Hodaka Yamakawa, a professional baseball player from Seibu, has revealed the state of his voluntary training in his hometown of Okinawa Prefecture, and said, ``Everything I have done for the WBC = World Baseball Classic, where I have been appointed to the national team. I want to put out," he said enthusiastically.
Yamakawa, who won the home run king and RBI king in the Pacific League last season, has been training independently with junior players in his hometown Okinawa Prefecture since the 19th of this month, and on the 22nd, the situation will be released at the ground in Urasoe City. Did.
Yamakawa, who started practice around 10:00 a.m., runs for nearly an hour with the children of the club team he used to belong to, in order to build his body through "running," which is the theme of his training. I trained
In the batting practice that followed, he flew his home run hits one after another, suggesting that his training was progressing smoothly.
The bat used in practice has a hollowed-out tip based on Munetaka Murakami, who won the Triple Crown of Yakult last season. Yamakawa said that it was easier to swing through than before and that the flight distance increased.
In an interview with the press, Yamakawa revealed that he was told by Hideki Kuriyama, director of the Japanese national team, that he had been appointed as a representative member of the WBC, which will start in March this year.
On top of that, he said, "Since I started playing baseball at the age of 10, I've lived a life where I only think about baseball every day, and finally I can stand on this stage. With all my thoughts for 21 years, I hope I can show everything I've done." I spoke with enthusiasm.
Then he said, ``I just want to win the world championship. I want Japanese children to see the best play and make baseball even more exciting."