Opening Day
The Fighters’ storybook 2006 season teaches the value of faith

Hichori Morimoto of the Fighters lines up his swing

“Top That!” should probably be the motto of Japanese baseball this season after the Tsuyoshi Shinjo Show in 2006.

The new season gets underway on March 24 when the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters start their defense of the title they won under coach Trey Hillman last year. The Fighters will begin the season on the road and face tough opposition in their first game, in the form of Bobby Valentine’s Chiba Lotte Marines at Chiba Marine Stadium in Makuhari.
The Central League openers are a week later, on March 30, and all eyes will be on defending champions the Chunichi Dragons as they take on the Yakult Swallows at the Nagoya Dome. Last year’s runners-up, the Hanshin Tigers, will face the Hiroshima Carp at Kyocera Dome in Osaka.

At the beginning of last season, Fighters manager Trey Hillman’s job appeared under threat after finishing in fifth place in 2005, but upper management had faith in him and his developing team, and that faith was rewarded in spades with an astonishing 4 games to 1 victory over the Dragons in the Japan Series. In the bad ol’ days, most managers would get the hook after finishing in the nether regions of the Pacific or Central leagues, but most really successful managers—in any sport—are given sufficient time and support to build
a team. Instant success is rare to come by and rarely long-lasting. Baseball teams, soccer teams, rugby teams, etc., need to be built from the bottom up, need to be developed and nurtured and need a fair dose of “faith” to be allowed to succeed.

And that faith extended to more than just the manager. Outfielder Shinjo had suffered a credibility problem for most of his career, but was given the chance to finish on
a high. Despite his enormous popularity, Shinjo was regarded by many fans and commentators as a lightweight—or, even worse, deadweight—on the field. Looking back on the now-retired star, it’s incredible to think that he even made it in Japan, let alone had a crack at the Major Leagues. When Katsuya Nomura was head coach at the Hanshin Tigers, he even tried Shinjo as a pitcher (though he later said it was a motivational ploy).

Last year’s “Shinjo Show” was just too incredible to believe. Despite telling the whole world at the beginning of the season that 2006 would be his last year as a player, despite hamming it up across the country (wearing masks, playing jokes, and even descending from the roof of the Sapporo Dome), and despite putting enormous expectations on both the team and himself, Shinjo wrote one of the great fairy tales of modern sports in Japan. To do that, he needed the faith and support of his coach and team. They gave it to him when he needed it most, and then, to quote Hal in the movie 2001, “Something wonderful happened.”

As the 2007 baseball season begins, perhaps Japanese sports teams should learn from the Fighters—and the lesson that instant success is rarely more than an illusion. Long-term faith is what produces miracles.

Season openers on Mar 24 and 30. See sports listings for details.

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