Hiroshima Toyo Carp vs. Chunichi Dragons

Hiroshima Toyo Carp vs. Chunichi Dragons, originally uploaded by flogently.

It was a sold-out game that almost got rained out but then turned out to be a perfectly beautiful and really fun Sunday afternoon.

This was one of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp's last games at the historic Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. The city has decided to abandon this stadium in favor of a new one.

After the atomic bomb devastated Hiroshima, the people of Hiroshima took it upon themselves to raise the money to build this stadium. The city of Hiroshima only paid $15.

I'm not a huge baseball fan, but I love this stadium and the fact that it's really a citizen's stadium, symbolizing one of the many remarkable ways that Hiroshima came back to life after the war.

It's located smack in the center of downtown with a beautiful view of the Chugoku mountains. On game days, it always makes me happy to see all the devoted fans and families wearing red and walking around. I have a soft spot for underdogs.