Japan Baseball Federation Official Site | Introducing!!

There are more than 250 club teams nationwide that are members of the Japan Baseball Association (JABA), and together with corporate teams they support adult baseball.

In this corner, we will introduce a unique existence that is indispensable when talking about the team. Players, owners, supporters, cheering songs and transportation buses. We will shine a spotlight on various “specialties” that support the activities of the team.

　“Let me introduce you!! The club team’s specialty ○○”。1st roundteethPitcher Makoto Sawada, a big veteran of “DB Glads”is.[Construction = Mainichi Shimbun Baseball Committee, Mitsutaka Yasuda]

In August59Three or four days a week, the pitcher, who is about to turn old, pitches toward the ball-proof net set up in his garden.50、60I am throwing a ball. “If I try to do it every day, it won’t last. I’ll do it when I can. If it’s raining, I’ll stop. If I keep doing it with that kind of feeling, I’ll keep doing it. But if I don’t do it for a week, I’m afraid I’ll try to do it,” he laughs. He is a baseball player to the bone marrow.

Ace at Kyoto University4turn.Ritsumeikan University surpasses 8 home runs of Atsuya Furuta (former Yakult) in the same grade10He hit a home run and set the record for the most home runs in Kansai student baseball at the time. As a slugger, he became a hot topic as a professional, but he was not nominated in the draft and joined Osaka Gas. However, he failed to achieve the desired results and he retired after four years. Looking back, he recalls, “I was in a rush to get into the club with much fanfare. Driven by impatience and a sense of duty, he did not enjoy baseball purely.After serving as the director of Kyoto University for four years, he was invited by his college classmate to2004He returned to active duty in the year. The reason is incomplete combustion as a player.

“As a hitter, I was branded as a bad drafter and member of society.

from returning to active duty20Year. I’ve reached the age where I can see the 60th birthday. “It’s true that I have pain here and there. For the past two or three years, I’ve had back pain every morning and I can’t get up unless I put some effort into it.”10It has not changed over the years. He pitched in five games last year, including one starter. In recent games, he says, “I’m giving chances to young players.” Although he is busy as a manager in the company business, he continues to practice independently.

“Just holding down one inning is josher. If a point is scored, it’s a joke. It’s fun whether you win or lose. You can’t experience it in your normal life.” That’s why I can’t stop.

I have plans for my future life. “I don’t know the record for the oldest member of society,60I want to pitch a complete pitch in the starting lineup.Once it’s done70in my teens. Dream is called in reinforcement of city opposition and throws 1 innings. I wonder if the 5th representative team from Kinki will make a topic and put it in.65I want you to let me do the first pitch ceremony at the turning point of the age. I have many dreams.”Dreaming of standing on the ground of Tokyo Dome, which was not possible during the Osaka Gas era58old right arm. He is throwing a white ball into the ball-proof net again today.