This year's baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held in Tokyo on the 15th, and Nippon-Ham Fighters Chief Baseball Officer Hideki Kuriyama (64) was inducted as a new member of the Hall of Fame as an expert award recipient. Kuriyama gave a humble speech, saying, "To be honest, I still wonder if someone like me deserves to be inducted. However, I see this award as a message to work hard for baseball players of the future."

Former The Giants manager Tatsunori Hara (67), who led Samurai Japan to consecutive victories in the second World Baseball Classic (WBC) in 2009, attended the ceremony to congratulate Kuriyama. Also sending congratulatory messages were Sadaharu Oh (85), who led the Japanese national team to their first WBC championship in 2006, and Shohei Ohtani (31), pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who was Kuriyama's former student during his time with Nippon-Ham Fighters.

Kuriyama was born in Kodaira, Tokyo, and went on to Tokyo Gakugei University after graduating from Soka High School. He earned teaching licenses for elementary, middle, and high schools and had a stable future ahead of him, but he decided to scrap all that and take Yakult' entrance exam after seeing a home run by The Giants Home Run Tatsunori Hara on TV. "After watching that, I decided I really wanted to go pro," he said, joining Yakult as a non-draft pick in 1983. As a right-handed, switch-hitting outfielder, he won the Golden Glove Award in 1989, but due to pain in his right elbow and the effects of Meniere's disease, which causes dizziness and nausea, he retired in 1990 at the young age of 29.

As a manager, he fully demonstrated his skills. As manager Nippon-Ham, he led the team to two league championships and one Japan championship, and as manager of Samurai Japan, he led the team to its first world championship in three tournaments at the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC). He also nurtured Shohei Ohtani (currently with the Dodgers) as a two-way player, helping him become one of the world's top stars.

The full text of Hideki Kuriyama's speech is below.

"Good evening, everyone. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedules to be here today. I would like to thank the Commissioner, all the committee members, and former Manager Hara. And to everyone in the media, you usually gather here for the team or the players, but today I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to be here today for a personal matter.

I never thought I would be able to baseball for such a long time, having entered the professional league as a test player. When I was in elementary school, I admired Oh and Nagashima, and for the first time went to Korakuen Stadium to see Oh's home run. Then, when I was in junior high school, I admired Tatsunori Hara, a player from Tokai University Sagami High School who was doing very well at Koshien at the time, so I went to take the selection test for Tokai University Sagami. At that time, I happened to meet Hara, and although I don't remember him at all, he said to me, ``Do your best.''

Actually, when I was in junior high school, I played hardball baseball, and I had the opportunity to play a game against Oshita's team, who had blue bats. It was the first time I met someone who had actually made a name for themselves in professional baseball, and Oshita called me over and said to me, "If you work hard at baseball, you might even become a professional baseball player, so do your best." I now realize just how much strength can be gained from meeting such seniors and great players when you are a child.

I went on to high school, where I was taught the basics of baseball by Coach Inagaki (who has since passed away), and then took a test to enter the professional league after university. When I entered the professional league, people often said that I would not pass the test, but thanks to the people at Yakult who had looked after me, I was given a chance, and I entered professional baseball. However, I was not able to perform as a good player, and I ended up retiring. Although I had some physical problems, I felt that I had not yet become a full-fledged player, and so I continued to work hard, wanting to somehow spread the word about baseball.

Despite that, a handful of people, including everyone at Nippon-Ham headquarters and everyone at the team, believed in my potential and gave me a chance. That actually led to where I am today, and it's not just The Fighters players and the players I played against in Japan, but also the players on opposing teams, and all the other baseball players, that have allowed me to still be in the world of baseball. I'm truly grateful.

It was at this time that I heard about being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and to be honest, I still wonder if someone like me deserves to be inducted. However, I think of this award as a message to work hard for baseball players of the future.

I also realize that even a player like me, who was not as good as I was, can make baseball for such a long time by the efforts of those around him or her. I realize that it is not about talent, but rather that the desire of many people for baseball can create something quite large for each one of us.

So from now on, I would like to be on that side of the game, and do my best to help as many young people as possible to be grateful for baseball, spread the word about baseball, and become baseball evangelists.

First of all, I'm really grateful to everyone here, and I'm also really grateful to the seniors who supported me, cared about me, and taught me so many things. I'll never forget this gratitude and will continue to do my best for baseball. Thank you so much for today."

◆Kuriyama Hideki (64 years old) was born on April 26, 1961, in Kodaira, Tokyo. He attended Soka High School and Tokyo Gakugei University, and joined Yakult as a non-draft player in 1983. He won the Golden Glove Award in 1989 as a right-handed, switch-hitting outfielder. Due to Meniere's disease, which causes dizziness and nausea, he retired in 1990 at the age of 29. After serving as a baseball commentator and professor at Hakuoh University's School of Business, he became the manager of Nippon-Ham in 2012. He led the team to a league championship that year, a second league championship in 2016, and a Japan Series championship, winning the Shoriki Matsutaro Award. He nurtured Shohei Ohtani (currently with the Dodgers) as a two-way player. He retired in the off-season of 2021 and became manager of Samurai Japan in December of the same year. With Ohtani and other players on his team, he led the team to their first victory in three tournaments in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He is currently the Chief Baseball Officer (CBO) Nippon-Ham. In his 494 professional games, he had a batting average of .279, 7 Home Run, and 67 RBI. As a manager, he had 684 wins, 672 losses, and 54 ties in 1,410 games.