From 2023, new director Kazuo Matsui will lead the Seibu army. From 2019 to 2021, he served as Seibu’s second team manager, and in 2022, he served as head coach under former manager Hatsuhiko Tsuji (originally Shinnyo Ippon), so the strengths and weaknesses of the team are sufficient. You will have a grasp on
How will the team change for the league championship for the first time in four years and the number one in Japan? We asked Hironori Ishige, who was the team leader for a long time during Seibu’s golden age from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, about his impressions of Matsui when he was active, his expectations for the new season, and the current challenges faced by Seibu. .
Director Kazuo Matsui, who will take command of the Seibu Army from this year.
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――Ishige-san was with Seibu until 1994, when Matsui started as a professional baseball player. Did you have any contacts at that time?
Hironori Ishige (hereinafter referred to as Ishige) In his first year, Matsui was in the second army all the time, and he started playing in the first army in the second year, so there was almost no contact with him.
–Mr. Matsui joined Seibu from PL Gakuen, and in his third year as a professional, he took over as a regular shortstop and played all 130 games. He showed off his presence by marking 50 stolen bases, second in the league. How did you see Manager Matsui when he was a young player?
Ishige: At PL Gakuen, I was a pitcher and switched to a fielder when I became a professional player. Instead of catching a pitcher and raising it as a pitcher, raise it as a fielder. These days, such cases are no longer rare, but I think Matsui was probably the “runner”.
The scout must have appreciated his outstanding physical ability and decided that he could be a fielder. The body is not so big, but the spring and power were amazing. Throughout my career, I wasn’t very good at catching and throwing the ball, and my throwing lacked a sense of stability, but I think I was able to make up for it with my physical ability.
