Baseball in Japan

On May 31st, I went to see a baseball game in Koshien Stadium, Lions versus the Tigers. The Tigers are the home team of the area I live in, which is the Kansai area. The Tigers won, and were in the lead throughout the game, so the atmosphere in the stadium was vibrant and carefree. Aside from the great vibes shooting through Koshien, it was interesting watching the differences between a Japanese baseball game and an American baseball game, and there are too many to list here so I'll go over some of the major ones. First off Japanese baseball has cheerleaders, although they reminded me more of dancers. They come out sometimes between innings in white outfits, do a quick cheer, then sprint off the field. At certain points during the game, a white golf-cartesque vehicle will dart out onto the field, drive around for a few minutes, then drive off. I'm not exactly sure of the reason why, but in the land of Hello Kitty and Pokemon, I don't think there needs to be a reason for cute and entertaining. Then there is the matter of cheering. Random cheering is highly frowned upon, as I learned from the looks I received when a friend and I screamed at the top of our lungs, WE LOVE YOU ANDY. Sidenote: Andy is an American player on the Tigers. There is a man whose job it is to lead the cheers, and only when he leads the cheer can you cheer, and when he motions to stop, you must stop. This man stands in the front row, facing the audience, directly across the length of the field from the batter. He wears enormous white gloves that come up to his elbows. When he leads a cheer/chant everyone in his section will follow along, until the cheer makes its way around the stadium. When he crosses his arms into an X, everyone must stop. I've heard that it's difficult for the audience sitting in the section where the man in white gloves stands to pay attention to the game because they have to be watching him, waiting for their cue to chant. My favorite experience with Japanese baseball came in the 7Th inning. At one point pretty much the whole audience blows up balloons in neon yellow, pink, purple, blue and green. Then, before the Tigers go up to bat, everyone releases the balloons into the air. It's really cool to see hundreds of neon balloons simultaneously being released into the black sky!! I love Japanese baseball and can't wait to see the Tigers win yet again!!