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KOBE -- Best known for its beef and for the devastating earthquake that leveled the city in 1995, Kobe is a port city about 270 miles west of Tokyo. It is also the part-time home of the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball and my second stop on the Japanese baseball tour.

Being able to see the game in Kobe was the result of an interesting quirk in the Buffaloes' scheduling, as they play roughly 25 games at Skymark Stadium in Kobe and the remaining 72 or so in their primary home base at the Kyocera Dome, 17 miles away in Osaka. Why would a team split its home games between two cities? The Orix Buffaloes are a hybrid team, created when the Orix Blue Wave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes merged in 2004. Wanting to keep the fan base the Blue Wave established during their years in Kobe, the new Buffaloes felt it was necessary to hold at least a portion of its home games there. (Can you imagine the Colts playing a couple of home games in Baltimore after bolting to Indianapolis?)

At any rate, having seen the Kyocera Dome last year, I was happy the group had the opportunity to go to Kobe to watch the Buffaloes host Bobby Valentine's Chiba Lotte Marines. The poor records of both teams and the scorching late-summer heat are two factors that probably kept the crowd fairly sparse, but those who did show up were boisterous in their support. Both teams are languishing in the bottom of the Pacific League standings this season, but despite that, the Chiba Lotte Marines traveled a large fan club that occupied the entire section in left-center field.

That is an interesting aspect of Japanese baseball that is not found Stateside. Each team has a dedicated and organized fan club that travels en masse to wherever the team plays, and each stadium blocks off a section to accommodate it. It was fascinating to sit in my seat along the first base side and look across the diamond to see a massive sea of Marines fans jumping up and down and waving a giant flag bearing the likeness of Bobby Valentine. The controversial manager may not be returning to his post next season, but his fans revere him nonetheless.

And it would be Valentine's team that prevailed on this day, a 6-5 win over the Buffaloes in 10 innings, our second extra-inning game of the tour. This game was the perfect example of how Japanese teams stress the fundamentals of hitting singles, taking one base at a time, bunting to move the runner over. Ironically however, the game was tied and won and made very close again with a combined five home runs, three in the ninth and 10th innings.

My day wasn't all about baseball, though. While on this tour I make it a point to discover what food is available at each stadium. Skymark Stadium was replete with the usual bento boxes found in all Japanese stadiums, but I hoped it also had the regional specialty: Kobe beef. After passing French fries, fried chicken, churros and a crepe stand. (Crepe stand?) I finally found a place selling Kobe beef croquettes. Success! However, when I approached the counter to place my order, I was informed that the succulent beefcakes were sold out. Sadness! I wanted Kobe beef but settled for fried potatoes instead.

My failure to find Kobe beef notwithstanding, it was a great day in Kobe. A good game and a small but loyal crowd helped me forget that I was sitting in the baking sun. After the game I went to Kyoto with the tour group, but our stay in the former capital of Japan would be brief. The next day we boarded another bullet train to Hiroshima, where a brand new stadium awaited.