Playback ’05] Behind the Scenes of Mr. Watanabe’s Return… Tsuneo Watanabe’s “Pre-retirement” Celebration Banquet for His Return to the Baseball World

What did “FRIDAY” report 10, 20, and 30 years ago? In “Playback Friday,” we revisit the topics that were hot at the time. This time, we will introduce a report from the June 24, 2005 issue, which was published 20 years ago, titled “Live coverage of the feast held in celebration of Navetsune’s return to work with “Mr.” Nagashima.

Shigeo Nagashima, a.k.a. “Mr. Nagashima,” passed away on June 3. After suffering a stroke in 2004, Mr. Nagashima made a comeback through hard rehabilitation. On July 3, 2005, he made his first appearance at the Tokyo Dome, where he was applauded by the whole of Japan.

Behind the scenes, there was actually another “resurrection drama. It was the return to the baseball world of former Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe (79 at the time), known as “Navetsune.

He became the owner of the Giants in 1996 and had great influence in the baseball world backed by the team’s popularity, financial power, and the power of the huge media. In 2004, when the issue of restructuring professional baseball was raised, he forcefully proposed the idea of a single league, and was criticized by players and fans alike as well as by the whole of Japan for his “it’s only the players” comment. He was described as “the dictator of the baseball world,” and resigned as owner in August 2004 due to the slush fund issue that was uncovered during the restructuring of the baseball world.

Within a year, Mr. Nabetsune had essentially returned to the position of owner. All ages and titles are current as of that time).

Gobbling whiskey in a good mood

“Gwahhhhhh!

The man seated in the guest of honor section of the Tokyo Dome with an expression of such contentment that one can almost hear his exuberant laughter is Tsuneo Watanabe, chairman of the Yomiuri Shimbun Group.

This was taken during a game between the Giants and Softbank on June 3, 2005. Mr. Nabetsune was seated next to TV Asahi President Michisada Hirose, Giants owner Takuo Takibana, and Softbank owner Masayoshi Son, and they held the “Imperial Game” together.

Mr. Navetsune, who had not been to the stadium for a long time, was in a good mood from the beginning to the end of the game. His cheeks were so relaxed that he even started guzzling whiskey even though the game was in progress. Even from a distance, he seemed to be enjoying a very happy moment.

Mr. Navetsune was all smiles not only because the Giants were victorious that day. He was smiling not only because the Giants had won the game that day, but also because he was about to return to the world of baseball, which he had already decided to do. Four days later, on the evening of the 7th, the Yomiuri Group’s board of directors voted to appoint Mr. Navetsune as the team’s chairman.

Prior to this, Mr. Navetsune appeared on “Jiji Houdan” (TBS) on May 5 and said, “I will return (to the baseball world) again in some form or another. It is a crisis in baseball, and the purpose is to strengthen the system (of baseball), or ……,” he said, suggesting that he himself would return to baseball. The timing of the announcement was perfect so that public opinion would not react to his return after only 10 months in the game.

According to the desk clerk of a sports newspaper, “One of the reasons is that he had fallen ill in March of last year. One is that Mr. (Shigeo Nagashima, 69), who fell ill last March, will come to Tokyo Dome on June 12 for a game against Seibu, which could not be better news for baseball fans. It is obvious that the public will be in a celebratory mood when Mister shows up. Another reason is that the whole of Japan is in a state of feverish excitement over the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup soccer tournament, with the Bahrain match on June 4, and Mr. Watanabe’s return to Japan on June 7. The next day would be the match against North Korea. The Yomiuri was able to seize the opportunity.

For better or worse, it seemed that the baseball world would have no shortage of topics to talk about now that Mr. Nabetsune had returned, although it seemed that his return was only a coincidence with the resurgence of Mr. Nagashima and the popularity of the World Cup.

The “love” never stopped.

Nagashima actually appeared at Tokyo Dome on July 3, but without any major criticism, Nabetsune became the “president of the baseball team” and reigned over the team as the real owner as before. In 2011, the so-called “Kiyotake Rebellion” occurred, in which then team president Hidetoshi Kiyotake issued a statement criticizing the team for improperly interfering in head coach appointments. However, he continued to serve as the team’s chief advisor in ’14.’ Even after his resignation in ’16, he continued to exert influence until his death.

It was seen that Nabetsune wanted to return to baseball early because he loved baseball so much that he wanted to be involved with the Giants somehow.” According to Nabetsune, the Giants’ performance under Tsuneo Horiuchi, who replaced Tatsunori Hara as manager in the fall of 2003 as a “personnel change within the Yomiuri Group,” was so poor, and the front office mismanagement in acquiring new foreign players, that he “couldn’t stand to watch” anymore.

Mr. Navetsune, who originally began his involvement in baseball without knowing much about the sport, seems to have developed a “love of baseball” of his own as he learned more about the game. After his death last year, Shigeo Nagashima made the following comment at a farewell party held on February 25 this year.

I had a good relationship with him since I was a young man because of baseball. At that time, Mr. Watanabe was a complete amateur in baseball, saying, ‘Why don’t hitters run to third base? However, as time went by, he went beyond the realm of a former baseball amateur and mastered not only the rules but also the baseball agreement, which is said to be the constitution of professional baseball. He always had a mountain of documents by his side.

If he were still alive, he would be shouting with his fans today, “Hurry up and get back to third base! If he were alive today, he would be shouting with the fans, “Hurry around third base and get back to home. I want him to watch over his beloved Giants from heaven.

Even when Mr. Nagashima was the “villain” of the Giants from 2004 to 2005, Mr. Nagashima was a great admirer of Mr. Nabetsune. I wonder what he and Mr. Nagashima, who passed away the other day, are talking about in heaven.