Interview with Seigi Tanaka, NIHAM: “Why I Keep Smiling on the Mound”

The number of votes cast was 926,283.

As of July 1, the player who has garnered the most votes among the 12 teams in the closer category for the pro baseball All-Star games, held on July 23 and 24 (at Es Con Field and Jingu Stadium), is Nippon-Ham’s new closer, Masayoshi Tanaka (29).

Why is Tanaka so overwhelmingly popular? It is likely because fans resonate with his journey of awakening after enduring many years of hardship since turning pro. Tanaka says, 

“Even now, I am not at ease. If I fail as a reliever, I will immediately lose the closer role. Every game is a crucial test.” 

Let’s look back on Tanaka’s tumultuous baseball career through his own words.

Seigi Tanaka, who hails from Yokohama City in Kanagawa Prefecture, started playing baseball in the first grade. At Soka High School, he wore the number 1 jersey from his first year and continued to excel as the ace at Soka University. Armed with a powerful fastball that reached a top speed of 156 km/h, Tanaka achieved a no-hitter in the Tokyo New University League in the fall of his third year. He was hailed as a once-in-a-decade talent, attracting the attention of five teams who competed to draft him in the first round of the October 2016 draft. In the end, he joined SoftBank through a lottery. However, concerns were already beginning to surface.

“In the spring of my senior year in college, I developed inflammation in my right shoulder. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I injured my shoulder again during the training camp right after turning pro. I spent my first year rehabilitating and didn’t get a chance to play in the first team.”

In his second year, although Tanaka started the season in the first team, further despair soon followed. In his debut game, he was hit for a home run right away, and by May, he had given up home runs in three consecutive games, leading to his demotion to the second team.

“It was a season where I worked as hard as I could, to the point where I thought I couldn’t train any more. So, when I couldn’t make an impact in the first team, I didn’t know what to do. I became increasingly negative, thinking, ‘I’m not contributing,’ and ‘Maybe I’m not cut out for the pros.’ For a long time, I couldn’t imagine myself succeeding again in the first team. Every year, I ended the season bracing myself for being cut from the team.”

Tanaka was so focused on baseball that he left his smartphone at home when heading to the stadium. However, this seriousness might have contributed to his prolonged slump as he over thought his struggles.