Photo By Sponichi
The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced this year’s inductees on the 15th. In the expert category of the player awards, former Nippon Ham manager Hideki Kuriyama (64, Nippon Ham Chief Baseball Officer), who led Samurai Japan to the world number one position as a coach at the WBC in 2023, was selected. During his time as manager of Nippon-Ham, he developed Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani (31) as a “two-way player.” It paved the way for him to become a world-class player. For the first time in five years, no one was selected for the player category, and for the first time in 15 years, no one was selected for special recognition.
Mr. Kuriyama, who attended the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, gave his acceptance speech with a tense expression and reminisced, “I never thought that I would be able to play baseball for this long, even though I became a professional player as a test student.” Looking back on the days when he admired Shigeo Nagashima and Sadaharu Oh and watched baseball games as a boy, and the days when he admired and swung a bat for Tatsunori Hara, as well as his time as Nippon-Ham manager who believed in my potential and gave me a chance, he said, “Honestly, I still feel strongly that someone like me should be in there (Hall of Fame).However, maybe…this award is a way of saying, “Work hard for the future of baseball.” That’s what I think. And one more thing: I realize that even players like me who were really bad can play baseball for so long because of the thoughts and efforts of those around them. I realize that it’s not just their talent, but the passion they have for baseball that allows each individual to create something so great.”
Lastly, he said, “From now on, I want to be on the side of watching over and cheering on baseball, helping as many people as possible to appreciate baseball, spreading the word, and becoming evangelists for baseball.I want to do everything I can to support these young people. I would like to express my gratitude to all my seniors who have given me their blessings, who have given me their thoughts, and who have taught me many things.I will never forget this gratitude and will continue to do my best for baseball,” he concluded his speech with gratitude and strong determination for the future.
His “student” Otani, who together created a dual-wielding team and led Samurai Japan to the world No. The memories I made at WBC are my precious assets. I’m glad that the many accomplishments left behind by Coach Kuriyama and his personality will be etched into history in this way. Congratulations to him today.”
Mr. Kuriyama was born on April 26, 1961. After graduating from Soka (Tokyo) and attending the national Tokyo Gakugei University, he joined Yakult in 1983 out of the draft. As an outfielder, he won the Golden Glove Award in 1989, and by the time he retired in 1990, he had a batting average of .279, 7 home runs, 67 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases in 494 games.
After retiring, he served as a professor at Hakuoh University and worked as a sportscaster on TV Asahi under the guise of “Netsu-sensei”. He also serialized a column in Sports Nippon. In November 2011, he became Nippon-Ham’s manager, and in 10 years he won the league twice and was number one in Japan. In 2016, he won the Shoriki Matsutaro Award. At the 2012 draft meeting, Otani (Hanamaki Higashi) was selected in first place. He was developed as a two-way player.
At the 2023 WBC, as the manager of Samurai Japan, he led Japan to the world championship for the first time in three tournaments since 2009. In addition to Otani and Padres Darvish of the Angels at the time, the Cardinals’ Nootbar, the first Japanese American, was also called up. Yoshida of the Red Sox also became an unusual participant in his first year in the major leagues, opening up a new path for team formation.
In 2014, he was appointed Chief Baseball Officer (CBO) to promote the strengthening and development of Nippon-Ham’s foundation and team composition. As the de facto chief executive of the team, he is in charge of team management and team formation.
◇Hideki Kuriyama Born April 26, 1961, 64 years old from Tokyo. After graduating from Soka and Tokyo Gakugei University, he joined Yakult in 1983 out of the draft. He won the Golden Glove Award in 1989. After retiring, he served as a professor at Hakuoh University, and since 2012 has been the manager of Nippon Ham. In 10 years, he won the league twice and was the best in Japan once. In 2016, he won the Shoriki Matsutaro Award. As the manager of Samurai Japan, he was the world’s number one in the WBC for 23 years, and has been Nippon-Ham’s chief baseball officer (CBO) since 2024.
▽Baseball Hall of Fame Established in 1959 (Showa 34) with the purpose of honoring and honoring the achievements of those who contributed to the development of Japanese baseball. Competitor awards include the “Player Award,” which is open to those who have been active for at least five years since their retirement, and the “Expert Award,” which is open to managers, coaches, or players who have been at least 21 years old since their retirement. In addition, there are special awards for referees and amateurs. To date, 108 people have been inducted into the Hall of Fame with athlete awards and 115 people with special awards.
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