Chunichi Dragons player Sho Nakata (36) played his retirement game on September 19th. His impressive achievements – three batting titles, five Best Nine awards, five Golden Glove awards, and representing Japan in the 2013 and 2017 World Baseball Classic – demonstrate he was an elite player. However, that’s not all.
As evidenced by many sports reporters writing articles based on their interview notes after his retirement, he was a player who left his mark in both “records” and “memories.” While joining their ranks feels presumptuous, as a second-year employee who normally directs the local TV program “Sunday Dragons,” I also want to record my episode with Nakata.
The encounter began with shocking words
My first interview with him was last August. As a first-year employee at the time, I was sent alone to Nagoya Stadium after my supervisor instructed me to “go hear his current thoughts” about Nakata, who had been demoted to the second team.
As someone who loves professional baseball, Nakata was someone I’d only seen on television. With mixed feelings of excitement about talking to the player I admired and anxiety about whether I could handle the task, I approached Nakata after practice. Then…
“Who are you? Why should I tell you anything?”
The response was shocking. I was too scared to reply. “Uh… um…” My mind was spinning, and I could only open and close my mouth wordlessly for several seconds. Seeing me like this, Nakata said:
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow”
He left those words and went home. I had somehow managed to secure an interview appointment. But I was terrified. Honestly, I didn’t want to approach him again. However, the next day arrived mercilessly.
