Another small miracle brought about by Manager Okada | A future I never imagined

The news broke that Hanshin Tigers Manager Okada would be stepping down after the 2024 season. Manager Okada brought us fans the miracle of Hanshin's first Japan Series championship in 38 years. At the same time, he brought a miracle and a future I never imagined to my own home. It might seem small and trivial to the rest of the world, but for my life, it is undoubtedly a great miracle. I would like to write this down to express my gratitude to Manager Okada. (I even started this note for this very reason... haha)

*Honorifics omitted in the article

A third-grader struck by a tearful resignation press conference

The 1993 off-season. As a third-grader, I watched Akinobu Okada holding a tearful resignation press conference on the other side of the television screen. Because my young self didn't understand Okada's achievements up to that point, I only recognized him as a "veteran who occasionally appeared as a pinch hitter" in the shadow of the flashy young players like Shinjo and Kameyama who were being celebrated at the time. However, the sight of Okada at that press conference left a strong impression on me, making me think, "He really loved the Hanshin Tigers."

At that time, I had just become a Hanshin fan because I had moved to a place within a 10-minute walk of Koshien Stadium. I moved there in 1992, when Hanshin was finally competing for the championship again and the excitement was high. By being in a special environment where 90% of my school class were Hanshin fans and Hanshin players lived in my classmates' apartment buildings, the DNA of a Hanshin fan was deeply ingrained in me, not by my parents, but by the community. After that, I moved to a place where Sun Television didn't broadcast and I had no fellow Hanshin fans around me, but even during the long dark period as a Hanshin fan, I continued to support them, sometimes listening to the radio alone.

The best youth that Manager Okada gave me

2004. When I became a university student, I was genuinely happy to hear that Okada would be appointed as the manager of Hanshin. Of course, I am also grateful to Manager Nomura and Manager Hoshino, who came from other teams, but my support for Hanshin, led by Manager Okada, who was a homegrown player and loved Hanshin more than anyone else, was more intense than ever. At university, I finally found fellow Hanshin fan friends. We would spend our part-time job money to go to Koshien to cheer them on together, go on trips to the Aki training camp, and invite friends to my apartment to hold cheering parties... And it paid off (?)—the following year, in 2005, we finally won the league championship. I kept remembering his resignation press conference and savoring the joy, thinking, "Those tears were rewarded," and I spent my part-time job money again to go watch the Japan Series. (As a result, we were crushed by Lotte.) I also rushed to the Midosuji league championship parade in the rain. "Manager Okada! Thank you!" I still can't forget that smile with the white teeth that Manager Okada gave us as he waved back from the top of the parade bus.

30 years after that resignation press conference, a change in my home

And then, 2023. 18 years had passed since Hanshin's last championship, and I had become a working adult and a mother of one child. My heart was pounding. Manager Okada was appointed again. Before giving birth, I was too busy with work to watch almost any games, and even after giving birth, I was so busy balancing child-rearing and work that I had been away from Hanshin for the past few years. But thanks to Manager Okada, the Hanshin fan DNA inside me started to rage again.

Even though I was looked at with cold eyes by my soccer-fan husband and my third-grade son, who had absolutely no interest in sports, I spent my days somewhat forcefully turning on the Hanshin TV broadcasts. Then, coupled with Hanshin's rapid progress, my son started to show interest. He started playing a game called "Professional Baseball Spirits," and before I knew it, he knew more than me—not just about Hanshin, but about the rules of baseball and even players on other teams. Seeing my son so surprisingly obsessed with baseball and Hanshin, my husband also said, "Maybe we should take him to Koshien." We managed to get tickets and went to Koshien as a family of three for the first time in early September 2023. Yes, it was the period when Hanshin was on an undefeated winning streak toward the championship. The stadium was incredibly lively. At first, my son was taken aback by the intensity, but every time he joined the surrounding Hanshin fans in cheering with his megaphone, he started cheering louder than anyone else. Even after the league championship was decided, we were blessed with tickets for the Climax Series and the Japan Series (or more accurately, my husband and I fought to the death to get them), and every game we went to, they won. Every time we watched a game, my son was spoken to by kind Hanshin fans he met for the first time, given merchandise and snacks, and praised for singing the Rokko Oroshi song loudly, so he came to love Hanshin fans and watching games. My husband had also started wearing a Hanshin uniform before I knew it. And then, the miraculous Japan Series championship. We watched it on TV that day, but my son cried before I did. In our home, where a year ago there wasn't even a hint of baseball, a miraculous scene was unfolding.

A miracle that happened to my artsy son

Furthermore, another miracle happened. My son started saying, "I want to play baseball too." He likes modern history, and his hobby is simulating hegemony struggles between countries using world maps. Before that, he was obsessed with researching how blood works and even read professional books for medical workers. I thought he was into baseball because it had elements of looking at data and analyzing it. I thought he had no interest in playing it himself, but that son of mine...!

Although I was moved that my son had become a Hanshin fan, I had not anticipated becoming the mother of a baseball boy. After all, his softball throw in the physical fitness test was only 8 meters. Even though there were kids around him who had been in serious baseball teams since first grade and were training hard, I wondered if there was a team that a third-grader who was a beginner, had an 8-meter softball throw, and had never received athletic-style coaching could join... I desperately researched and found a private baseball school. First, I started him in a beginner's course that even included preschool children. Since he had never stuck with any sports lessons before, I watched to see how long it would last, but thanks to the bright and positive coaching policy, he became more and more obsessed. He even volunteered to go to a training camp away from his parents. Even on days when there is no baseball practice, he goes out to the park for self-practice. My husband also bought him a glove and accompanied him for catch. In the meantime, he managed to get into the upper-grade course. His softball throw, which was 8 meters, is now 25 meters, which is among the top in his school class. Can "liking" something make a person grow this much? I was truly surprised.

It was Manager Okada who connected the third-grade me and the third-grade son

All of this is thanks to Manager Okada. Connected by the tears of "Player" Okada that I met as a third-grader, my third-grade son became a baseball boy. I also succeeded in passing on the Hanshin fan DNA that I acquired later in life to my son. It has become a daily routine for my husband to naturally turn on the Hanshin TV broadcast when he gets home from work. This is all a future I never imagined. Yes, it is a miracle that Manager Okada brought about in our home.

Manager Okada, who brought Hanshin its first Japan Series championship in 38 years and a miracle to our home, thank you so, so much.

*Updated 2025/1/17: This article won the Jury's Special Award in the Mynavi x note contest! Please also take a look at the sequel to "The Miracle Brought About by Manager Okada" below