A 60 Minutes Monologue of Tsuyoshi Nishioka — His Golden Words to His Junior Shintaro Fujinami

As soon as I heard that Shintaro had signed with the Athletics, I told him to find a house in San Francisco instead of Oakland. As soon as I heard that Shintaro had signed with the Athletics, I called him and told him to find a house in San Francisco instead of in Oakland. I heard that convenience stores are unmanned to protect the clerks from robbers, and some houses have bars on the windows. Oakland and San Francisco are very close. It’s just one bridge over. It’s free to go from San Francisco to Oakland, but to go from Oakland to San Francisco, you have to pay 5$ for the toll. It’s because there is a disparity in security. It’s also a learning experience.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka, 36, and Shintaro Fujinami, 28, are juniors at Osaka Kirin and played together as teammates for five years at Hanshin (2013-2018). Nishioka played two seasons with the Minnesota Twins from 2011, making him a “senior in the majors. Nishioka said he was “impressed ” that a junior player with whom he has close ties signed a one-year contract with the Athletics.

I think it would have been possible to sign him to a two or three-year contract with the Athletics if he had kept his salary at 300 to 400 million yen per year,” Nishioka said. However, Shintaro said to me, ‘I want to go for a one-year contract. Why?　With a one-year contract, he would become an FA after the season. If he plays well this season, his annual salary will rise to nearly 1 billion to 1.5 billion yen. On the other hand, with a one-year contract, there is the risk of losing his team in the off-season if he does not perform well this season. Even so, Shintaro decided to take the plunge. That’s admirable. When asked about Shohei Ohtani (28) by the American media, he said, “He’s a different dimension,” and “He’s something else,” but I think he is filled with regret inside his heart. I was filled with frustration in my gut. When everyone saw Shintaro’s performance in his first year as a pro, they must have imagined him competing with his rival Otani in the majors. I think he must have had a lot of aspirations.

Fujinami told the magazine, “I am anxious about the drastic change in baseball environment. Nishioka said, “There is no problem at all. In fact, he assures us that joining the Athletics is a positive thing for Shintaro.

He was drafted first in the Hanshin League, played an active role, and experienced a difficult season when the media made a fuss about him in the Hanshin-centric Kansai region and he was unable to get strikes. …… Even so, Shintaro was not crushed. I don’t think players from other teams understand this, but the pressure of having a Koshien star enter the Hanshin Draft with the first pick is unimaginable. It must have been quite a mental workout for him. Then, in the Majors, he made a complete turnaround and joined a team with a reluctance to play for a team that is favored by professionals. You may be confused by the official ball of the Majors. But experiencing this difference is also a learning experience. It is interesting to realize the difference between baseball and base ball. You can understand baseball terms such as “fly out” and “pick off” because there is no difference between Japan and the U.S. Don’t worry about that at all. But I want Shintaro to communicate with his teammates, staff members, and reporters without an interpreter as much as possible. At first, when his teammates are chatting and laughing with a bang, he may be the only one who has to ask the interpreter, “What did you just say? I have to ask the interpreter, “What did you just say?　It’s not funny at all! (Laughs.) But I don’t get teased just because I’m a foreigner. (laughs). Thanks to the success of Ichiro (49), Hideki Matsui (48), and other senior players, Japanese people are given a second look. Of course, until they produce results, people will look at them and say, “What the heck is this guy talking about? Kids who are drafted in the first round are looked at in that way, right?　There is no difference between Japan and the United States.

What we have to be careful about is the difference in baseball culture.

The camps in the majors are short and over by noon. The reason for this is that they all have family over at the campsite, so they spend the afternoon with their families. Instead, they come out at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning to do their own training. Then they attend team practice. Shintaro needs to be creative in this area. Also, be careful with your guts. Over there, it is taken as an insult and can get you in trouble. It’s okay to do it toward the bench of your own team. However, if you do it toward the bench of your own team, but then happen to meet the other hitter’s eyes, you will be in trouble. They will surely retaliate. And for the entire three-game series. They would say things like, “That’s payback for the time you got your ass kicked two days ago. (laughs). In the majors, it is not a “match” but a “battle. That’s why it’s exciting and interesting. Also, this may come as a surprise to you, but Japanese culture is quite prevalent in the majors, and I’m sure I get asked a lot by my teammates for “Hi-Chews,” a snack, or eye drops that make me feel refreshed. But you have to firmly refuse. For example, if a player becomes unable to play after applying eye drops, it could be Shintaro’s fault. America is a litigious society, so if you are not careful, you could get into serious trouble. Then there is …… the food. Restaurants in America close at 9 or 10 pm. I think you will be acutely aware of how fortunate you are in Japan, where you can eat a variety of foods until late at night. Japanese restaurants can help such Japanese major leaguers. There are usually well-established Japanese restaurants in major cities, and senior Japanese major leaguers have established relationships with them. If you get to know them well, they will open the restaurant and wait for you after the game. Some restaurants will even let you have a meal before they open. The reporters know their stuff, so you have to keep them in the loop.

Nishioka himself has taken on a new challenge since last year.

He left the Tochigi Golden Braves of the BC League, where he spent three seasons starting in 2019. He is now the manager and player for the Fukuoka Kitakyushu Phoenix, a newly formed team that joined the Kyushu Asia League last year. What was the reason for leaving the familiarity of Tochigi and jumping into a new team?

It’s because it’s an up-and-coming baseball team. The process of going from zero to one cannot be experienced with an existing team. That was the attraction of Kitakyushu Phoenix. In order to gather sponsors, I had dinners with the presidents of various companies as a director. I was able to talk with people I wouldn’t have met without being in this position, and I learned a lot. The players’ salaries are paid by the baseball team, but the source is the ticket money that fans buy and the revenue from sponsors whose names are written on the uniforms and at the stadium. Without sponsors, the team cannot operate. I learned a lot about how society works.”

There were some challenges that came about because we were starting from scratch. One such challenge was “reforming the support system.

In the Independent League, there are usually about 200 customers, and 1,000 to 2,000 at most. At most, 1,000 to 2,000 people. If we use drums and trumpets like in the NPB, the players on the field can only hear the sound of the drums. It makes it difficult for the players to play. I’m not saying I’m against cheering groups, but I think it’s hard for the fans in the stands to concentrate on the game because all they can hear is the sound of the drums. So I decided to play music in the stadium. Music is very important, such as the entrance music and a little music for foul calls. A baseball game takes three hours to play, whereas a movie takes two hours. Music is essential to keep the viewers focused and entertained. We even tried to use a DJ, but we received complaints from customers who were sitting near the speakers that it was too loud. If we could, we would like to have a DJ for every game, but we still don’t have the budget yet.

As a manager, Nishioka was a challenger. He broke a convention in baseball that I had always wondered about.

I’ve always wondered about starting pitchers who leave the game in the hands of relievers, or players who are sent in as substitutes, or players who are replaced and have to stay on the bench to cheer for their teammates. I understand if you are playing a tournament, but in a long league it is pointless. If you are a professional, you should leave the cheering to the fans and strive to give your best performance. That is why I let the substituted players go home. When I said, “You can go home,” at first everyone was upset. The director must be angry. I said, “You can go home. I explained to them that I wanted them to use the time they had left to think for themselves so that they could improve their performance tomorrow, and they understood. When the game was over and both teams lined up on the field, there were times when our team only had nine players (laughs), but in the end we had about seven players who hit .300.

What he made sure to do was to prepare for the play in front of him so that he could maximize his performance. This is the kind of “preparation” that Katsuya Nomura, a wise general who took good care of Nishioka during his lifetime, valued.

No one can predict how the game will turn out in the bottom of the ninth inning. No one can predict. There is no need to fight what you cannot see. Focus on the batter in front of you, one pitch at a time. Nishioka’s theory is that it would be best if the accumulation of such efforts leads to victory.

Do it for yourself, not for the team. Winning and losing are the responsibility of the person in command. At our company, it is OK to make mistakes. What is important is what you realize by making mistakes. I don’t have meetings after games. If there is a meeting after a game, players who make mistakes in the game think only about what they should say or how they should explain themselves, or they don’t want to get angry, etc., and their performance drops. And if they are given advice while they are frustrated because of their mistakes, they will not be able to take it into their heads. So on the day of the game, I just say, ‘You had a good experience,’ and the next day I give them advice.

In Kitakyushu Phoenix, “Late arrivals are OK.

Blood pressure and physical condition differ from person to person, and no one can be in perfect condition for an entire year. There are times when we are inevitably late. Many of our players drive to school, so if they oversleep, they get very nervous and panic to get there even a minute early. It would be a disaster if I caused an accident. I wanted to prevent a second disaster, so I decided to allow tardiness. Then what happened? Because they were not bound by the rules, the players began to think, “I have to be firm. As a result, tardiness was reduced to zero. It’s an interesting thing: If people are told to “do it, do it, do it,” they don’t want to do it. The reverse is also true. Also, I decided not to touch the players’ weaknesses at all. I specialize in developing their strengths. Practicing to develop strengths is something that can be done in a positive way. Also, this is something I have experienced myself, but when a player’s strengths grow rapidly, his confidence grows, and his weaknesses also improve, as if dragged along by the growth of his strengths. This was also possible because we were an emerging team. I don’t think I would have been able to take on this challenge if I had been a member of an NPB team, which is obligated to win.

What he wants to nurture is “players who can think for themselves. Not a player who waits for instructions, but a player who can present a plan to the manager. Since his days in Toin Osaka, Nishioka says he has been going into games thinking, “What kind of play does the coach want me to make? Nishioka says that since his days in the Toin of Osaka, he has approached games thinking, “What kind of play does the manager want me to make?

If I bunt here, it would be interesting. If I play safety, the opponent will not like it. It is the same with defense. I anticipate the opponent’s strategy and try to anticipate many patterns, for example, “Bunt to third base. If the pitcher makes a glove throw, you throw to first base with a jumping throw.” You have dozens of patterns in mind, including the possibility of errors by other players. By being prepared, you get off to a quick start. Good plays are also born. If you move after something happens, your start will be one step slower, and if you are caught off guard, it will lead to an error.

In other words, his goal is to create the next Tsuyoshi Nishioka.

Munetaka Murakami, 22, has done amazingly well. He is a real home run hitter. Conversely, he is the only home run hitter in the world, and even if he hits 20 or 30, if his batting average is only .250, he won’t win any titles. Instead, it is better to get two or three hits consistently, which leads to more wins and higher salaries. I believe that having nine top hitters in a lineup is stronger than having a lineup of home run hitters. There is no right answer in life. I think it is a process of trial and error that will continue throughout your life. I became the top hitter, won the Japan Series, and also won the WBC. Of course, I am proud of it, but I don’t feel that I have accomplished anything. If I ever feel like I’ve reached my “goal,” it will be when I’m about to die (laughs).

His smile was suffused with a sense of fulfillment.