Lotte's fall practice was held at Zozo Marine Stadium on the 22nd.

Tatsuhiro Tamura has been working up a sweat with the younger players since the first day of autumn practice. What themes will he be focusing on in practice this fall?

Tamura first told us about the hard training he had done at the Miyakonojo spring training camp in February of this year, saying, "Saburo will be the manager from next year, but he made me practice like crazy at this year's (spring) training camp in Miyakonojo. At the press conference when he was appointed manager, Saburo said that he made the players practice like crazy and didn't get injured, and I was one of them."

"When it was decided that we would hold our second-division training camp in January, Saburo told me at the airport, 'You're a designated training player!' I was really happy. To be honest, I didn't think he had any expectations of me. He didn't have time to look at me; it's Miyakonojo, so there are a lot of young players there, but instead he spent all his time with me, doing all sorts of things. It's strange to say that he had high expectations of me, but I felt like he was telling me, 'Do more!' and 'You can do more!' and that motivated me to work hard," said Tamura, whose heart was warmed by these words from the new manager, Saburo, who was the second-division manager at the time.

"The Miyakonojo camp was the toughest I've had in 13 years. If you ask me if the results showed during the season, I would say no, but because I was able to do that tough training I didn't get injured throughout the year, and although that may also be why I only played in a few games, Saburo mentioned that when he took over this year, so I thought it was good."

"To be honest, I thought I'd be free to practice this fall since the season was over. But they were there and watching me closely, so I had to be in the mood and do my best. If they didn't care, they wouldn't let me do it. That's also what gives me a reason to live."

Next season, Tamura intends to carefully carry out the role entrusted to him under new manager Saburo. "Manager Saburo is strict, so I think he knows exactly what's good and what's bad, so if it's good he'll use me, and if it's bad he won't. I think he's a really easy-to-understand manager, so I just do what he tells me to do. Even if he tells me to 'Go to the ninth inning!' I'll do my best to get there, and it's difficult, but he's been telling me over and over since February of this year to do things carefully. He told me to do things carefully and not to be sloppy, so I've been conscious of that and will do my best."

◆ Atsuki Taneichi "Everything is going smoothly"

Atsuki Taneichi, who was selected to represent Japan in the "LUXAS Samurai Japan Series 2025 Japan vs. Korea" to be held on November 15th and 16th, said of his current condition, "Everything is going well."

"The ball was slippery at the beginning, so I've been working on how to throw it, not just to the tip of the ball. I think I'm making progress little by little," he said.

This season, he has 161 strike out, his season high, fastball 78 strike out and fork 68 strike out, his season high. In particular, fastball 's strike out took 45 struck out this season just since August, compared to 62 last year.

"It was good. He threw the ball low, aimed at catcher 's feet, and with the image of it extending, so I think that was good technically."

We will continue to prepare in order to make a strong impression in the friendly match against South Korea.

Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita