2 days after returning to Japan, he immediately appeared in the starting line, and immediately bowed
Fielder Hodaka Yamakawa Seibu, who contributed to the victory of the 5th World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time in three tournaments as a member of the Japanese national baseball team “Samurai Japan”, hosted DeNA on the 25th at his home field, Belluna Dome He made a full appearance in the opener with a “4th designated hitter”. In the third at-bat of the 6th inning, he drew a solo arc into the middle row of the left field seats. Among the “Samurai” who have just returned from Miami on the 23rd, only two of them, Yamakawa and catcher Takuzo Oshiro from the Giants, participated immediately on that day. Although the fatigue of the fierce battle had not healed, there was a “reason” that made Yamakawa hurry.
Initially, the leaders planned to give Yamakawa a complete rest for two days and let him improve his condition by participating in the final round of the open against DeNA on the 26th. However, on the 24th, the day after returning to Japan, Yamakawa decided to volunteer for the early morning free batting before the game. On the 25th, he “volunteered” to participate fully.
“There were a lot of pinch hitters at WBC, so I wanted to catch up with the flow of this team as soon as possible. There is a flow of me in Seibu. I wanted it back. I checked the routines one by one even at bat. Today, it would be better if I could hit, but those things were more important.”
For the team, it is desirable that the immovable number 4 returns to the starting line even if it is a day early. On this day, Seibu tried a heavy batting lineup that placed the new foreigners, outfielder Mark Peyton and infielder David McKinnon, at first and second. Manager Kazuo Matsui explained his intention, “Since Yamakawa sat at No. 4, I was able to think of No. 1 and No. 2 (the two new foreigners) based on that.”
