Television coverage of baseball in Japan really takes you inside the game like no other.
The Japanese collegiate sports world was rocked recently by a dirty tackle executed by a football player from one of the nation’s top schools and the furious finger-pointing that ensued in its wake.
Luckily, we still have university baseball as a bastion of sportsmanship and honor, and that’s not all! In a recent University of Tokyo game, as second baseman Hirata “Hira-chan” Masaki appeared on camera, the caption below his name held a startling revelation about the player.
▼ Caption: “Wanted to make goldfish macho and put protein in the aquarium”
If you’re a completionist who likes to know everything – and I mean everything – there is to know about the game and its players, you’ll appreciate this little tidbit. Otherwise you’ll probably just be weirded out by it. It triggered the imaginations of other Twitter users, who posted what something like that might turn out like.
This is far from the first time TV graphics people have decided to have a little fun. During the last nationwide election, there was a spate of odd subtitles when winners were declared, including proclamations that Minister of Finance Taro Aso liked One Piece and PM Shinzo Abe loves Black Thunder chocolate bars.
It’s not always clear how accurate these factoids are. It’s certainly believable that Abe loves Black Thunder, because you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t love those thrifty packets of chocolatey goodness. Sure enough, a quick search reveals that he does quite enjoy them.
As for Masaki, a quick look at his bio reveals that he is enrolled in the School of Agricultural and Life Sciences majoring in Chemistry of Bio-based Materials. Therefore, feeding protein to goldfish doesn’t seem entirely out of his wheelhouse. Perhaps the broadcaster was just being facetious about his actual research.
That’s important to know, because if you happen to want to buff up your own goldfish, you shouldn’t go tossing chunks of hamburger into the bowl. It’ll probably end badly. Instead leave it to the scientist pioneers of tomorrow, like second baseman Hira-chan to find the best way to achieve fins of steel.
Source: Twitter/@Aice5_mdk, The University of Tokyo Baseball Club
Featured image: Twitter/@Aice5_mdk