Minor league baseball

This weekend one of Japan's minor-league baseball teams staged a pair of their games in Himeji. Japan only has one level of minor-league baseball, and the farm teams are usually located in the same city as their parent team. This was the affiliate of the Hanshin Tigers, located in Kobe. It's common in Japan for the major-league teams to play a few games a year in "rural" areas, away from their home stadiums, to promote interest in the sport. I think this was something similar.
We didn't buy tickets beforehand, as I had read that interest in minor-league ball was low in Japan. As we rode our bikes down there and saw quite a lot of people, I got a little worried...but it turned out the big attraction was the elementary school track meet taking place across the street. The baseball crowd was quite small.
We sat in the outfield, which wasn't seats but just a grass slope. We put a blanket down and just enjoyed a beautiful day at the game. It was really warm and sunny - I had to reapply the sunscreen a couple of times, but it was basically a perfect afternoon to be sitting out at a game.
The "hometown" Tigers won the game 3-2. There wasn't much power hitting, so we didn't have a chance at a souvenir, but it was a good game nevertheless.
-Jason