Flag 'blindness' for batter who endured 'headshot' 13

Flag 'blindness' for batter who endured 'headshot' 13

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It was in 2014 that the KBO introduced the headshot rule. Sanctions have begun to be imposed on pitches that hit the batter's head. In the case of a fastball, the pitcher is unconditionally dismissed regardless of whether it is intentional or not. It can warn you if it is a breaking ball or a threat.

Japan's NPB implemented the measure a little earlier. In 1994, pitcher Shinichi Murata of the Yomiuri Giants seriously injured his face in the match against the Yakult Swallows. Since then, the team has been given a rule that allows fastball players from the fastball team to leave the team when it is headed for the head.

The batter who received the most head shots was Norichika Aoki (42). He played for Japan (Yakurt) for 15 years and in the ML for six years. He has been hit by the head six times over the past 21 years. He is the one who did not like the most in this category. He also suffered from concussion as a result of aftereffects.

However, Aoki now becomes humble in front of him. He is Inubushi Toshiaki (52) who played for the Saitama Seibu Lions.메이저사이트

He was not even a mainstay. He was either a substitute or a backup. He only played in the first team for five seasons during the 15-year period. He played in 116 games. He played only 206 times. A full-time mainstay is compared to playing 500 to 600 at-bats in one season.

Nevertheless, he had an amazing record. He collapsed due to head shots 13 times during his career.

Of course, the team did not just consider the first team. The numbers are combined including the second team match and its own practice matches. This is a record that cannot be recognized by the public.

However, his argument is clear. He even categorizes rival pitchers by type accurately. He said in a recent interview with Japanese media outlet Full Count. "I was hit 12 times by a right-handed pitcher, and only one hit by a left-handed pitcher."

He is a right-handed hitter. To distinguish him from others, he is a power-hitter. "I am 13 in professional baseball. I don't know why I got hit so many times. I was particularly hit by right-handed pitchers. That's why I kept running away the moment I threw it. When I opened my shoulders first, I couldn't hit well."

On the other hand, he was different from a left-handed pitcher. He seems to have been relatively less intimidated. "Left-handed pitchers did not experience that. I was able to get a "hwak" into a left-handed pitcher." This has positioned him as a substitute specializing in left-handed pitchers. Well, it is not as good as it is. That is why he became the half-player he is commonly referred to.

There is something that is fortunate. There were no major injuries even in several head shots. Most got up with a bang. No, I had to. It hurts, it's hard…. No, I can't. They might be excluded from the entry list just in case. It's different these days. If it hits the head, they replace it for now. They are immediately taken to a hospital for a thorough checkup.

Of course, there was a moment when he was hit by a left-handed pitcher. Coincidentally, he was the only one hit by a left-handed pitcher. It was a practice game during the 1997 spring camp. He allowed foreign pitcher Brian Gibbons to throw a direct hit.

"It made a tremendous sound and the helmet flew away. It hit hard enough to completely dent the ear cover. The bouncing ball flew to third base on a no-bound basis. It was dizzy, but I had to put up with it." (Inubushi Toshiaki)

Still, he had no sense of fear. If he had not overcome this, he should have taken off his uniform earlier. He seems to be a left-handed pitcher. "He intentionally asked for more balls on his body even during free batting."
There is a reason why I had to endure 13 head shots. This is an episode he delivers.

Ten years have passed since he joined the team. In the meantime, he had only three at-bats for the first team. At least three years have passed. It is one day in June 2000, when he was 28 years old. The house phone rings around midnight.

He picked up the phone in his sleep. He suddenly receives instructions like this. "Come to Osaka early in the morning," said Haruhiko Suzuki, the batting coach for the first team. Up until the previous year, he was a coach for the second team. He knows his batting skills better than anyone else.

"Finally, the day has come." I was so happy. My heart is pounding. But when I came to my senses, I soon realized that I was in a tight spot. "What should I do? I don't have any money." The annual salary for the second tier team was 4.8 million yen (currently 44 million won in exchange rates). Considering the prices of Tokyo, it is a tight life.

"I didn't have much money right now. There were no ATMs at convenience stores. I didn't know how to pay for the transportation if I wanted to travel at dawn."

It was then. My wife gave me something. She kept the emergency fund without my husband knowing. "I remember it as about 100,000 yen. I took a taxi to Tokyo Station, bought a Shinkansen ticket and ran all the way to Osaka."

Probably, his wife's sincerity is in the air. She will play as the seventh designated hitter in the second game of the first team. She hit a two-run homer in her first at bat. It was her first arch in the professional league. (Of course, the club paid for the moving expenses after the settlement.)

It was after that day. A new flag has been added to the Seibu cheerleading squad near the outfield. The expression is "blindness (猛犬注意)" in Korean. It was a witty remark from fans who got the idea from his name Inubushi (犬伏).

Retired in 2005 at the age of 33, he served as a club staff (bulpen catcher) and now teaches at the Baseball Academy.