Regarding pitcher Masahiro Tanaka playing in the Japanese baseball world for the first time in eight years, director Kosuke Sasaki of Tomakomai High School Baseball Club, Tomakomai City, Hokkaido, said, "I can't live the life I want because of the new corona virus. I want you to convey how everyone can have courage through baseball. "
Director Sasaki was the captain when Komadai Tomakomai High School won the summer Koshien for the first time, and is the senior of pitcher Tanaka in the second grade.
Director Sasaki said, "I was frankly happy to see it again soon. If I have a chance to come back to Hokkaido, I would like Tomakomai to encourage my juniors."
In addition, Tanaka's attitude toward baseball has been passed down to the current baseball club, saying, "What the general left behind is the feeling. It is my role as a manager to have a feeling of not losing. I'm telling you. "
In addition, pitcher Omi Ito, a graduate of Komadai Tomakomai High School, joined Nippon Ham in the first draft and said, "If a match with pitcher Tanaka is realized, it will be a throw between graduates, so I am looking forward to it." I did.