Beer Vendors at Baseball Games Reveal the Unfiltered Reality Behind Hallway Pick-Ups and Drinking with Players

The appeal of watching baseball isn’t just the game itself. After the stadium heats up with a nail-biting play, fans cool down with beer poured by vendors dressed in cute costumes. Many pro baseball fans find themselves hooked on this unique pleasure.

This time, we held a roundtable discussion with three former beer vendors: Mei (pseudonym), who worked at Tokyo Dome until last season; Mao, who worked at Yokohama Stadium; and Saki, who worked at Jingu Stadium.

We asked these “stadium fairies” to speak candidly about the realities of pro baseball spectating they witnessed.

—First of all, congratulations on your graduation.

Mei: “Thank you! On the final day of the season, several regular customers bought entire kegs from me, so I was incredibly busy. The area behind home plate, which I was in charge of, has many corporate season ticket holders and hardcore baseball fans, so after working for years, you get to know a lot of familiar faces.

The keg I carried held 17 cups when full. At 900 yen per cup, that’s 15,300 yen in one go. Of course, one person can’t drink it all, so they usually hand it out to people around them and make a big celebration out of it. Some even pour it down the trash without drinking it, but since it counts toward sales, we just pretend not to notice (laughs).”

Mao: “We have customers like that at Hamasta, too! There’s a well-known regular who has connections with players. He sits in the same seat every year and buys whole kegs mid-season to hand out. Once you get close to him, he secretly slips a piece of paper with his contact information into the keg cover. If you reach out, you’re apparently invited to drinking parties he hosts. And when you show up at the designated restaurant, there might be DeNA players there… I’ve heard stories like that a lot.

After hearing the rumors, some vendors who want to drink with players actively approach him. For the customer, it’s a win-win—he gets friendly with the vendors and with the players at the same time (laughs).”

Saki: “We have those ‘famous old guys’ at Jingu, too! In fact, some senior vendors have married players after meeting them through those kinds of parties. A well-known example is Infielder A from the Hanshin Tigers, who announced his marriage about 10 years ago. His wife was a Jingu vendor—so beautiful that everyone would turn around to look at her. She was friendly and consistently ranked near the top in sales.

After a sort of ‘competition’ among players, Player A started dating her. They had a long-distance relationship between Tokyo and Hyogo for about two years before getting married. But he’s no longer on the roster… Some longtime checkers (the staff who swap out kegs and manage sales) have cruelly said, ‘Since she was such an ace vendor, she could’ve married a bigger star…’”

Mei: “I think Player B, the young Pacific League outfielder who had a breakout season last year, also married a Jingu vendor, right? Maybe Jingu is kind of a hidden hotspot (laughs). At Tokyo Dome, contact between vendors and players is strictly prohibited, so there aren’t many chances to drink together.

That said, some girls find ways around it and organize group dates. When they go out drinking in places like Roppongi, they meet people connected to players… It might be a stereotype, but vendors working the fourth-floor seats at the Dome seem to drink with players quite a bit. Some even brag in the locker room like, ‘Yesterday I went drinking in so-and-so’s car.’”

Mao: “At Hamasta, the vendors’ waiting area is close to the corridor players use. So players sometimes wait for a particular vendor to pass by before the game and hit on her, saying, ‘Let’s exchange Instagram.’ A popular young Central League outfielder, Player C, once approached me, and we ended up drinking at a hotel in Roppongi (laughs).”