Orix Buffaloes Buffaloes infielder Kotaro Kobayashi (23) issued a "bear warning" to himself on the 11th. He attended contract negotiations in Maishima, Osaka, and renewed his contract for 95 million yen, a 16 million yen increase. He vowed to "achieve outstanding results and become a player who can easily surpass the 100 million yen mark next offseason," and also heightened his vigilance against "tough opponents" as he heads into mountain training.

"I do it every year deep in the mountains, so I want to seclude myself in the mountains again this year." In order to further improve from this season, in which he recorded a short stop average of .260, 9 Home Run, and 43 RBI in 116 games as the starting shortstop, he plans to do solo training during the offseason. However, this year, bear sightings have become a social problem in various parts of the country. Kurebayashi says he has seen deer and wild boars several times in previous years as well. "It might be a little dangerous (laughs). I'll practice while carrying a bell or something," he said, imagining training in the "wild."

During contract negotiations, he requested the introduction of the state-of-the-art virtual batting practice machine, "Traject Arc." He emphasized, "If I can actually see things like Hiromi Ito 's (Nippon-Ham Fighters) slider during practice, I can go straight into the game." He declared that "you're only a regular if you play all 143 games and every inning," and set 20 Home Run as his goal for next season. If he can put his words into action, he will undoubtedly break the big milestone. (Shunta Nanbu)