Playback ’14] “Swing and Boom, Hit and Shoo! Shigeo Nagashima gives “hot-blooded guidance” to boys.
What did “FRIDAY” report 10, 20, or 30 years ago? In “Playback Friday,” we take a look back at the topics that were hot at the time. This time, we introduce “Mr. Shigeo Nagashima’s Hot-Blooded Classroom” from the November 28, 2002 issue, which was published 10 years ago. A Hot-blooded Classroom of “ Mr.” Shigeo Nagashima” in the November 28, ’14 issue.
In March 2004, Mr. Shigeo Nagashima suffered a stroke and spent more than a year fighting the disease, but his public activities gradually increased, beginning in July 2005 when he attended a Tokyo Dome game between the Giants and Hiroshima. In November of the same year, he was named a 2005 Person of Cultural Merit (for sports promotion), and in April 2001 he received the National Medal of Honor at the same time as Hideki Matsui (50). On occasion, he also taught baseball to children. This article is a clip from one of those baseball lessons (descriptions in parentheses are taken from past articles).
After watching the boys play, he couldn’t resist…
“Fold your right elbow, bam, bam, shh! That’s right. Okey-dokey! G~d!”
The boys, who were not accustomed to Mr. Kikuchi’s onomatopoeia-filled hitting instruction, opened their mouths in shock. But they were not bothered by this, as one would expect from Shigeo Nagashima, then 78, honorary manager for life of the Giants.
On November 9, 2002, about 240 fifth- and sixth-graders gathered at the Shigeo Nagashima Memorial Iwana Baseball Stadium (Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture) in a light rain. Initially, the boys were to be instructed by Kazunori Shinozuka, Tadafumi Matsumoto, and other Giants alumni. ……
“Seeing the boys play, I guess Mr. Shinozuka got excited,” said Matsumoto. At first he was quietly observing behind the net, but gradually he leaned forward and finally went to the ground. He grabbed a boy who was playing catch and said, ‘Hold the ball softly, shoo, shoo! Goo, goo, goo,” he began to teach him. For the next two hours, he was the sole provider of instruction. Mr. Shinozuka laughed and said, “He is too energetic, isn’t he?
At that time, Mr. Shinozuka was often dining out with acquaintances and seemed to be in pretty good physical condition. I want to teach children the joy of baseball. I will go anywhere,” he said with great enthusiasm.
