New Piccari Pitching Method Explodes! The “Dream” and “Struggle Against Infection” Behind the Birth of “Southpaw Jiki Sano

I thought it was a gimpy back ……

‘I need to calm down a bit. Just a cup of tea, please.”

Jiki Sano, 56, who had just returned to the dugout of Jingu Stadium after his “first pitch,” first said these words in front of the press. After receiving a drink from a staff member and taking a breather, he joked, “I knew my hat was itchy.

In fact, on the same day, Mr. Sano showed off his “piccari pitching technique,” in which he flips off his hat to reveal his bald head, for the first time in a long time. And he did it with his left arm, which is not his dominant arm.

The story of how he came to pitch with his left arm and how he came to pitch with his left arm was reported in the Friday Digital article, “Former Kintetsu player Jiki Sano, whose right arm was amputated, says: ‘I’ll take the mound in December and throw strikes with my left arm! The article is as reported in the following article.

Former Kintetsu player Jiki Sano, who had his right arm amputated, talks about his plans to take the mound in December and throw strikes with his left arm.

At the time of the interview, however, he was relaxed, saying, “I might throw a slider,” but instead of the strike he had predicted, the ball bounced one bounce and landed in the catcher’s mitt.

That’s why Sano reflected on his pitching , saying, “I gave myself a minus 10.

I had been training hard, and I was able to take a lot of steps, and I could reach it from the mound,” he said. But my goal was to throw strikes, and when I thought about that, I realized I hadn’t done that at all. ……

In fact, on November 14, he uploaded a video on SNS showing him throwing a speedball with his left. When interviewed by Friday Digital shortly afterward, Sano was in a great mood.

The salesman was gutted once he found out the Kintetsu Nine had boarded the green car because they were so excited about drinking all the alcohol on the bullet train during the Shin-Osaka-Tokyo leg of the trip.

The team had their hotel buy up the beer, whiskey, and other alcohol that arrived at the campsite.

However, less than two weeks later, Mr. Sano found himself in a major crisis.

When he sneezed, he suffered severe pain in his lower back and became bedridden. I couldn’t even go to the hospital for dialysis, so I had to call an ambulance. He thought it was a back injury, but two bacterial infections were found in his lower back. The pain did not go away, and in December, he decided to have surgery,” said an acquaintance of Sano’s.

Instead of being able to pitch, he was bedridden.

Now he throws strikes!”

However, after going through the surgery, the pain was reduced and the inflammation improved. It was only 10 days before he was allowed to go out for the day to pitch.

Mr. Sano, who just a month before had come to the stadium by train, arrived at the stadium that day in a wheelchair. Nevertheless, his strong desire to be on the mound for the first pitch of the “Kura Sushi Tournament 2024 18th Pop Athlete Cup” on December 21, and to throw a strike with his left arm, made it possible for him to make a successful comeback to the pitching hill.

It felt good,” he said. I had been practicing indoors for a long time, so the atmosphere and air were different. My home ballpark was Fujiidera Stadium, but I was happy to pitch at Jingu Stadium, which is a wonderful place. I felt again that this is where I belong.
This is the first step. It means I am back with my left arm. I will work hard to throw strikes this time.

After pitching, he returned to the hospital to begin treatment. If the numbers do not improve with the administration of antibiotics, the worst that can happen is that he will have to undergo surgery again, but “This will happen many times in the future. I can ‘ t be depressed every time,” said Sano, looking forward. His appearance was reminiscent of his days as a relief ace, when he was able to get out of a pinch on many occasions.

Diabetes has weakened my resistance and immunity, and this has caused all kinds of problems. In my case, I had to lose my arm. In my case, I ended up losing my arm, but I think there are a lot of things that can be done. I hope that everyone will stay close to their bodies and put their health first. And if you do get sick, don’t be discouraged and deal with it.

I’m a stubborn person like an idiot, but this is how I came to be able to throw. When I can throw with my left arm more firmly and catch a ball, I would like to give baseball lessons. That is my current goal. I’m going to work hard toward that.”

Catching a ball is a conversation over a ball, isn’t it? I think that is the starting point of baseball–this is what Mr. Sano repeatedly emphasized during our interviews, and it is also his motivation.

I’ve been involved in this tournament for a long time, and we get a lot of teams from all over the country. As my life’s work, I have a big dream that when I can move around a little more, I want to spend many years traveling around the country and interacting with all the school-age baseball kids in Japan.

I became a professional baseball player by playing the game I loved since I was a kid and challenging myself more and more. And because I was able to do so well as a professional baseball player, I am still able to be involved in baseball after quitting the game. I never disliked baseball at all.

That is why I want children to challenge themselves as hard as they can. I want them to think that baseball is fun. I want them to feel that baseball is fun and that they can take on challenges no matter how old they are, rather than how I look. I never thought that baseball would become my life’s work to this extent. If it brings a smile to everyone’s face, that makes me really happy.

Sano left Jingu Stadium with the words, “Next time I will pitch coolly.

This time, he will probably throw strikes with a two-step motion (⁉) like Clayton Kershaw (36), one of the best left-handers in the major leagues, whom he says he has taken as a reference. Hopefully, it will be with his signature slider.