Director Kimiyasu Kudo of Softbank, who won the number one spot in Japan for the fourth consecutive year, was selected for the "Matsutaro Shoriki Award" given to the person who contributed most to this year's professional baseball.
Director Kudo is the fifth award in history.
The "Matsutaro Shoriki Award" is given every year to the directors and players who have contributed most to professional baseball in honor of the late Matsutaro Shoriki, who worked hard to establish and develop professional baseball.
On the 8th, a selection committee was held in Tokyo, and this year, Softbank coach Kudo, who won the Pacific League championship for the first time in three years and won the number one spot in Japan for the fourth consecutive year, was selected for the third consecutive year. This was the 5th award.
The selection committee successfully brought out the power of young players during the difficult times when Kudo was injured, and revitalized the team to achieve the fourth consecutive victory since the giant's Japan Series 9th consecutive victory "V9". It was praised for making a new history in professional baseball.
On the other hand, last year's selection committee gave an opinion to include organizations such as baseball teams as targets for the award, so there was widespread discussion about this, and besides Director Kudo, Yuki Yanagita, the main player of Softbank, It is said that the name of the giant Tatsunori Hara, who won the Central League for the second time in a row, was mentioned.
Mr. Sadaharu Oh, who chaired the selection committee, said, "I chose it after careful consideration in that year, but the work of director Kudo was very wonderful. Even if I talk to many people, everyone will. I think I will answer. It was a proper selection. "