Nippon-Ham-Nao Miyanishi pitcher Hisao Miyanishi (40) participated in the "CLUB MIZUNO Yumekyu Talk Live" held in Kita-ku, Osaka City on the 4th, along with Yakult Swallows pitcher Masanori Ishikawa (45).
This season, Miyanishi's 18th in the NPB, saw him pitch in 31 games, recording one win and one loss, 12 hold, and ERA 3.20. On September 23rd, in a game Rakuten Eagles (ESCON), he became the fourth player in NPB history to reach 900 appearances. He's now within striking distance of the NPB record of 1,002 appearances held by Hideki Iwase (Chunichi), and Pacific League record of 949 appearances held by Tetsuya Yoneda (Hankyu, Kintetsu). On May 15th, in a game against Orix Buffaloes (ESCON), he extended his consecutive relief appearance streak to 880 games, surpassing Iwase's previous record of 879 games, breaking the professional baseball record.
Even after being removed from the roster on September 24th, he accompanied the first team and served as a "special ultra-dynamic general coach" during the Climax Series (CS), giving advice to bullpen and deciding the timing of relief pitching, and playing the role of coach, earning the trust of manager Shinjo and others on the bench.
Miyanishi was looking forward to the event, saying, "I wanted to hear what Ishikawa had to say. The Fighters have a lot of young players. It's hard to hear from a legend with a lot of experience like Ishikawa within the team, so I was grateful." He asked Ishikawa how to correct his tendency to lean forward when pitch, and was given the advice, "It's difficult if you try to do too many things, so imagine that you're pointing your belly button towards first base until the moment you throw the ball. Your belly button is the center of your body," to which Miyanishi was touched and grateful, saying, "That's great. This was very helpful. I hadn't thought of it as the belly button. That's easy to understand."
Furthermore, when he put on Ishikawa's glove, he exclaimed with joy, his eyes shining like a boy, "This is great!"
Related News
・ [Nippon-Ham] Nao Miyanishi becomes the fourth player in history to reach 900 career appearances. Previous players to achieve this include Hideki Iwase, Tetsuya Yoneda, and Masaichi Kaneda.
・ [Nippon-Ham] Manager Shinjo praises 39-year-old Miyanishi, who puts out the fire with bases loaded, saying, "I like throwing the ball to the chest with a brave attitude."
・ [Nippon-Ham] Nao Miyanishi: "change-up has completely improved" - One-on-one bullpen with his mentor, coach Chihiro Kaneko
・ "I'm glad I was able to achieve this at the right time for you to come," says Nippon-Ham Nao Miyanishi, who achieved a new record of 880 consecutive relief games in professional baseball in front of special guest Kento Nakajima.
・ [Nippon-Ham] Nao Miyanishi, a new record in professional baseball, reaches 880 consecutive relief appearances. He received a bouquet of flowers from manager Shinjo.
