“It Would Be Easier to Jump off a Building!” — Manager Katsuya Nomura, Leaked His Only Weakness to His Closest Confidantes!

Nomura-san was in his fourth year as a player and manager of the Nankai Hawks. In 1973, I was in my fourth year as a player and manager of the Nankai Hawks. The team won the league championship for the first time in seven years. The team won the league championship for the first time in seven years. On the bus on the day the championship was decided, I sang the theme song of the Star of the Giants, the chorus of which was “Go! Go! Go! Go! Katsuya. Then, Mr. Nomura, who had been listening to the song in silence, suddenly replied, “Who are you talking about? I have a good memory of it now. It’s a good memory now.

Mr. Katsuya Nomura (84 years old) 84 years old. He has known Katsuya Nomura (84 years old) for more than half a century, counting from his days as manager of the Yakult baseball team. He has been a general strategist for more than 20 years, counting from his days as Yakult manager. Mr. Masanori Matsui (72), who had been a close friend of Mr. Nomura for more than half a century and had always supported him as his chief strategist for more than 20 years since he was manager of Yakult. 72 He has always supported Mr. Nomura as his chief strategist for more than 20 years since he was manager of the Yakult baseball team.

On February 11, three full years will have passed since the death of Nomura, who left behind great achievements as a professional baseball player and manager. Three full years have passed since his death on February 11. Matsui, who had shared many hardships as a close confidant of Mr. Nomura, recounts his memories of Mr. Nomura.

Matsui, a player for the Nankai Hawks, first met Nomura in 1969. In 1969, Matsui, a player for the Nankai Hawks, first met Mr. Nomura. Later, after retiring from active baseball, Matsui worked as a team manager for the Yakult Swallows. 1989 In October 1989, Mr. Nomura took over as manager of the Yakult Swallows and selected Matsui as second team manager and chief coach, helping the team win four league championships and Japan’s top division three times. After that, whenever Mr. Nomura took over as manager of Hanshin and Rakuten, Matsui always supported Mr. Nomura as head coach. He is synonymous with Nomura baseball, “ ID It was Matsui who came up with the catchphrase “ID baseball,” which is synonymous with Nomura baseball.

In his first year as manager of Yakult,” Matsui said, “Nomura took over as manager of the Yakult baseball team. When I was asked if I could think of a good catchphrase for the team to announce at the managers’ meeting, I suggested in the car on the way to the venue that we use the phrase “ID baseball,” meaning “data-oriented. ID Baseball (Imported Data),” which means to emphasize data.

However, I did not get a good response from Mr. Nomura, so I walked into the venue saying, “I’m going with Thinking Baseball 2. Mr. Nomura had put up “Thinking Baseball” with head coach Blazer when he was a player and manager at Nankai, so this meant that we would continue that work. However, when I asked him what happened after the meeting, he said, “ ID. I said, ‘I’m going to play baseball. ‘ That was the beginning.”

What is baseball?　What is life?”

There is a reason why Mr. Nomura did not shake his head at first.

Nomura believed that, although data was used to win games, the individual player’s ability to think, perseverance, and other inner strengths were necessary before data could be used to win games, and that the growth of a team’s human potential was the foundation of a strong team. So, it is only a tactical means to an end. ID baseball, which is merely a tactical tool.

It is a well-known story that Mr. Nomura held unique meetings to enhance the players’ human potential.

Every year at the start of camp in February, each team would hold a meeting to confirm the strategy of the team and other matters. Mr. Nomura never talked about such things, but instead began by asking, “What is baseball?　What is life? He begins by asking, “What is baseball? The players were astonished. The first word that came out of his mouth was “ear order. It is a word by Confucius, meaning to listen to everything with an open ear and understand the truth. I didn’t know it either until I was taught it.

Like that, stories that I had never heard before started popping up one after another. The next thing I knew, the color of the players’ eyes changed and they began to take notes in a desperate attempt to absorb the knowledge. I was in charge of erasing what the director had written on the blackboard, but the players who had not finished writing would often complain, “Not yet! (Don’t erase!)” I often received complaints from players who had not finished their work. The hour after dinner, except before holidays, was allotted for meetings, and such talk continued every day. Mr. Nomura himself called it a training session.

In the latter half of the camp, baseball was finally discussed, but the content was also based on his own analysis.

The ball counts in baseball are all There are a total of 12 There are 12 different counts in baseball. Each count was divided into three categories, advantageous, disadvantageous, and even, from the pitcher’s and batter’s point of view, and he analyzed what kind of psychology was at work in each count. Mr. Nomura believed that baseball is a sport in which psychology plays a large role, so he often talked about this kind of thing.

He saw data as only one way to influence psychology. However, I have never seen Mr. Nomura talk about human power or psychology during his time as a player and manager at Nankai. He spent nine years as a ronin before resigning from Nankai and taking over as manager of Yakult, and I think he learned a lot during that time.”

Nomu-san, who never showed any signs of weakness, is ……

Nomura seems to have gotten the hang of command, but even so, it wasn’t always going to work out. He was bought by the Hanshin Tigers, who he took over as their new manager after being tapped for his skills at Yakult, and the team finished in last place for three consecutive years. There were times when he became unusually bearish.

When the team was not winning, he once told me, ‘I thought it would be easier to jump off the hotel where I was staying. I still remember it because he was a man who did not usually speak out in weakness. At Yakult, I was able to achieve good results because I had a good foundation, but at Hanshin, I was lacking in that area, and the environment needed more time. I also feel very responsible for not being able to help Mr. Nomura at that time.

Following the arrest of Mrs. Sachiyo for tax evasion In 2001, he resigned as manager of the Hanshin team. He resigned as manager of the Hanshin team in 2001 following the arrest of his wife, Sachiyo, for tax evasion. After that, he worked as manager of the Cidax baseball team. In October 2005, he became manager of the Rakuten Eagles. He served as manager of the Rakuten Eagles for four seasons from October 2005. This would be the last time he would wear the uniform, but he had grown more mature by that time.

Nomura’s attitude during his time with Rakuten had changed considerably from his days with the Yakult baseball team, when he was so excited to be named manager of the Rakuten Eagles. He did not just lead the players, but carefully observed each player and developed them according to their individual personalities. As a manager, he never forgot to maintain a balance with those around him.

Takeji Yamazaki, who moved from Chunichi to Orix and then back to Rakuten as a mainstay player, is another player who was nurtured by Mr. Nomura. Players who knew Mr. Nomura during his time with the Yakult often said that he had changed beyond belief.

Matsui says that what he learned most from watching Mr. Nomura closely over the years was the way he focused his attention.

He knew where to focus in order to see the essence of things. As a coach, you need to find out how the other side is coming out and how they are thinking in order to make a successful operation.

To this end, Mr. Nomura carefully observes even the slightest changes that we might overlook, such as the way the opponent looks at you or the slightest movement. From there, he skillfully reads the opponent’s mindset. Even things that are now common knowledge in the baseball world were first noticed by Mr. Nomura.

Enhancing human power. Focus on the essence. The meaning of Nomura’s words is not limited to baseball. They are also instructive and instructive for living well.