On November 27th, the award ceremony for the 54th Mitsui Golden Glove Awards was held, and 17 players from the Central and Pacific Leagues (Saitama Seibu 's Nevin was absent) were presented with golden glove-shaped trophies.

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham, who won the Most win pitcher Award for the second consecutive year Hiromi Ito pitcher and Fukuoka Softbank player who became the first hitter from the development team to win the batting title. Taisei Makihara Six players from Pacific League were awarded for the first time this year, making for a fresh lineup.

Among them, Tohoku Rakuten, who is in his 10th year as a professional, Itsuki Murabayashi This is the first time that the player has won the award as third baseman. Until last season, Murabayashi played mainly as short stop and established himself as a regular player with his solid defense, but this season Rui Muneyama With the addition of new players, he was primarily used as third baseman. Despite the change in position, he continued to consistently produce results, hit 144 At Bat 513 at-bats in 137 games for a batting average of .281. He not only won the Mitsui Golden Glove Award, but also his first batting title, Most hit Award, and was named to the Best Nine, becoming a key player on the team.

At the award ceremony, Murabayashi received the glove-shaped trophy with a determined expression. Looking back on this season, he said, "I went into the games thinking I would do my best with the trophy I was given," and vowed to return to this stage again next season, saying, "I'll do my best to win it again."

"I want to show off the golden glove-shaped trophy to everyone"

After the award ceremony, Murabayashi was thrilled, saying, "I'm so happy." Regarding the golden glove-shaped trophy that he finally received after 10 years of hard work, he said with a smile, "For now, I want to brag about it to everyone."

He continued by saying that he would like to use this award as a source of confidence, emphasizing that "as a player, you have to perform in the role you're given," but also looked ahead to his next goal, saying, "I hope I can win at short stop as well."

Murabayashi has captivated fans with his many great plays. We can't help but look forward to seeing what kind of performance he will show us next season.

Interview and text by Mayuko Goto