Newspapers dominate professional baseball, high school baseball, and adult baseball, so I can’t say anything
Riseisha Nine defeated Osaka Toin in the final of the Osaka tournament and qualified for Koshien (Photo: Kyodo News)
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On August 6th, the 105th National High School Baseball Championship Commemorative Tournament, the so-called “Summer Koshien” began. 49 participating schools. Which high school will get the shining crown? Some people will hold their breath and be glued to the Koshien broadcast on TV.
However, Shinya Kobayashi (author/sports writer) and Masayuki Tamaki (sports culture critic/visiting professor at Nihon Fukushi University) both argue that Koshien should be avoided in midsummer.
What is wrong with summer Koshien, what high school baseball should be like, and what are the problems facing the Japanese baseball world? We interviewed Mr. Kobayashi and Mr. Tamaki, who published “I don’t need midsummer Koshien” (Iwanami Shoten). (Interviewer: Yoko Seki, writer/video creator)
──In this book, “I don’t need Koshien in midsummer”, Mr. Kobayashi is calling for us to stop attending Koshien in midsummer. Why did you come to such an idea?
Mr. Shinya Kobayashi (hereinafter referred to as Kobayashi):The direct factor is the recent abnormal heat.
Until a few years ago, I was the manager of junior high school baseball. One day, after playing three matches in one day under the scorching sun of nearly 40 degrees, one student collapsed from heatstroke. Luckily, he was taken to the hospital by ambulance and was fine. For me, this was an event that changed my perception of baseball, especially high school baseball, as well as the dangers of playing baseball in extreme heat.
If something irreparable happens to a student, I myself cannot take responsibility as a leader. I would like other leaders to think thoroughly about this point.
Also, high school baseball is mainly held in tournaments. Perhaps for that reason, the idea of “just win” is rampant. The more powerful schools that compete in Koshien, the more they tend to play cowardly to win.
In one example, the second runner sees the opponent’s catcher’s signature and gives the batter’s signature. It’s a prohibited act, but some strong teams do it skillfully. A straight ball when the second runner leads quickly, and a changing ball when the second runner leads slowly. The referee can’t say the move is bad.
I think most people are purely watching high school baseball without knowing that. But unfortunately, high school baseball is such a world.
Aki Sasaki when he was in Ofunato High School. He did not step on the Koshien soil because he avoided pitching in the final (Photo: Kyodo News)
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Mr. Kazuyuki Tamaki (hereafter Tamaki):Think about how the losing team can win next time and challenge the next game. As a result, the team as a whole and the individual players improve. This is the real thrill of sports.
In tournaments, there is no “next game”. The sport (ball game) in which tournaments are pervasive is about the same as Japanese high school baseball around the world.
2023-08-04 22:18:08
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