Champions!!

The team Brian plays for here in Japan, the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, just clinched the Pacific League title a few days ago! They finished the regular season in first place, which gives us a bye in the first round of the playoffs, but means we don't play any games until October 14th!! So we have 18 days of just waiting for the playoffs to start...of course Brian will have to go to practice most of the days, but it's still a long time to wait to play!! We are really enjoying having Brian home though and loving the family time we are getting, like dinners together every night, we love it...it sort of feels like the off season, such a tease!! If we win the playoffs, we go to the Japan Series (their version of the world series over here). That doesn't start until October 30th...so who knows, we could be here for a whole lot longer!!

It was so exciting watching the team clinch first place, they were playing on the road when they found out they got first, so Austin, Brooke and I got to watch them celebrate on the TV. They had a great ceremony on the field after their game, even tossing their manager up and down in the air in the crowd of players! I put some video clips I found on Japan You Tube and some random photos from the web to give you a little glimpse of the team celebrating their victory!! They're not the best, but it was all I could find! We are so excited the team has done so well this year, even if it means keeping us from "home" a bit longer!

Celebrating first place by throwing their manager in the air!!

It's tradition here to wash the bats in Sake (yes, the alcoholic beverage) after a big victory! We're not sure why, but it looks like they are having fun doing it!

Small picture sorry, but found it on the web of the whole team celebrating their victory with the traditional beer spraying!

The team arriving back to Fukuoka the morning after they clinched first place! You can see Brian way in the back! Check out all those fans!!

Here are some random video clips I found of the team celebrating...

Check the 3:39 mark on this one for a quick cameo from Brian :)

GO HAWKS!!