A light rain was falling from the blanket of gray clouds covering Zozo Marine Stadium when Bryce Wettstein, an American skateboarder, added a little sunshine to a wet and dreary afternoon with an impromptu performance on her ukulele.
As Wettstein freestyled a warm, relaxing tune — her lyrics made up on the spot — she was not far from where pitcher Roki Sasaki usually works his magic for the Chiba Lotte Marines.
Sasaki was nowhere to be seen, however, and the baseball field was virtually unrecognizable, with a skateboard ramp in shallow left field and a hilly Moto X course in the middle. The Marines are on the road in Hokkaido and left the keys to "Zozoma" with the action sports athletes, who have the run of the place this weekend during X Games Chiba 2023, which began Friday.