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I'm telling you for the last time
2007-10-31 21:40
by Bob Timmermann

I may have to implement a Weismanesque "Thank You for Not ..." list.

But it would just have one entry.

Thank you for not...

1) Calling the baseball team in Japan the "Ham Fighters"

They are the Nippon Ham ... Fighters.

For photographic proof check after the jump:

 

Team cap from 2003. What does "Fs" stand for? Let's look inside the cap:

 

Why I believe it says "Fighters"?

 

Old style team road uniform. But what is that up on the left sleeve?

 

 

Current team logo.

If you call the team the "Ham Fighters" here, you will receive the strongest possible penalty I can give out: my scorn!

 

 

Comments
2007-10-31 22:11:58
1.   Eric Stephen
I still can't believe the Dodgers didn't resign Ho Park.
2007-10-31 22:30:15
2.   Vishal
i know they're the fighters. i have known that they are the fighters.

but it's so much more fun to think about them as ham fighters. just imagine a storyline about having to defend the planet against a band of cruel, psychotic pigs, hellbent on terrorizing humanity....

kind of like these guys (http://voanews.com/english/2007-10-22-voa8.cfm) but more cool and sci-fi like.

2007-10-31 22:34:59
3.   Elliot
I can never decide if I prefer my Ham Fighters to be belligerent swine or chasidic Jews battling an unkosher world.
2007-10-31 22:52:24
4.   Saburo
FWIW a lot of American broadcasters also have a hard time pronouncing "Saito" correctly...
2007-11-01 04:41:12
5.   JL25and3
I agree with 2 . I know full well that they're the Fighters. That's their mistake, because "Ham Fighters" is a far superior name.
2007-11-02 20:20:38
6.   Deanna
The funniest part is that any time I try to explain to Japanese people that most Americans insist on calling them the "Ham Fighters", the general response I get is "Wow, Americans are really stupid. Can't they see that the team is the Fighters? The company's Nichiham. I mean, we don't even speak English and WE know that. How dumb must they be?"

Of course, I completely agree, but after 5 years of being a Fighters fan I've pretty much just given up on it.

I have that same jersey. It resulted in a whole bunch of Japanese people calling me "Sempai" during game 2. Good times.

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