The selection committee for the 49th Shoriki Matsutaro Award, given to managers and players who have contributed greatly to the development of professional baseball, met in Tokyo on the 13th, and manager Hiroki Kokubo (54), who led Softbank to their 12th Japan Series title and first in five years in his second year in office, was awarded the prize for the first time. Also selected for the special award was pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (27), who led the team to consecutive World Series victories and was named MVP. Manager Kokubo will receive a prize of 5 million yen and a medal, while Yamamoto will receive a prize of 3 million yen and a medal.

The award was unanimous. The selection committee highly praised the skills of Softbank manager Kokubo, who led the team to the Japan Series championship. Despite a string of injuries to key players since the start of the season, he actively promoted young players. He led the team back from last place in April. His management in the Japan Series, where he defeated Hanshin Tigers, was also highly praised. Softbank 's Chairman Oh, who was also his mentor and chairman, offered the highest praise: "I learned a lot from Kokubo's management this year."

He took a break after the Japan Series to recharge his batteries for next season. "I am truly honored to receive this award. This year we entered the season determined to reach the top, and each player understood their role and fought until the very end, believing in win. This award is the culmination of the efforts of the entire Fukuoka Softbank Hawks organization (excerpt)," he said in a comment made through the team, comparing the award to his hobby of mountain climbing.

Although they won the league title last season, they lost to DeNA, who finished third Central League in the Japan Series. By saying "this year for sure," he once again revealed the disappointment of his first year in office. In fact, there were strong voices in favor of Manager Kokubo on last year's selection committee, but in the end, DeNA's Manager Miura was chosen. "This is an award that has come two years in the making," said selection committee member Kadota. Along with the victory in the championship match, he also succeeded in "reviving" the Shoriki Award.

Next season, The Hawks aim to win the league title for the third time in a row, a first since they moved to Fukuoka and the first time since 1966 when they were still the Nankai Hawks. "We can't win if we keep doing the same thing," he said, and has already set "breaking things down" as his theme. With Oh's ideology of not being afraid of change in mind, he aims to evolve even further. (Shimao Koichiro)

◆Kokubo Hiroki (54 years old) Born October 8, 1971 in Wakayama City. Graduated from Seirin High School to Aoyama Gakuin University before joining Daiei (now Softbank) as the second pick (reverse pick) in the 1993 draft. He was Home Run king in 1995 and RBI king in 1997. He was traded to The Giants in the off-season of 2003. He returned to his former team as a free agent in 2007. He retired from active play in 2012. In a total of 2,057 games, he had 2,041 hit, a batting average of .273, 413 Home Run, and 1,304 RBI. He was the manager of Samurai Japan from 2013 to 2017. He served as the head coach of Softbank 's first team in 2021 and as the manager of their second team in 2022 and 2023, before becoming the first team manager in 2024. He is a right-handed batter and pitcher.

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