Stepping Up to the Plate: Masaharu Sakamoto’s Journey with Kansai University’s Baseball Club

​4th Grade Blog No.21

Masaharu Sakamoto

TodayMasaharu SakamotoWe bring you the blog of (4th year, Human Health and Science, Kansai University Hokuyo)!

My days with baseball, which until recently seemed eternal, will soon be over. I honestly cannot imagine a life without baseball, and I truly believe that, as my life has been so closely linked to baseball.

My baseball journey began with admiration for Ichiro and Darvish, the two biggest stars in Japanese baseball. Looking back, I wasn’t able to play in games in my sixth year of elementary school, but I was able to fully experience the joy of baseball in my youth baseball career.

In junior high school baseball, I ran so much that I broke the school’s endurance running record, and learned how to approach practice.

Although he became so absorbed in club activities that he became a gloomy, bespectacled, shaven-headed character who only had three choices during breaks at school: eating rice balls, looking at his vocabulary book, or sleeping, high school baseball helped him deepen his way of thinking about baseball.

Looking back, I realize that all of these experiences have shaped who I am today and that not a single moment was wasted.

Since I started playing baseball, I have had many experiences that can only be had through baseball, and I have continued to be fascinated by the fun of the sport. Without any hesitation, I continued playing baseball all the way through to college.

My four years in college baseball did not go as I had hoped. The feeling that the more I practiced, the more I got results, that I had up until high school, was not the case in college, and I even experienced becoming afraid of pitching, something I had loved more than anything. Even in such a situation where I could not see the light ahead, I was able to continue to have hope that I would improve and grow, just as I had done in the past, thanks to my classmates and the people who had high expectations of me. I will leave my thoughts about my classmates in the “To my teammates” section below.

I truly feel that I have been blessed with many people in my baseball career. Since elementary school, I had many injuries and was not a very impressive player, but there were people around me who would encourage me to do my best, and I would also hear from others that they were cheering for me. I may have been mistaken, and they may have been words that were meant lightly, but for me, those words were a huge driving force that was more than enough to give me the energy to work hard every day. Because I have continued to disappoint people, I was more conscious than ever of playing in the league games in my last year as a way of repaying those people who had high expectations of me. I thought that pitching in the league games would be a proof of my gratitude. Since I joined the team, I have well understood that the efforts of the members who pitch in the league games are great, as a tradition of the Kansai University pitchers. It is natural to work hard, and everyone’s process is the same, so I was particular about the results. If the results came from this, it would be a good story like a manga, but the reality is not that sweet, and as expected, baseball does not always go well. However, by taking the sport seriously and realising once again how difficult it is to not do well, I think my love for baseball has grown even deeper.

Obviously, I couldn’t have continued playing baseball this far on my own. I’m grateful to everyone who has been involved in my baseball career. I’ll never forget what I’ve learned from you all. The end of my baseball career is just around the corner, but I believe my remaining mission is to continue doing what I’ve been doing until the very end, just as I have done until now, so I promise to keep my guard up and give it my all until the very last moment. Thank you so much.

I would like to tell him directly, but he has such a legendary presence that I’m afraid I would be too nervous to express my feelings to him in person, so I’m writing it here.

To Mr. Yamaguchi

I clearly remember Yamaguchi telling me to aim for 148 km and become the star of Hokuyo. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to show the growth you expected. I’m really grateful that you never gave up on me and continued to watch over me with unchanging love for the past four years. The words you spoke to me at times when I felt down encouraged me more than anything. “There are no shortcuts to glory, growth lies beyond your limits, persistence is strength, and only regrets lie beyond compromise.” I’ll keep that in my heart. Thank you so much for the past four years.

Finally, to Mom and Dad

I feel a little embarrassed to have people see how I feel about my family, so I’ll keep it simple for now and share it with you at another time.

Thank you for allowing me to continue playing baseball without any inconveniences until now. I have had a truly happy baseball career. I am immeasurable how grateful I am to you, but I hope to be able to repay you little by little from now on. I hope you live a long life and enjoy a life without baseball.

Message to teammates

I’m glad I was able to spend my precious four years at university with my classmates. I think each of us had different goals in university baseball. Although we all had the option of not joining the baseball club and playing as we pleased, I really respect everyone who continued to play baseball at university with their own thoughts in mind. Baseball is not the only thing you can focus on at university; there are also studies, part-time jobs, and fun, but seeing everyone make baseball the axis of their lives and give it their all while maintaining a balance gave me the courage to do my best.

Someone who acts like they have a high mental age.

Someone with a very sexy body.

A guy who misses the train and ends up with a shaved head.

What a stick figure.

Someone with a lot of sweat on their chin.

Someone who pulls muscle while running a hill sprint race.

Patrick guy.

The one who raises and lowers his right hand extremely quickly when being greeted. The one with the big areola.

That guy who’s late the day before the final league game is me.

He doesn’t pretend to be serious, but he’s the most dangerous guy.

The guy who cuts his hair so straight that he goes all the way to Nagoya to take a class.

Someone whose hair never seems to get tamed.

Someone in a local area who doesn’t have electricity.

He’s more crazy than you think.

The best all-around player on the baseball team.

I feel like I’ve done everything I can for baseball and I have no regrets, but I feel a little sad to think that I will no longer be practicing with all of the unique people. I’m sure I’ve caused trouble for many people with my immature behavior, but thank you all for putting up with me. From now on, I’ll try my best to become an adult appropriate for my age. If I had to say anything negative, it would be that I developed eating problems and wasn’t able to go out to eat with everyone very often. I’ll get better, so let’s go out to eat together again. By then, I’ll try to be able to talk about love a little or two.

I’m sure you’ve had a lot of trouble with your juniors because of their strange interactions, but thank you for always dealing with them without getting involved. University is a place where you can broaden your horizons. Although you’re a member of the baseball club, I hope you’ll try many things other than baseball and have a fruitful university life. When you play baseball, if you ask yourself “Why are you playing baseball?”, “What do you want to become?”, and “What should you do now?”, I think you’ll gain something from it other than the results of baseball. Do your best. I’m rooting for you.

　

A word about baseball life

“Don’t give in to yourself”

I hate losing to myself more than anything, and my baseball career has always been one in which I have faced myself. Even if I do it now, there is almost no difference between today and tomorrow, but I believe that growth can only come from continuing to accumulate, and I have come this far with a “I’ll do it tomorrow, fool” mentality. I was not able to become a professional baseball player, but I think I was able to live a life that would make my past self satisfied. It is difficult to change the other person or the environment around you, but you can change yourself with only your own will. Even if I push myself too hard and throw up in the middle of training, I will continue to complete the rest of the training, and I want to continue to have that strong will that does not give in to myself.

A word from the manager

Sakamoto has captivated the team with his uniform style and pitching style, reminiscent of the great pitchers of the Showa era.

Although he sometimes acted a little childish, I think his dedication to practice had a positive influence on the pitchers!

We are looking forward to seeing “Hokuyo Star” Sakamoto in action on the mound in the final league game!

Masaharu Sakamoto
Introducing the next blogger

Tomorrow’s 4th grade blog…

He is the most stuffed guy in Kansai University. He looks even more like Anpanman, more like Panpanman. He’s been hooked on McDonald’s lately, and his stuffedness knows no bounds. I’d love for him to become Master Kyojin’s disciple. Look forward to tomorrow!