Almost Time to Come Home!

Hey everyone. Just four days until I head back to the States! Here's what's been going on since my last post:

My dad arrived May 25, the Monday after we played Toyota Shokki. The timing just didn't work out for him to be here for a game, but he was able to attend all of our practices. I think he really enjoyed seeing how practice is handled in Japan, and he was able to watch me pitch and check out my mechanics every day. It was really nice having him here, not just for a visit, but also because I could have him really analyze my pitching.

I was pretty tired after long our practices, so we usually stayed around the Shinjuku area during our down time. We had a little rough weather toward the end of the week, so a few our days were spent in the gym. We were able to go into Harajuku and Shibuya one day. I'm very lucky that all of these places are short subway rides away from my apartment. We also tried a lot of different restaurants and had some really great meals at a traditional Japanese restaurants - sushi, Indian, Thai and a couple of others.

Dad was scheduled to leave that Friday, the 29th, but as that day approached I was really wishing for him to be able to see one of our practice games. We had one scheduled for Sunday, and I was able to talk him into extending his stay for a couple of days. I pitched most of our first practice game, and then Natalie, Miyako, and I took him to the airport. Overall, it was a great visit, and I only had eight days remaining in Japan after he left.

We've practiced hard this week and are ready to finish the season's first half on a high note. This weekend we play Iyo Bank and Hitachi Software, two teams that have shown great offensive production thus far. Two wins would go a long way toward keeping us among the top four teams in the standings - or at least keeping us close. We head to the game field in Saitama tomorrow for our pregame practice. It's only an hour and a half away, so we'll be able to stay in Tokyo this weekend too.

Only four days left in Japan, so I'm hoping to make the most of them! When I return to the States next week I will head to California for National Team tryouts and then to Akron to reunite with my Racer teammates. I'm looking forward to seeing them and then hopefully returning to Blacksburg for a couple of days of relaxation and to pick up some different clothes...

Talk to you soon!