Suppon no Kawa-san: Legendary Scout Toshio Kawanishi
You can't go wrong with a scout book! (2/29/2020)
This is a revised edition of a book released in 2010, published last year.
It is a book that looks back on the footsteps of the legendary scout Toshio Kawanishi, who discovered and signed numerous star players such as Taira Fujita, Yutaka Enatsu, Kozo Kawatoh, Masayuki Kakefu, Hideyuki Awano, Hideo Nomo, and Norihiro Nakamura.
There are three episodes in this book that I particularly like.
Keishi Suzuki (formerly of Kintetsu), who would later become a 300-win pitcher, was all set to join the Hanshin Tigers after Kawanishi, a Hanshin scout at the time, persuaded his parents. However, the draft system began that year, and the deal that was almost finalized fell through. Kawanishi insisted on selecting him in the first round of the draft, but because he was just a young scout, his opinion was not adopted, and he was snatched away by Kintetsu.
However, the following year, on Kawanishi's strong recommendation, the team selected Yutaka Enatsu, another high school left-hander, in the first round. If they had been able to acquire Suzuki the previous year, they would not have selected Enatsu in the first round that year (as it would have meant selecting a high school left-hander in the first round for two consecutive years).
In the 1989 draft, Kintetsu won the rights to Hideo Nomo after competing with eight other teams, but in reality, Kawanishi had been thinking of avoiding the competition and making a solo bid for either Satoru Komiyama (then at Waseda University) or Ryuji Nishimura (then at Yamaha). However, after being urged by younger scouts to "take the gamble!", he decided to select Nomo in the first round, and as a result, they succeeded in winning the rights after competing with eight other teams.
Regarding Kosuke Fukudome (then at PL Gakuen), for whom they won the negotiation rights in 1995 after competing with seven other teams, Kawanishi had received information before the draft that "it would be impossible even if you force the selection," so when he drew the winning ticket, he reportedly thought, "This is going to be trouble..."
Fukudome, who refused to join and went to Nippon Life Insurance, reportedly greeted Kawanishi properly whenever he had the chance to see him afterward, and when he decided to join the Chunichi Dragons three years later by reverse-nominating them, he called Kawanishi to "ask to meet and pay his respects," doing things the right way. Kawanishi also loved Fukudome's character, and there is no hard feeling between the two of them.
Throughout the entire book, there are plenty of behind-the-scenes stories about the acquisition of these famous players.
There are no "ifs" in history, but when you are told stories like "actually, at that time...", as a draft fan, it stirs up your imagination, and you can't stop turning the pages.
This is a book that I would definitely like draft fans and those who love stories about the good old days of professional baseball to read!