Tsunoki Miyata, a play-by-play announcer in his 80s: “It’s still fun to play baseball play-by-play.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Nippon Broadcasting System’s famous live baseball broadcast program “Nippon Broadcasting System Show Up Nightly”. Miyata has supported the program since its early days and is still a legend today as Japan’s first “play-by-play announcer in his 80s” who continues to provide live coverage.

Part 1: Professional Baseball Fans Drool! Tsunoki Miyata: The “Famous Players” and Enduring “Great Games” I Have Live Reported

Yoshio Yoshida as bait

Miyata did not only relay games for the Giants. He was also present at the moment of the Hanshin League championship in 1985 (later to become the number one team in Japan).

It was a game against Yakult at Jingu Stadium on October 16. At that time, I was in charge of interviewing Yoshio Yoshida about the victory. In those days, the Hanshin fans could have avalanched onto the field, or surrounded the players on their way back to their dormitories.

So, after discussions with Jingu Stadium officials and Nippon Broadcasting System, we came up with a plan to have me interview the manager and keep the fans inside the stadium while the players returned to their lodgings.

The interview lasted three minutes. When I turned the microphone on Yoshida and said, “Congratulations on your victory,” he spoke in his own words and expressed his heartfelt feelings without hesitation. When the time was up, I concluded the interview by saying, “I’m going to end this interview with the winning coach,” and the players had already safely left the stadium. It may not be a good way to put it, but I used Director Yoshida as a decoy to keep the players safe (laughs).

Miyata, who is breaking into a smile as he recalls those days, has also crossed the ocean to report on the situation in real life.

In 2008, I went to the East Coast of the United States to cover Ichiro. Kenji Jojima was also with the Mariners at the time, and I wanted to talk to them in the locker room.

Jojima responded to my interview loudly and clearly, but Ichiro, who was in the same space, stood facing the wall and quietly changed his clothes. No one talked to him, not even the reporter in charge. There was some kind of aura of not being allowed to touch him, so I couldn’t talk to him either.

However, I was really moved when I had the opportunity to report the game in which Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Red Sox and Ichiro of the Mariners went head-to-head at Fenway Park in Boston. Nowadays, Japanese confrontations happen on a daily basis, but it was because of these players that Japanese people were able to cross the ocean.

The Joy of Being an Announcer

What was the “greatest game” that Miyata has ever played live?

I’ve played the games where a major record was set or a famous player retired, but the game that left the greatest impression on me was the game between the Giants and Yakult on September 4, 2009. The Giants’ starting pitcher was Kazunari Tsuruoka. Current manager Shinnosuke Abe was starting at first base, but he had already been replaced, and Ken Kato took over in the 9th inning. However, in the 11th inning of extra innings, Kato took a dead ball to the head and left the game.

The Giants had no catcher left – and with everyone’s heads in the sand, it was Takuya Kimura who appeared in the top of the 12th inning wearing a blistering protective suit. It was the first time in 10 years that the utility player had worn the mask. When Kimura returned to the bench after retiring the first three batters he faced, the stadium erupted in thunderous applause, and then-manager Tatsunori Hara (67) clapped Kimura on the back and praised him for his efforts.

The game was a deadly battle that lasted nearly five and a half hours, and it was a great honor for the announcers to be able to report the whole thing on the field. I often say things like, ‘I can’t wait for it to be over,’ but the truth is, the longer it takes, the happier I am.

Miyata was also in charge of standby at the Belluna Dome last August in case the main card was rained out. Will he remain active for the rest of his life?

When I first started, Mr. Oh and Mr. Nagashima were pulling tires at the Giants’ Aoshima camp,” Miyata said. Nowadays, players with the latest training have come to challenge the majors one after another.

It’s fun to do live baseball commentary while experiencing these changes. So I hope I can continue to do it as long as I can speak up, as long as it doesn’t bother the people around me.

The living embodiment of the Japanese baseball world will continue to carry the excitement of the stadium in his voice.

From the April 10, 2026 issue of FRIDAY