The Panasonic baseball club will bring its 76-year history to a close following the "51st Social baseball Japan Championship" starting October 31st. This prestigious club, which has produced two Japan Championship titles, two runners-up finishes, one Intercity baseball Tournament runner-up finish, and numerous professional baseball players, is suspending operations. Furthermore, with the Sega Sammy Hardball baseball Club announcing its disbandment after the same tournament, the successive end of activities for these prestigious teams has sent a major shock through the social baseball world.

What do the alumni think at this turning point? We spoke with Daisuke Kondo, who once flourished as the ace of the Panasonic baseball club and currently serves as a public relations officer for the Orix Buffaloes The Buffaloes, about his memories of his social baseball days and his feelings for his juniors facing their final Japan Championship.

Daisuke Kondo / After attending Naniwa High School and Osaka University of Commerce, he joined the Panasonic baseball club and was selected as the second pick by Orix Buffaloes in the 2015 draft. Using his powerful fastball with a high spin rate as a weapon, he flourished as a reliever pitcher. He transferred to the Yomiuri Giants in the 2023 off-season. He retired from active play in 2025 and took a public relations position with his former team, Orix Buffaloes.

The weight of a single defeat and the responsibility of carrying the company's reputation.

Regarding the suspension of the Panasonic baseball club, Kondo expressed his honest feelings, saying, "It's lonely, isn't it?" His tenure lasted only two years. However, he says the experience there had a significant impact on his subsequent professional baseball life.

The background to Kondo's decision to join Panasonic included watching the club's games through the Japan Championship since his days at Osaka University of Commerce, and being told by baseball club officials at the time that he was "needed as a strength." He wanted to play baseball for a team that needed him. That feeling was the deciding factor for joining.

After joining, the first thing that surprised him was the high level of competition. The swing speed and power of the hitters, and the sense of speed in the plays. He felt the difference from college baseball in every aspect.

Panasonic has a tradition of "defensive baseball" that prevents runs with solid defense. The number "18" entrusted to Kondo is also the number that Ryo Akiyoshi (formerly of Tokyo Yakult and Fukuoka Softbank), who later turned pro, used to wear.

"Since I was fighting while carrying the company's name, I felt that I absolutely could not lose. Unlike the league games in my college days, the qualifiers for participating in the Intercity Baseball Tournament and the Japan Championship are a world of single-elimination matches where one loss closes the path to the national tournament. I felt that the severity of not being able to 'make it up in the next game' like in a points-based system was the big difference from student baseball."

In such an environment, Kondo devoted himself to training from morning till night to polish his characteristic fastball. He also went to the gym and thoroughly trained his body, an experience he says was useful in establishing a training method that suited him after turning pro.

The confidence gained at the Japan Championships and the pressure after being selected in the draft.

The game Kondo cited as the most memorable from his time in adult baseball was the first round of the 40th Adult baseball Japan Championship in 2014, his first year, against Toho Gas.

It was his first time standing on the mound in a national tournament. Among the opponents was the legendary slugger of the adult baseball world, Akihiro Yamamoto. Kondo admitted he felt some fear facing such a powerful hitter, but the result was a pop fly to the catcher. Being able to closer a top-class adult baseball hitter gave him great confidence.

Kondo earned his first national tournament win in this game. Above all, he said he was happiest that the people at his company were so pleased.

Many people, including employees from the Industrial Sales Division where he was assigned at the time, rushed to the stadium. Seeing the employees rejoicing in the stands after the win, he felt for the first time that he had been able to contribute to the company.

The team also won the following game against JFE West Japan and advanced to the semifinals. Although they lost to the eventual champions, Toyota Motor, Kondo started the game and recorded 6 strike out with 3 runs over 5 and 1/3 innings. He showed a solid presence right from his rookie year.

The following year, 2015, was a year of even greater progress. In the Intercity baseball Tournament, he participated as a reinforcement player for Osaka Gas and contributed to their runner-up finish alongside pitcher Tomohito Sakai, who is now with the Rakuten Eagles. He says that being needed as a key player by Osaka Gas was significant, but the fact that the employees of his own company, Panasonic, continued to support him just as before also remains a warm memory.

In the same year, he also experienced joining Samurai Japan. There, he met pitcher Taisuke Yamaoka (then Tokyo Gas), pitcher Daiki Tajima (then JR East), and Ryoma Nishikawa (then Oji), who would later become his teammates with the Orix Buffaloes.

"I still talk with Yamaoka and Tajima about memories from our corporate league days."

Even after turning professional, players from corporate backgrounds reportedly enjoy discussing their past opponents and games while watching footage of the Japan Diamond Cup in the locker room or cafeteria. Even if they are on different teams, the connection between those who played corporate baseball during the same era continues.

Then, in the fall of 2015, Kondo was selected as the second-round pick by the Orix Buffaloes in the draft. In the Japan Diamond Cup he participated in immediately afterward, he felt a different kind of pressure than the previous year.

"In my first year, I just gave it my all, but in my second year, I was in a position where I was viewed as an 'NPB-selected pitcher.' I felt intense pressure while pitching, feeling that I couldn't show a shameful performance to Panasonic, who raised me, or to the Orix Buffaloes, who evaluated me."

Kondo started the first game against Honda. He engaged in a tense pitching duel with the opponent's starter, Ryota Ishibashi (formerly of Tohoku Rakuten Eagles), but they suffered a lose with a score of 1 to 2. As if to retrieve something left behind on the mound of Kyocera Dome, he swung his arm with all his might after turning professional.

Skills cultivated through adult baseball that I noticed after becoming a public relations officer

After retiring from active play, Kondo-san, who began working in public relations for his former team, the Orix Buffaloes, says he has realized once again from his position supporting players that his experience in corporate baseball has been useful even after turning professional.

One such aspect is the ability to handle the media. In interview settings, young players sometimes feel confused about how to respond, and there are moments where public relations staff provide support. On the other hand, he feels that players who have experienced corporate baseball are accustomed to putting their thoughts and the intentions behind their plays into words.

"I had the opportunity to be present during an interview with pitcher Reiji Higashiyama (ENEOS). Since our active playing periods did not overlap, I was a little worried at first, but he brilliantly verbalized his thoughts in response to questions from the media and answered firmly. I truly felt that the experience of being tempered in the corporate world and his high level of awareness are reflected in his media handling and behavior in the professional league."

Taking on games while carrying the company's reputation and responding to the support of employees and fans. It is not just skills that are cultivated in corporate baseball. This is an aspect that has become visible precisely because Kondo-san now interacts with players as a public relations officer.

"With all my might, as if my arms were going to be torn off."

Panasonic will face Nippon Life, another powerhouse from Osaka, in their first game of their final Japan Diamond Cup. For Kondo, it was a special opponent that he had perceived as an "elite group" since his days in corporate baseball.

The venue is Kyocera Dome Osaka. It is a familiar stadium for Kondo, where he not only stood on the mound during the Japan Diamond Cup but also pitched numerous times as the home of the Orix Buffaloes after turning professional. He recalls it as a place where the hardness and height of the mound suited him, allowing him to throw with full conviction.

Currently, Manager Takaharu Inoue, who leads Panasonic, is one year senior to Kondo, and veteran left-handed pitcher Ryo Enomoto is one year junior. Many of his former teammates have moved on to their own paths, and there are now few active players or staff members he knows. Nevertheless, Kondo says, "I want to see Takaharu-san being tossed in the air in celebration."

According to reports, after the decision to suspend operations, about 70% of the players and staff will retire to focus on company business, while the remaining 30% wish to continue their active careers with other teams. Each has chosen a different path as they head into the team's final tournament. Kondo hopes that "everyone can finish with a smile at the end."

We asked him for a message of encouragement for his juniors.

"What is important in a tournament is to put your heart into every single pitch and give it your all so that you have no regrets. I want them to focus entirely on the game in front of them with the determination to throw until their arm falls off or their body breaks, without thinking about what comes next."

"Until your arm falls off." When I involuntarily repeated those words, Kondo continued.

"I actually retired because my arm fell off," he said.

During his active career, he experienced a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder. Even so, Kondo continued to swing his arm on the mound until the very end, finishing his active career by getting the batter struck out on three pitches. It was a message of encouragement typical of Kondo, layered with his own experience.

The Japan Diamond Cup will be the final tournament for the Panasonic baseball team. The first game against Nippon Life will start at 18:00 on Saturday, October 31, at Kyocera Dome Osaka.

information

Members of the Orix Buffaloes The Buffaloes official fan club "BsCLUB" can watch the "51st Social baseball Japan Championship" at a discounted price. This applies only to same-day tickets; please present your membership card at the Kyocera Dome Osaka ticket sales window. The ticket types and discounted prices are as follows:
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・Premium Seats (backstop rear front row / Includes a 500 yen coupon usable inside the dome)
General price 3,300 yen → Member special price 2,850 yen (Member only)
・Special Seats (backstop rear middle/back rows)
General price 1,650 yen → Member special price 1,450 yen (Same as above)
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For details of the tournament, please check the official website of the Japan Association of baseball Federations (https://www.jaba.or.jp/51baseball/).