February 19, 2024 11:00 Toyo University Himeji Coach Ryusei Okada
Since January, he has been in charge of amateur baseball, and in early February he interviewed Ryusei Okada (62), the manager of Toyo University Himeji (Hyogo). The famous general who led Riseisha (Osaka) for many years from 1987 until he took over as the commander of his alma mater in April 2012, and catcher Seishiro Sakamoto of Hanshin, who is an alumnus of the same school and whom I was in charge of until last year. (30) was asked about her memories of high school.
During last season, when I asked Sakamoto, “What is the origin of reed?”, his teacher at the time replied, “If you combine it with softball baseball (from junior high school), it’s no good.” It gave me an opportunity to do more.” Regarding the exchange, Director Okada tilted his head with a smile and said, “He was the type to do things without having to say anything, so I guess he said that.”
Manager Okada was impressed with Sakamoto’s interpersonal skills and intelligence, and selected him as his regular catcher starting in the fall of his first year, saying, “You’ll get better if you practice a lot of things.” “His learning ability was high. Even if he said “1,” he could do “5,” and he was able to expand his range. Furthermore, he said, “Even though he was a high school student, he had the ability to see people,” and he already had the ability to change pitches and leads depending on the pitcher’s personality and type. “It’s quite difficult for high school students. Even if there are five pitchers, they’re all pitching the same way.” From his second year in high school, he was also entrusted with making decisions on pitching.
In response to his student’s outstanding performance in his eighth year as a professional player, who greatly contributed to Hanshin winning the league for the first time in 18 years and becoming number one in Japan for the first time in 38 years, his mentor said with relief, “I’m glad that I finally had the opportunity to earn Sakamoto’s recognition.” Ta. “You won’t know how good Sakamoto is until you try it.” It’s like, “The more you bite into it, the more flavor it brings out.” I’m not a Japanese squid, but there is something like that.” “I remember doing that,” he said with a laugh.
As someone in charge of amateur baseball, I would like to continue reporting on high school, university, and adult teams, while also focusing on understanding the “origins” of professional players.[Amateur baseball manager = Ryoaki Kozai]
Seishiro Hanshin Sakamoto during his time at Riseisha (Photo taken in March 2011) Seishiro Sakamoto talking with Hiroto Hanshin Saiki (front) in the bullpen (Photo taken on February 10, 2024) This column has back issues.
2024-02-19 05:10:10
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