Rakuten, a professional baseball team based in Tohoku, faced an open match against DeNA in Shizuoka City, the destination of the expedition, and players from both teams silently mourned the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake before the match.
The open match between Rakuten and DeNA was held at Kusanagi Baseball Stadium in Shizuoka City, and a half-mast was raised at the stadium from the morning.
Before the match from 1:00 pm, managers and players of both teams such as Rakuten's Kazuhisa Ishii, Masahiro Tanaka, Takayuki Kishi from Sendai, and Ginji from Iwate Prefecture are in front of their respective benches. I lined up in and silently prayed for one minute toward the back screen with the half-mast, and mourned the victims of the earthquake.
At the stand, the people who visited the game stood up and prayed silently with the players.
Masahiro Tanaka "I am fighting with Tohoku on my back"
Masahiro Tanaka, who has returned to Rakuten from the major leagues for the second year, contributed to the team's first league victory and number one in Japan in 2013, two years after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Pitcher Tanaka responded to the interview before the game, saying, "I am fighting with Tohoku on my back as a player, so I would like to continue to express and convey the play and battle that everyone can feel something. I want to rejoice with you again, so I'll do my best to take it in the right direction. "
Ginji "I want to win and make everyone in the disaster area smile"
Ginji, who was born in Fudai Village, Iwate Prefecture and has been in the baseball team for 17 years, said in an interview before the game, "Every day when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, when I woke up in the morning, I looked in the direction of the Tohoku region and joined hands. I think that athletes who have experienced the earthquake must play an active role in the Tohoku region together with young athletes and give them dreams and excitement. I want to win the championship and make everyone in the disaster area smile. I would like to continue to convey that there are teams that will fight in Japan. "