In 2022, the sports world will be excited by various competitions such as the soccer World Cup. What kind of articles were read by many people at Sportiva? This year, we will republish popular articles that received a great response (distributed on August 10, 2022).
* The content of the article is as of the date of distribution.
Professional baseball is finally approaching its climax, but the biggest concern is whether Munetaka Murakami (Yakult), who currently has 39 home runs (as of August 9, 2022), can break the season record (60). Is it possible to achieve the Triple Crown?
From the game against Hanshin on July 31st (Koshien) to the game against Chunichi on August 2nd (Jingu), Murakami set a Japanese record of 5 home runs in a row. Perhaps inspired by this, on August 3, Kotaro Kiyomiya (Nippon-Ham) hit two homers in one game, No. 12 and No. 13.
Murakami and Kiyomiya are classmates, and are both professional left-handed hitters in their fifth year. Yakult nominated Kiyomiya in first place in the 2017 draft, but lost the lottery after seven team competitions, and acquired the negotiating rights for Murakami, who was nominated by three teams as the first place out.
Yakult’s Munetaka Murakami aims for the first triple crown since Nobuhiko Matsunaka in 2004
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Murakami hit 36 home runs in 2019, the second year after graduating from high school, and won the rookie of the year, and last year he won his first title with 39 home runs. He recorded 104 home runs in the four years until last season, and has matured into a leading fourth hitter in the baseball world. Kiyomiya, on the other hand, has hit 21 home runs in four years as a professional. Why is there such a big difference?
Tatsuro Hirooka, who coached Yakult and Seibu for seven years, won the league championship four times, and won the number one in Japan three times, talks about these two.
If Kiyomiya was in a different team…
“It is no exaggeration to say that the baseball career of a player is determined by the team he joins. Murakami was trained by meeting Shinya Miyamoto, who was the head coach at the time. Listening to the advice of real coaches and coaches who put their heart and soul into teaching, understanding and growing in their own way.”
Miyamoto, who was a coach in his rookie year, was concerned about the shallowness of the take-back and pointed it out, but Murakami did not listen. From there, Miyamoto became a demon and gave strict instructions. I can hit it with the second army, but as I struggled to see the first pitcher’s straight and breaking balls, Murakami’s takeback gradually deepened and his swing speed increased.
“Murakami’s efforts are great. As No. 4, he’s churned out home runs and hit 30%. He’s completely different from Kazuma Okamoto of the Giants. But he’s still not a real No. 4. Inside the batter’s box. I can’t hear the glares.”
