most successful franchise in Japanese baseball -- are somewhat akin to the New York Yankees. People either love them or hate them.

I had gotten a sense of this at my hotel that morning when I told Iida, the front-desk clerk, I was going to the game. Iida barely spoke English but he had no trouble summoning the words when I asked him if he rooted for the Giants. "No," he said without hesitation. "Why not?" I asked. "Giants are here," he said, with his hand at eye-level. "I like the teams here," he added, dropping his hand a couple of feet.

Explained Graczyk: "A lot of people here like to root for the underdog."

The Yomiuri Giants' uniforms closely resemble the uniforms worn by their American namesake -- the SanFrancisco Giants. Being a loyal Diamondbacks fan, I decided to root against them, too.

The Giants were the home team, but it seemed as if the stadium was equally split between supporters of the two teams. I happened to be surrounded mostly by Tigers fans, many of whom were wearing yellow, while Giants' fans were dressed in orange. The stadium looked like a giant citrus orchard.

Once the game started, the noise was incessant. There was the constant clanking together of miniature plastic bats with team logos that many fans had brought with them. There also was chanting and singing in unison, orchestrated from each team's cheering section in the outfield bleachers. Known as an oendan, these sections were the epicenters of organized cheers that reverberated throughout the stadium.

I had