“Showa Professional Baseball Workers Talking to Reiwa” 24th Yoshimasa Takahashi, Part 2(Read from the first part >>)
A popular series that explores the essence of past interview materials of a different “Showa professional baseball player”. Speaking of Yoshimasa Takahashi, there are probably many old fans who have that nice sidearm in their minds. This season, “Reiwa’s monster” Roki Sasaki (Lotte) has just achieved the 16th perfect game in NPB history, but Mr. Takahashi is “the 12th in history”, but the situation is completely different from Sasaki. was.
In 1966, he entered Toei from Chuo University in 1st place in the draft, and in 1967 of the rookie year, he suddenly won 15 wins and won the rookie king. In his second year, 1968, he scored 13 wins, but in 1969 he had 3 wins and 11 losses, and in 1970 he had 2 wins and 9 losses. After losing his self-confidence and being forced to give up on professional baseball, in the following 71 years, he achieved a perfect feat. He looks back on that mysterious trajectory.
In 1971, Yoshimasa Takahashi was raised to perfection. I miss the electric bulletin board at Korakuen Stadium (photo = Sankei visual)
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The cause of the slump was before the opening of 1969. While he was running, he fell into a drain and hurt his back. He didn’t notice the ditch because he was running at full power on his first unusual ground. In this era, he would be deregistered immediately. However, Mr. Takahashi, who had decided on the opening pitcher, kept silent and continued to make adjustments.
“The open game was amazing. Okay, I think I can win 20 this year. It’s not that I can’t throw it because it breaks my hips and makes me crazy, but it doesn’t feel right. Therefore, the ball is completely useless. The shot does not go as expected …
Then, when the number of winning stars decreased, I became less confident, and when the fourth year was over, I thought I would become a golfer. But when I inquired, the salary was about 50,000 yen, so I couldn’t eat because I had a loan for my house and my wife. This can’t be helped anymore, I have to be prepared to get fired and play baseball. That’s why I never thought I could play a perfect game. “
In fact, he lived in the second army in the first half of 1971. He was promoted to the 1st Army just before the All-Star Game, and on August 21, when he had three winning stars, he played against Nishitetsu (currently Seibu) at Korakuen Stadium.
“If I was throwing with a bullpen before the game, the shot would be bad. I thought it wouldn’t work once.”
Even so, once the tripartite retired. It is said that Tsuyoshi Oshita, a second baseman who usually eats and drinks together, and Yutaka Ohashi, a shortstop, ridiculed him as “a perfect game.” It’s a chilling story, but Mr. Takahashi replied, “Urusei!”
