Former Softbank Mr. Koyama
The 2021 professional baseball spring camp, which had been threatened by the corona disaster, started on February 1st. Rakuten / Takahisa Hayakawa (22) and Hanshin / Teruaki Sato (21), who attracted attention at the 2020 draft meeting, have already started the army, and the high expectations from the leaders can be seen as early as “immediate force”.
On the other hand, some men carry a three-digit number and struggle to register under control. Softbank pitcher Kodai Senga (27), catcher Takuya Kai (28), Ukyo Shuto (24) and other “men from training” have been talked about, but “they are miraculous. Most training Athletes will disappear within a few years, “said a sports newspaper reporter.
[Related article: The strongest Softbank created by Sadaharu Oh, the keyword is “from training”]
Do the trained players have dreams? We asked former training players who retired in the middle of their career to look back on their active career. First of all, Kazuhiro Koyama (Kazuhiro Koyama, 24, former Softbank) who is a former Softbank Hawks training player and currently attends Kokugakuin University. He talks about the gap with registered players under his control.
“In terms of life, all the trained athletes lived in the dormitory, and the dormitory fee was as low as 30,000 yen, and the food expenses for three meals were included, so I didn’t feel much difference with the controlled athletes. However, the sponsor provided me with gloves and bats at the beginning of the year, but if I asked for more, I had to pay for it on my own.
Also, if you do not register under control within 3 years of training, you will be dismissed in the case of SoftBank. Since training is worse than under control, practice started early in the morning, and the practice time was longer than under control. “
About 20 SoftBank trained players are enrolled, and 80 games are played annually. It has more games than other teams and is blessed with a chance to appeal, but due to the large player base, the registration rate under control is said to be the lowest among the 12 teams.
“Even Tashiro (flying, now Orix training), who became the top hitter in the second army, was not registered under control. Something that stands out, such as being fast or having nonstandard power. Without it, it would be difficult to be registered under control, let alone join the army.
I worked with Shuto-san for only one year, but after all the running ability was amazing. “
On the other hand, “I envy the training of Softbank,” said Tsubasa Okabayashi, a former pitcher in the Hiroshima Carp training frame (Okabayashi Tsubasa, 21, former Hiroshima).
“Softbank and Giants have a lot of players in the first place, so they have a lot of experience in actual battles. There are only about 4 to 5 carp training players, so it was hard to play in the second army game. To be honest, professional I didn’t really feel that. “
And it is said that he was notified that he was out of force in just two years.
“The annual salary was 2.4 million yen, but it wasn’t a pain because I lived in a dormitory and had three meals a month for 30,000 yen. Kubi had a slight premonition from the results of the second year season and Yips. It was.
The coach’s guidance was only technical, and there was no psychological support when I became Yips. It might have been different if it was under control … “
Former Chiba Lotte and Takaaki Shima (22, former Chiba Lotte), who retired from active duty in the same year as Mr. Okabayashi and entered Kokugakuin University in 2020, recalls.
“In my case, I was playing under Lotte’s control, not under a training contract from the beginning, but I was often unable to throw due to injury, and at the end of the third year, the team asked me to train. Considering my future life, I thought it would be better to study again at university than to stay in professional baseball, so I declined the consultation and retired.
I feel how happy I was that my income dropped sharply and I was getting money while playing baseball. What if I had a chance to return to the professional world again? No, I won’t go back anymore (laughs) “
A former professional baseball player who has participated in the first army reveals the harsh conditions surrounding the trained players.
“I think the team I was in had the lowest level of trained players among the 12 teams. Some players thought,’I often became a professional baseball player.’
Since Softbank and the Giants are catching training players, the reality is that other teams have also set up training slots for the time being. It’s easy for a coach of one army to coach a player of one army, but I think it’s quite difficult for a coach who is entrusted with training because it’s like teaching elementary school students from scratch. “
Even if it is registered under control, it will be even more difficult to join the army from there.
“It was actually a story, but there was a player who was registered under control and left a good result in the second army, but another player was promoted to the first army. But,” Why is it not me who goes up to the first army? I can’t say to the leaders because the promotion goes away.
The world of professional baseball is not “the result is everything”, but the world of “sesame pickpocketing”. Because the leaders themselves sesame to the director in order to survive. “
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