Seibu Lions Yuta Nakamikawa outfielder Yuta Nakamigawa (23) announced on the 14th that he will change his registered name to "Yuta Nakami" starting this season. The name on the back of his uniform will also be "NAKAMI."
He is starting afresh. Nakamikawa joined the team as the 7th pick in the 2020 draft from Osaka Toin High School. Since then, his registered name has been his real name, "Nakamikawa Yuta Nakamikawa," but he decided to make the unusual change, saying, "I want everyone to call me 'Nakami' the most. I wanted it to be easy for young children to remember and call me that." In his fifth year last season, he was promoted back to the controlled team and played in his first first-division game. "I've decided to change my name in order to aim for new heights," he said, intending to use this as an opportunity to make further strides.
The team's slogan this season is "breaking through." Following manager Nishiguchi's desire to "have players who can swing the bat with aplomb," the team has been focusing on improving its batting ability, which suffered last season with a team batting average of .232, the lowest in the league, by acquiring Canario, who hit six Home Run in the majors last season. "I want to be at the center of it all. I want to spend the whole year honing my long-range hitting ability, which is my speciality. I'm ready to go all out," said the 23-year-old, full of energy. He will sprint through this season as the oldest man in the league. (Onaka Ayami)
◇Major registered names in the past In 1994, Orix Buffaloes manager Ogi famously marketed Suzuki Ichiro as "Ichiro" and Sato Kazuhiro as "Punch." Even today, many players are registered with only their first names, such as The Giants Okita's "Taisei" and Sunagawa's "Richard." Chunichi Dragons' Yamamoto Masahiro continued to use his previous name, "Yamamoto Masa," even after his last name, Yamamoto Yasuji, left the team in 1996. In 1979 and 1980, Nankai Hawks' Otengio registered his name in kanji as "Oh Tenjo," with the hope that he would hit more Home Run than Oh Sadaharu. Another foreign player, Hiroshima's Rick Lancellotti, played under the name "Lance" in 1987 and 1988, but cases like Nakamikawa's are rare.
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