you and good night.
second rehab start
So i made my second and hopefully final rehab start here in the minor leagues today. Things went ok, i was able to go 6 innings this time and i gave up 2 runs but the main thing is that my arm felt pretty good out there on the mound and i think it is only a matter of time before i am 100 percent again. I worked on a lot of my off speed pitches today also, i was able to throw them in situations that i might have been a little reluctant to do before so throwing in a couple rehab minor league games was probably a good thing for me, so that i was able to work on things that i would'nt have been able to do in a big league game. Oh yeah did i forget to mention that my minor league rehab game started at 11 am, 11 am what is that all about??? I need my sleep, i am not 18 years old anymore and even if i was i think that 11 is still way too early for a game to start. My arm was yelling at me the whole time that i was warming up in the bullpen, basically saying what in the world are we doing out here on this mound at 10:30 in the freakin morning. So that is another reason i need to get back up to the big league team so that i can sleep in a little bit in the morning, ya know??????
Later
another start
well it looks like i will be making another rehab start in the minor leagues before i get back to pitching with the big league team. They have scheduled me to make one more rehab start on Wednesday at the big league stadium, so i guess they want me to feel like i am actually with the big league team for this one, whooo-hoo!!!!! LOL. Anyway, wish me luck. Today i felt another earthquake and it was so cool i almost peed my pants, sorry about the visual. I just think it is really cool feeling as long as it is not the big one, hopefully that one will wait until i leave here or not at all. I guess i should'nt be selfish. The earthquake today was really weird feeling, i was sitting on the couch and then all of the sudden everything in my apartment started to shake and i just started laughing with excitement, it lasted about 15 seconds and then it was over. You would think that i would remember some earthquakes when i lived in California but i only lived there for a short period of time when i was younger, so i dont remember too many details. I also made a new friend today, one of the Japanese baseball players was in the gym with me and just we just started talking, in ENGLISH, he said that he didnt know how he learned english but he just did and he is pretty good at it. He told me he liked Americans a lot and that he really likes speaking English also so i guess i have someone other than the Americans on the team to talk to. Until next time.
first start back
Hey everybody,
I made my first rehab start in Japan and things went pretty well for not pitching in a month and a half, i was able to pitch 5 innings, one more inning than i thought i would go, and i gave up 2 runs. It was great to get that one out of the way and now maybe i can get back to pitching on a normal rotation again. I threw 85 pitches in that game also so who knows hopefully i won't have to make another rehab start and i can get back to winning games again. The elbow is feeling better now and the pain is pretty much gone, not all the way gone, but feeling good enough to start pitching in regular games again. I will keep you updated on whether i make another rehab start or not. I was getting ready to get on the train today to head back to my apartment from the stadium and one of the girls i know who speaks english here told me to wait and get on a different train because someone jumped in front of the train a little ways up the track and committed suicide, i don't get it. Things could never get bad enough for me to ever consider doing something like that but apparently it happens here a lot. I was told that more people commit suicide in Japan than any other country each year. How crazy is that??? And i was also told that jumping in front of a train is one of the most common ways. That's sad that it ever comes to that and i hope i never have to witness something like that in my lifetime. Also today i felt my first earthquake, mind you it was a very minor one, but it was still my first one in my life so it was cool for me. It was just a small rumble and shake this morning before i left for the field but i am waiting for a big one, i think that would be kinda cool to feel as long as no one gets hurt, of course. LOL!!!
Until next time
First Day in Tokyo
Hey everybody, i was told yesterday by a Japanese man on the train that i had a great shaped face and that i looked like Bruce Willis, go figure!! For starters i have a full head of hair so don't think that i did'nt take offense to that. Just joking, i didnt take offense but it was kinda weird. My buddy Tony came in town today and so i had to take him down to Roppongi and check out some of the cool places to hang down there and i have to say that there are a lot more good looking women down there then there are in Tanashi so that was an upside, and after that we headed to Shinjuku to see some of the nightlife, so we stayed down there for a good while and just took in some of the cool places down there. To top it off i decided i should take Tony to a Korean barbecue restaurant for dinner and needless to say he loved it and everything was great until i almost started a fire at our table. In case you don't know at a Korean barbecue you cook your own food in front of you on the grill built into the middle of your table, as we were cooking the meat i decided that i would put the potatoes that were wrapped in tin foil on the grill, not a good idea!!!! After about 5 minutes the tin foil around the potatoes caught on fire and i think by the time we left the waitresses were probably more than obliged to show us the door. That was my buddy's first day in Tokyo and i think tomorrow we will have to try to top that, after i throw my first rehab start in a minor league game, so tomorrow i will finally get to write a little bit about baseball instead of just day to day life.
Back in Japan
So i'm back in Japan all healed up and ready to pitch again, the team wants me to make one or two rehab starts in the minor leagues before i throw in the big league games so i won't really be able to that much about my baseball experiences until that is finished. But on the flipside, i can write about what went on with me today. I used to know the trains and the train schedules, the key words being "used to". I got up today around 8 am after waking up at 3 am and then 5 am, boy it will be nice when i adjust to the time change, but back to waking up at 8 am. So i woke up, had the usual manly, can't miss breakfast of champions, Cookie Crisp that i brought from America and headed out to the train station. The first train was easy, Tanashi to Tokorozawa but then this is where i got into a "pickle" so to speak. I crossed over the track to the other side because i remembered that much and then i just stood there dumbfounded staring at the names of the next trains which none of them rang a bell. So i just flipped a coin and chose a train that was to show up in about 15 minutes. As i am standing there 2 different trains on the other track have come and gone so i am starting to second guess myself, which i find myself doing a lot here, they were going to Hanno though and that made no sense to me, i never remembered getting on a Hanno bound train before, as the third Hanno train came and stopped i hear hey JJ you coming or what? I turn around and there is one of my teammates Jeff Leifer laughing at me. Apparently i still have some work to do on remembering which trains to take but i am getting really familiar with the train platforms after standing on one for about 15 minutes in complete disarray.
Here's the scenario, I am sleeping and sleeping very well to the point where i am dreaming and i was so asleep that there was this spider, an imaginary spider of course, and it was coming down to land on my forehead while i am sleeping so i jump up in the middle of the night and start swinging and trying to kill this very deadly imaginary spider and i wake up when i nearly take my head off when i go through the doorway, remember that i said the doorways are only 6'2" tall. The point of the story is i think there is an old Japanese tale of spiders in your sleep or maybe it is Chinese, either way if anybody knows about spiders in your dreams please let me know before i tear Charlotte's Web in my sleep. We had an off day today, we seem to have a lot of them, don't we, but i was able to go out and get some pictures of the cherry blossom trees that i spoke about in my last blog, now if only i knew how to download them onto this page, i tried to download pics of Sapporo on my last blog and apparently i don't know what i am doing because they did'nt show up, sorry. If anyone knows how to download pics onto this site please let me in on the secret, or maybe it is'nt a secret, maybe i am just computer illiterate!! Well not much else going on on this off day because it is rainy outside and not much up to going out to check anything out on a day like this. Until later........
Opening Day in Sapporo
 I've been out of internet service range for a while because i was in a hotel which does'nt have internet service to get to this site. We were in Sapporo playing the Nippon Ham Fighters and i have to say that the dome there is Big League. This is the first stadium i have seen so far that looks like or is even better than any dome in the Major Leagues. This place was very impressive, it almost looked like a UFO from the outside and inside it was very cool and up to date. I have some pictures of it that i will attach to this email. It was snowing up there the whole time so that was kinda cool to see, it also explains why they have a dome if you know what i mean. I am back in Tokyo again now and it is about 60 degrees here and beautiful, the cherry blossom trees are blooming and i will try to get some pics of those tomorrow to put on here, it only happens for like 2 weeks a year and i was talking to one of the Japanese guys on the team and he said that it is kind of a tradition to bring out mats and lay them out under the cherry blossom trees and drink sake while just enjoying the sites, i will have to see if i can witness this tomorrow, if i do i will have some pics of that also, nothing like getting drunk on sake under a cherry blossom tree, huh? Not much to do around here i guess. Well, kind of a boring day so i will write again when something new happens.
Another Day
OK back to baseball, i had two days off in a row but i actually got to see my teammates today so that was a good thing considering we are a team. Pretty easy day today, just normal throwing and running and stuff like that, we are going on our first road trip of the season tomorrow. We go to Sapporo to play the Nippon Ham Fighters and i heard that there is snow on the ground up there still so i am kinda looking forward to seeing that, i am from Florida so it has been a while since i have seen snow. Luckily the Fighters have a dome or i think i would be throwing snowballs instead of baseballs!!!!!! I pitch the third game up there on Sunday so I am definitely looking forward to pitching better than my first start. I also had to ask around to find a barber or salon that i could get my hair cut at, it has been about a month and a half since i had my haircut, i'm kinda scared to go to one of the salons here, If you could only see some of the haircuts i have seen here you would understand!!!!!! Luckily some of the guys on the team said they would cut my hair if i needed it, i am not sure if that is a better idea or not, i like my teammates a lot but if they could cut hair that good, would'nt they be doing that on the side to make a little extra cash, we'll see!!!!!!!
First Start
Well i made my first start in the Japanese league today and it did'nt turn out quite like i had hoped. My control was all wacked out and i struggled controlling my fastball which is my number 1 pitch. That usually makes for a long day. I ended up only going 6 innings and gave up 3 runs, which i was not happy about at all because i am better than that. Next start will be better, i have some stuff i want to work on in the bullpen on my side day so that i can improve my control my next start, i think a lot of it had to do with the adrenaline that i had pumping, i get a little too hyped up my first start of the season, especially when it is in a league that i am new to, so i am not worried at all, i know things will get better with each start. On a brighter note, i got some of the posters from the PR department that are hanging on the trains, the one that says Women are like Angels, so now mom and dad i can get you one and you can laugh along with me.
Today was Opening Day!!! finally something to get excited about, practice was starting to get a little too repetitious and so i am so glad games have finally started. The odd thing is that the starting pitchers that are not in the game that day are not allowed to sit on the bench during the game. This is weird to me because being in the Major Leagues for the last 9 years has taught me that when everyone is around each other more often then the team becomes more of, for lack of a better word, TEAM but since i can't sit on the bench and get to know my teammates better it does'nt seem so much like a team to me, but that is the way it is done here so i guess i won't rock the boat. I love opening day though, the fans, the media, and just the feel is phenomenal and i was glad to be a part of it. I also found out today that we take infield everyday because it is for the fans is what i am told. I heard a story from one of the guys today that said last year Chiba, whose manager is Bobby Valentine, was'nt going to take infield one day and one of the coaches told Bobby that they must take it because it is for the fans to watch, so get this, Bobby tells the players to all go out and run around the outside of the infield and wave to the fans until he says to stop. I thought that might have been one of the funniest things i have ever heard and i think Bobby V. is hilarious for doing that. Well, i pitch tomorrow so i better go to bed.
Buddhist Temple
Today was another interesting experience. Our team went to a Buddhist Temple to get a blessing for whatever they were blessing us for, i could'nt understand what they were saying. We all sat down in this temple and there was a lot of chanting and fire and a Buddhist monk hit me on the head and shoulders with a noodle necklace or something like that. It was definitely my first time being hit with a noodle necklace, i can tell you that right now. It was an interesting ritual though. I don't believe in buddhism but some people do and to everybody his own. It was our last practice today before the regular season starts so tomorrow begins my new Japanese baseball experience. Oh yeah, i almost forgot about the autograph seekers, after the ceremony, as soon as we walked out the door there were autograph seekers standing there waiting for autographs, i guess the Temple grounds don't deter any die hard fans. I forgot my camera also, i had it sitting in my locker to take some pics of the temple and stuff but once again i got distracted, maybe next time.
poster
Alright here we go!! The baseball season is getting ready to start so posters are going up announcing schedules and all that jazz. So i am standing on the train with the other Americans (Jeff Liefer, Alex Gramman) heading to the field and i look to my left and what is staring in me in the eye? What do ya know, there is a big ole poster of me pitching and in big bold print in plain English it has a quote from me, bet ya can't guess what it said? I will tell you, it said, and i quote, " Women are like Angels". Ok i admit it, i said that in Spring Training when they asked me what i thought of women, but i really did'nt think it was going to literally be on a poster on the train that goes to field, i guess that is what i get for thinking huh? I'm not saying that i did'nt mean it i am just saying I did'nt know all of Japan and now all of you who are reading this would know. I guess the cat is out of the bag, Take your shots at me, i don't care. I just say what i feel when i feel it. We have a team dinner at a Korean barbecue restaurant tonight so i will be back tomorrow to let you know how that went.
MILK
Hey everybody,
another day in OZ, this one was interesting. I had to go to the grocery store today to get some milk because i was all excited to eat Cookie Crisp which i have to say is my absolute favorite cereal, my parents mailed it to me from the States because they don't have it here in Japan. Anyway, back to my story, so i bought what i thought was milk and brought it home to my apartment. I poured the "MILK" on my cereal and took a big bite of the best cereal in the world and just about threw up in my bowl. It turns out that what i bought was sweet yogurt. Who knew!!! I mean, the yogurt came in a carton that looked just like a milk carton and even had freakin cows on it. I think they do that here to mess with the Gaijin's (foreigner's), it's funny until it happens to you with your favorite limited amount of Cookie Crisp. Today was an off-day so it was just a day to relax and take a break from baseball but i will be back tomorrow with another day in my Japanese Life!!!!!!
Day 3
Sorry i missed writing yesterday about the land of OZ but i had a busy day. I was able to meet with a young man that had diabetes, i have diabetes also, and talk to him and give him some encouragement. It means a lot to me to help young kids that need someone they can talk to. Today was easier, it was the final game of Spring Training so we get to start playing real games finally, a buddy of mine got sent to minor league camp so that put a damper on the day, you see, each team is only allowed to have 4 gaijins (foreigners) on the team at a time and we have 6. He pitched so much better than most of the other Japanese players but because he was a gaijin it was a numbers game. Another very backward concept i guess. I did finally get a grip on the train. I was lost most of the time riding the train and so i just followed the other Americans to each train but now i can actually do it myself, like a big boy, i am so proud of myself!!!! I say that now, but just watch, someday i will get on the wrong train and end up in Australia or something, by train that would be very eventful especially over the water, i don't think trains float. Today was a pretty boring day but it will get better i am sure, i am going to get something to eat now and probably bump my head on the doorway again on the way to the kitchen. So until tomorrow, C-ya.
Friday March 16, in Japan
It's me Jason Johnson in Japan for the last month and a half and i can tell you one thing for sure, i am not in Kansas anymore!!!!!! Japan is very interesting in the fact that i think they took eveything in America and did the exact opposite so this is going to really take some getting used to. But ya know!! i just have to make the best of it. I have gotten comfortable in my new apartment, except the fact that i have a permanent bump on my head from running into the doorways. You see, the doorways in my apartment are all of about 6'2" tall and i am 6'7" tall so you do the math. I really hope i get used to it soon, although i did make it so it does'nt hurt as much when i hit the doorways, i taped bubble wrap on the top of each doorway and so now it just pops when i hit it and it does'nt hurt as bad anymore. Sometimes i even amaze myself!!!!!! Just kidding!!! I did put bubble wrap up though, that i was'nt joking about.
Well that is my report for today but i will be back tomorrow for another day in OZ.
JJ
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