The Matsuzaka Generation, and Beyond
The man who comes charging from the far outside of the "Matsuzaka Generation" (2020/10/12)
I read it on Kindle, and it was 8,253 pages long (laughs). It is long, to say the least. The sense of accomplishment I felt after finishing the book is something I haven't felt since I read (or was forced to read) Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" back in my student days.
The shop owner once attended a screenwriting school because of a love for movies. What I learned there was that "a story becomes interesting when the protagonist is forced into an impossible situation, falls into a desperate pinch, and is betrayed by their allies. It is through the protagonist's struggles, worries, and conflicts that they grow." This is true for everything from Hanzawa Naoki to Disney movies. Non-fiction that follows a single person is the same, I think. Making it to Koshien, entering the pros, becoming a regular, earning an annual salary in the hundreds of millions, and being blessed with a beautiful wife and cute children—
Non-fiction about such a person wouldn't be interesting, would it? (laughs)
The introduction has become long, but while 16 members of the "Matsuzaka Generation," including Daisuke Matsuzaka, appear in this book, the most interesting chapter was that of Takateru Iyono (formerly of the Hanshin Tigers).
He was drafted by Hanshin in the lower rounds from Lawson and started a smooth professional baseball career from his first year. However, in the autumn of that same year, the new manager, Akinobu Okada, who succeeded Senichi Hoshino, decided that "we don't need sidearm pitchers" for an unreasonable reason. From then on, even though he continued to produce results in the farm team, days began where he was never called up to the first team. After his request for a trade was ignored by the club, he was notified that he was no longer needed. He received no offers at the tryouts, and although he was already married, he went to the U.S. without a plan just to continue playing baseball. There, while almost being deceived by a corrupt agent, he became an apprentice to Hideki Irabu through an acquaintance's connection. He managed to get Dan Nomura to watch his pitching practice, but he was judged to lack the ability, and he gave up on baseball in America as well.
After that, Iyono went through the Taiwanese baseball world and the Shikoku Island League before entering the Keirin School at the age of 31. He is currently an S-class rider (the highest rank in Keirin), continuing to pedal toward the top.
Reading this book makes me want to compare the "Matsuzaka Generation" to the solar system. Daisuke Matsuzaka is, of course, the sun. People with strong ties to Matsuzaka, such as Taketoshi Goto (teammates at Yokohama High School and Seibu) and Yosuke Hiraishi (from PL Gakuen), are the closest planets, like Mercury. Iyono, who says he "doesn't even remember having a conversation" with him, is Neptune, the planet furthest from the sun.
However, even if Neptune cannot be seen from the sun, the sun can clearly be seen from Neptune (probably). Even without any direct contact, Iyono sends a cheer to the currently struggling Matsuzaka, saying, "No matter what anyone says, if Matsuzaka himself is enjoying it, that's all that matters."
In the book, Matsuzaka himself says,
"Since life is longer after baseball ends, the competition isn't over yet. Including this baseball life of mine, the real competition is about who can live a better life. That's what I want to tell everyone."
Twenty years from now, the Matsuzaka Generation will reach their 60th birthdays—
It would be a dream come true if Neptune, Iyono, who came charging from the far outside of the Matsuzaka Generation, reached the top of the Keirin world and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Matsuzaka.
That is what I thought.