January 23, 2024, 11:00am Rakuten Norimoto calls on the press to participate in the running menu
Rakuten’s team slogan for this season has been decided to be “Itadaki!”, but something happened early in the new year that made it impossible for me to do so.
This happened when I was covering the voluntary training that pitcher Kodai Norimoto (33), who will turn into a closer this season, was doing in his hometown of Shiga. That day was set as the media release date, but “I wonder if they’re going to cut it off in about an hour?” He was under the fixed mindset that he would be unable to concentrate on practice due to the presence of reporters.
I became a professional baseball reporter in November last year. It was my first time doing an independent training interview, so I had no idea what was going on, but I was expecting something like that. However, the reality was different.
Short-distance dashes, playing catch, pitching practice in the bullpen, about 10 different core exercises… It was impressive to see him push himself hard for about three hours with his younger brother Yoshiki (29), his high school and university friends, and his trainer. He makes no compromises in order to survive the long season. He felt the greatness of being a professional baseball player.
It was time for a 100 meter pole-to-pole run on a slightly snowy field. Norimoto beckoned the reporters holding cameras and Rakuten’s M PR saying, “Let’s do it, everyone!” Everyone was wearing thick clothes and sneakers. He didn’t look like he could do any exercise.
“Why aren’t you wearing running shoes?”
He urged everyone to “mandatory participation,” asking them to “just do one round trip.” Under the cold sky, we each looked at each other and took off our down jackets. Although he was far from full strength, he chased after Norimoto and others.
Actually, my hobby is running. My personal bests were 3 hours and 10 minutes for the full marathon and 1 hour and 30 minutes for the half marathon, which puts me in the “fairly fast” category for a citizen runner. However, I couldn’t put my head up and say, “I’m going to run.”
When the interview was over, Norimoto smiled and said to the reporters, “You can come tomorrow as well.” Although I accepted the “refill,” I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
“Pitcher Norimoto, I’m sorry. I actually could have run.”
If I have a chance next year, I would like to bring my running shoes and training clothes and come fully equipped.[Rakuten representative = Aito Yamada]
Rakuten Rules for Running This column has back issues.
2024-01-23 14:09:22
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