Nippon-Ham Fighters: 7-Hour Bullet Train Trip, Second Delay This Season: Manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo Says "Once Upon a Time, Once Upon a Time, Three Times As Well..." | Pacific League

[Nippon-Ham Fighters] Manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo on the second delayed start of the season after a hectic seven-hour Shinkansen journey: “What happens twice happens three times…”

Sports Hochi

2025.9.5(金) 23:38

７回、交代を告げる新庄剛志監督（カメラ・義村　治子）

Pacific League: Orix 2-0 Nippon-Ham (5th, Kyocera Dome)

After a hectic travel schedule, Nippon-Ham suffered a shutout loss, putting Softbank at a magic number of 18.

He traveled from Tokyo to Osaka that day. The Tokaido Shinkansen was temporarily suspended due to heavy rain caused by Typhoon Faxai. He departed Tokyo Station 69 minutes late, but was stuck in Shizuoka for over two hours, and the impact continued, arriving at Shin-Osaka at 5:22 PM, 4 hours and 22 minutes late. He spent about seven hours on the train, and arrived at the stadium about four hours late at 6:05 PM. He did not take part in any batting practice, but instead practiced for about 40 minutes, including tee hitting and knocking practice, to warm up before the game.

In the 9th inning, with one out bases loaded, Martinez hit a playful double play pitch. Manager Shinjo said, “I had an image of (Martinez) in left-center. But seven hours on the bullet train?　We lost, but he wasn’t injured, so that’s the best. We couldn’t practice, so this is the result. I realized the importance of preparation when it comes to hitting.

On August 1st, the team’s travel from Hokkaido to Osaka was significantly delayed, resulting in a 16-minute delay to the start of the game, which was even later than the previous game. Manager Shinjo announced starting line-up on Instagram, as he had done last time, and asked the players to “stretch on the Shinkansen,” but the batting lineup failed to perform. The team’s hectic travel schedule also led to a loss last time, making this their second consecutive loss. The manager said with a wry smile, “It’s rare, isn’t it, to have it happen twice a year. I hope it doesn’t happen a third time, because it happens twice.”

With the first-place Softbank also winning, the magic number has finally been raised to 18. “I’m just writing this (laughing). There were no injuries today, so let’s go for tomorrow’s day game,” he said in a positive tone.