Aisle pickups, hotel drinks with players, and more… “Beer vendors” who add color to baseball games talk about their “naked situations

Some customers even “buy a keg of beer.

The best part of watching a baseball game is not only the game itself. The excitement of the stadium is brought down by the beer poured by the vendors, who are dressed in cute costumes. Not a small number of professional baseball fans are addicted to this pleasure.

We sat down with three professional baseball fans for a “beer vendor roundtable” discussion: Mei, who worked as a beer vendor at the Tokyo Dome until last season; Mao, who worked at Yokohama Stadium; and Saki, who used to work at Jingu Stadium.

We asked them to talk about the reality of watching professional baseball games as seen by the fairies at the stadium.

–First of all, congratulations on your graduation.

Mei: “Thank you very much!　On the last day of the season, we were very busy with several regulars who bought whole kegs. The area behind the back nets, which I was in charge of, is filled with people from companies that have annual seats and hardcore baseball fans, so after years of working as a vendor, I got to know a lot of people there.

The size of the kegs differed depending on the company, but the keg I was carrying was 17 cups when full; at 900 yen per cup, that’s 15,300 yen per shot. Naturally, you can’t drink alone, so many people are making a big deal out of it, handing it out to the customers around them. Some people don’t drink it and end up pouring it into the trash, but it’s for the sake of sales, so I just pretend I don’t see them. …… (laughs)”

Mao: “There are customers like that in Hamasuta!　There is a famous customer who has been sitting in the same seat for years, and even in the middle of the season, he buys a whole keg and distributes it to the people around him. When you get to know him well, he secretly puts a piece of paper with his contact information on the cover of the beer keg. When I contacted the customer, he would invite me to a drinking party hosted by the customer. When I went to the designated restaurant, I often heard that there were DeNA players there, like …….

Hearing rumors, sellers who want to drink with the players sometimes actively try to sell their products to that person. From the customers’ point of view, it’s a win-win situation, as they can get to know the sellers and the players at the same time (laughs).

Saki: “We have such “famous old men” at Jingu as well!　In fact, some of my seniors got married to players through such drinking parties. One famous example is Mr. A, a Hanshin player at that time, who announced his marriage about 10 years ago. His wife was a sales clerk at the Jingu Shrine, and everyone around her looked back at her. She was very amiable, and her sales were always top class.

After a “battle” with other players, player A got together with her and they continued their long-distance relationship between Tokyo and Hyogo for about two years before getting married. But the player was no longer in the game. …… One of my seniors, who has been a checker for a long time, said, ‘She was an ace, so she should have married a star player …….

Mei: “I remember that B-kun, a young outfielder in the Pacific League who got his big break last year, was married to a seller at Jingu. Jingu may be a good place to get married (laughs). (Laughs.) In Tokyo Dome, contact between the sellers and players is not allowed, so it’s hard to get a chance to have a drink.

However, there are still some girls who try to get through that hole and set up a blind date. When they go out for drinks in Roppongi or other places, they seem to get to know the people involved. …… I may be biased, but I know a lot of the fourth floor sellers at the Dome drink with the players. Some of them are even bragging in their lockers, saying, “I went drinking in Mr. Fatty’s car yesterday. ……

Mao: “In Hamasta, the aisles used by the players are close to the vendors’ standby area. So the players wait for the vendor they want to buy from to pass by and pick up on them before the game, saying, ‘Let’s exchange instagrams. I was once approached by C-kun, a popular young outfielder in the Central League, and we had a hotel drink in Roppongi (laughs).

In the paid version of “FRIDAY GOLD,” the girls talk frankly about the money situation of the curious sellers and the shocking “creepy customers” they have encountered.