<figure id="attachment_458283" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458283" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3ca53500"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/65485fa38026e43ba92be47fbf91b0b4.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458283" class="wp-caption-text">Saburo / Born in Okayama Prefecture in June 1976. At PL Gakuen, where he went to school, Kazuo Matsui was one year older than him and Kosuke Fukudome was one year younger. Joined Lotte in 1995 as a first-round draft pick. In 22 years of professional baseball, he hit .265 with 127 home runs and 655 runs batted in.</figcaption></figure>
<h3> Mr. Marines&#8221; speaks out.</h3>
 He said, &#8220;Quality comes only after quantity. Nowadays, people say that quality is better than quantity, but I wanted the players to have the experience of swinging the bat to death, even if it was just once.
 Lotte finished in last place last season. New manager Saburo (49) was brought in as the trump card to rebuild the team. Although he was with the Giants for about six months during his playing days (2011), Saburo is &#8220;Mr. Marines,&#8221; having spent the last 22 years of his professional career with the Lotte. His motto is &#8220;Showa-era hard training.
 There are several reasons. I was manager of the second team for two and a half years until the middle of last season. Recently, it has become the norm to follow the major leagues and let the players practice on their own initiative, but in the end, many players don&#8217;t know what they should be doing.
 In addition, when they started the season with such light training, there were a number of injuries. So, last spring, we raised the intensity of training at the second team camp and had the players practice in greater quantities. As a result, there were almost no injuries in the farm camp last season.
 However, the first-team team, which was the most important part of last season, was in a slump from the beginning of the spring. In June, he was promoted to head coach of the first team in an effort to bolster the team. After the season ended, he was announced as the first team manager.
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 The team was immediately put through a &#8220;hellish camp&#8221; from the fall training camp. They worked for over seven hours until dusk, with no time for their sweat to dry. Hitting practice was free, machine, tee, and long tee, while base-running practice proceeded at the same time. There was also detention for special defense and hitting. The day is capped off with a series of tee times. Right-handed gunner Koki Yamaguchi (25), who hit four home runs in a row last season, recalls, &#8220;I hit five baskets in a row.
 There are days when I hit five baskets in a row. At least 700 pitches. It was the toughest day of my baseball career. &#8230;&#8230;
 Manager Saburo said.
 The Showa era is sometimes used in a bad way, but it is also sometimes said, &#8216;The Showa era was good. It&#8217;s easy to understand, and the word &#8220;Showa&#8221; has changed the players&#8217; awareness and approach to the game.
 Everyone was aware that this spring camp would be tough, so they trained hard, and they were ready from the first day of camp on February 1. He was saying, &#8220;We can start the game right away! In a sense, I was helped by the word &#8220;Showa.
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 He revealed that he had not thought of &#8220;Showa&#8221; in advance, but rather, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know how it came to me, but it just came to me at the inaugural press conference, and when I realized it, I said it out loud. On the other hand, as the director himself admits, there is a possibility that it could be taken negatively and cause a firestorm on social networking sites. However, Saburo said, &#8220;I have no hesitation at all. （It has nothing to do with baseball,&#8221; he laughed off the writer&#8217;s concerns.
 What I learned from covering the Showa-style camps is that they are not just a form of coaching. The &#8220;Showa&#8221; and &#8220;Reiwa&#8221; are blended in a perfect balance.
 When they rest, they rest well. Sleep is also important. I am not denying efficiency. For example, I have them do weight training in the morning. In the past, baseball players would go through a full practice session and then do weights at the end, but after an intense practice session, they would not have any energy left, and they would not have the energy to begin with. It was the same when I was active. It is scientifically believed that it is more efficient to improve both physical strength and technique by training first thing in the morning when the players are fresh.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Taking a cue from Valentine, Ohgi, and other great coaches"></div>
<h3>Valentine″s &#8220;Heartfelt Notebook&#8221;.</h3>
 It is said that the head of an organization should not be afraid of being disliked. However, he is also well aware that in the age of Reiwa, strictness alone is not enough to lead young people.
 The ideal manager is also a fusion of the two. I had the opportunity to work under many great managers, such as Bobby Valentine and Koji Yamamoto at Lotte, Tatsunori Hara at the Giants, and Senichi Hoshino at the Japan National Team. I hope to inherit the best aspects of each of them.
 Valentine was a great manager who brought an upbeat atmosphere to the team and led the Lotte to the league championship and the Japan championship in 2005. Saburo was one of the regular outfielders at the time and batted fourth in every game of the Japan Series.
 He was a strong manager under Valentine,&#8221; said Saburo. Not only was he bright, but he also made tremendous use of data and had a great sense of strategy and winning. At the end of last year, I had a chance to get together with the members of the Japan Series, and I asked Valentine, &#8216;What kind of magic did you use? I asked. He laughed and said, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know myself,&#8221; but he showed me a notebook in which he had kept a list of his tips as a coach. He said, &#8216;Wow!　I wanted something like this,&#8217; I exclaimed.
 Hideaki Matsuyama, 58, who once coached under Akira Ogi, who led the Kintetsu and Orix teams, was invited to become chief infield and base coach for the first team. He is ready to absorb the &#8220;Aoki Magic,&#8221; which has taken the baseball world by storm.
 Aoki is also a great manager. Mr. Matsuyama was my senior at PL Gakuen, and I had heard a lot about him when I was working there. I have the impression that he is very good at using data and has a great sense of distance with his players.
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 This season will be the starting point for the restoration of a strong Lotte team. This season will be the starting point for that. Last season, rookie Misho Nishikawa (22) won the rookie of the year title, and Daito Yamamoto (23) hit 11 home runs, the most by a Japanese player on the team. The team&#8217;s young players were on the rise, including Ryunari Teraji (20), who became the team&#8217;s regular catcher in his second year after graduating from high school. However, he was quick to point out that &#8220;Last year, we were in that position, so we had to go for it.
 Last year, I was able to play in some games because I was in that position. I told them, &#8216;You are not guaranteed to play next year. How will the youngsters make the most of their experience from last season? On the other hand, how will the veterans and mid-career players use the disappointment of finishing last as a springboard? That is where I have high expectations.
 In such a situation, the fans&#8217; attention is focused on the excitement of the veteran pitchers. Naoya Masuda, 36, is just two away from his 250th save, which would put him in the Hall of Fame. Last season, he was in the doldrums with only five saves. Manager Saburo emphasizes that the closer is a blank slate, saying, &#8220;You have to take the guardian god position into your own hands.
 I&#8217;ve been especially strict with him,&#8221; Saburo said. We worked together when we were active players, so it is true that he is a cute junior. But in this world, results are everything. That is true professional baseball. That applies to all of us.&#8221;
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 This year&#8217;s Lotte team is muddy. However, there is a pleasant sense of nostalgia with a hint of the Showa period. Manager Saburo smiled wryly and made the following prediction: &#8220;Last year, we finished last.
 Last year we came in last place. There is no place lower than this, so we will just go all out. I want to do something that will surprise them. I&#8217;m rather orthodox, but this year, I&#8217;m going to stir things up.
 Saburo&#8217;s baseball style will create a whirlwind in the Pacific League.
<figure id="attachment_458488" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458488" style="width: 1631px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="161d9b4e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/8866f7708ed66746fa1e13564943214f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458488" class="wp-caption-text"> At a training camp in Miyakonojo City, Miyazaki Prefecture. He has the air of a rookie manager of the first team.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_459088" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-459088" style="width: 1740px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6fbb9698"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/409010baba7a5c6e8c0725c0ceab1252.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-459088" class="wp-caption-text"> Coach Matsuyama (left), who was under the tutelage of Manager Ohgi, talks with Saburo on the field. He values communication not only with the players but also with the coaches.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_459089" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-459089" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cd1f28ae"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/de05a15671d59ba2dbbf10c286aa137b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-459089" class="wp-caption-text"> Unpublished material from a special interview with Saburo, Chiba Lotte&#8217;s new manager, whose motto is &#8220;Showa no Furious Practice.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_459090" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-459090" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9555d4f9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/39d65670f6ebcca12c9c3b643216e008.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-459090" class="wp-caption-text"> Unpublished cuts from the special interview with Saburo, Chiba Lotte&#8217;s new manager, whose motto is &#8220;Showa-era hard training.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_459091" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-459091" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4de9c447"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/dc38facc62fd28aabdef904e8fc04477.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-459091" class="wp-caption-text"> Unpublished Cut: Special Interview with Saburo, Chiba Lotte&#8217;s new manager, whose motto is &#8220;Showa no Furious Practice.</figcaption></figure>
 From the March 6, 2026 issue of FRIDAY

 Kotaro Tajiri

 Hiroyuki Komatsu

 The Chiba Lotte Marines finished in last place last season. New manager Saburo was brought in as the trump card to rebuild the team. His motto is "Showa no Furious Practice. In a special interview, he talks about his enthusiasm for the new manager.

Saburo, Chiba Lotte’s New Manager, Motto: “Quality comes from quantity”.

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