The spring camp of the Chunichi Dragons, which has been hit by the new corona misfortune. However, due to the introduction of the idea of "remote instruction" using tablet devices by manager Kazuyoshi Tachinami and the coaches, the players' intense time advances toward the opening of the season approaching next month.
There is a book called "The Scorer" (KADOKAWA, published in 2020). Yasuhiro Mitsui, who served as a scorer for the Yomiuri Giants for 22 years, wrote about the depth and charm of professional baseball, and the players he met, based on his extensive field experience. As you can see from the "THE" in the title, the book is full of Mr. Mitsui's pride as a scorer, and as a baseball fan, it is irresistible. As Ryuto, I'm happy that this veteran scorer named two Dragons players who were difficult to fight.
Hiromitsu Ochiai, the only Japanese hitter to win the triple crown three times. He was the Dragons' Fudo No. 4. Scorers say that how batters miss the ball, and how they miss the ball, determine how to attack, but in Ochiai's case, he says, "I couldn't read that idea at all." He is described as "a genius player who misses any ball in the same way and puts out the bat in the same way". As a pitcher, he said that he was "most conscious" of pitcher Noshin Kawakami, who has been active as the "Dragon's Ace" since 1998. “He was a pitcher with a high degree of perfection, and I had to think carefully about how to hit,” says Mitsui. When Kawakami started throwing new shots in addition to straight, curve, and cut balls, he revealed his true intentions, saying, "As a scorer, I was in a state of panic." As an ace and number 4, the Dragons have both pitching and hitting skills, and as a fan, I am happy with the evaluation.
I found an interesting analysis in the book. Mr. Mitsui's ideal was to create a situation where there are "four players" who can be core players in the field, assuming that there are pitchers of a certain level. If you apply it to the Dragons in the 2021 season, are there only two players, Dayan Viciedo and Yohei Oshima? When the new manager Tatsunami took office, he said, "Viciedo and Oshima are the only regulars." Originally, Shuhei Takahashi and Yota Kyoda, a three-prong duo, should have been listed there. The long-awaited regular catcher candidate Takuya Kinoshita also had the impression that he was still a “candidate” due to the lack of games. Two people were missing.
The 2021 Japan Series was a famous series of fierce battles that will go down in baseball history. The Tokyo Yakult Swallows, who won the Central League and became the best in Japan, have infielders Munetaka Murakami and Tetsuto Yamada, who were also active in Samurai Japan, as well as outfielders Norichika Aoki and Yasutaka Shiomi, and Yuhei Nakamura as the regular catcher. there was Five people. The helpers of Jose Osuna and Domingo Santana are also active there. It is understandable that it suddenly became the best in Japan from last year's bottom. On the other hand, the Orix Buffaloes, the Pacific League champions, have a cleanup of Masanao Yoshida and Yutaro Sugimoto, and the first and second duo of Shuhei Fukuda and Soyuma are fixed. It is one of the top batting lines in the league, named "Fukumune Shosugi" after taking the first letter of the head. Both teams had four core fielders.
The Dragons have a history of not losing. The 2006 team can be said to be the “strongest” in the history of the team. Following Masahiro Araki and Hirokazu Ibata's 1st and 2nd players, Kosuke Fukudome, Tyrone Woods, and Masahiko Morino have cleaned up, and there are already 5 players. Catcher Motonobu Tanishige and outfielder Alex Ochoa, along with "Araiba" Niyukan, solidified the center line. Tatsunami, who will take command of the new Dragons, was also waiting. Director Sadao Kondo's "Nobushi Baseball" thrilled the fans, with Yasushi Tao and Ken Hirano playing 1st and 2nd, Ken Mokka, Kenichi Yazawa, and Yasunori Oshima cleaning up, Masaru Uno, and Nakao. Catcher Takayoshi and infielder Seiji Kamikawa followed. This batting line was a team with "eight people" other than pitchers. Both years they won the league.
What will happen to the ``four core fielders'' that the legendary scorer talks about in the new Tatsunami Dragons? Who will join Viciedo, who is in his 7th year in Japan, and Oshima, who has become a fielder captain? According to Director Tatsunami before the camp, Shu Takahashi, Kyoda, and Kinoshita will follow, but that is just "before the camp". For a team that has struggled for years to grow exponentially, the existing line-up alone is not enough. Kouya Ishikawa, who is in his third year, and Kojo Ukai, who is a rookie but has attracted attention for his powerful swings, are raising expectations for the powerful batting practice of these two players. Furthermore, Kosuke Ito, who was on the same team as Takashi Neo, Yuki Okabayashi, and Ukai in high school, should not lose. It is a fun day to see who will jump out.
As it happens every year, the days of spring camp go by quickly. We expect the Dragons players to spend a lot of time practicing hard, and we would like to pay attention to who will be named in the "four core fielders" of Ryu Tatsunami in the 2022 season.
[CBC TV special commentator Toshihisa Kitatsuji]
Yasuhiro Mitsui "The Scorer" (KADOKAWA, 2020)
* This is a Dragons editorial written by the author of the Chunichi Dragons Test Grade 1 official certification from the "fan's point of view". In the book "Dear Dragons! Half a century as a fan" "Ryu no counterattack My beloved Dragons! 2” (both published by Yuipoto) and others.