On the 4th, the selection committee for the 50th Matsutaro Shoriki Award, presented to managers and players who have contributed to the development of professional baseball, met in Tokyo and selected Manager Hiroki Kokubo (55), who led the Softbank Hawks to their second consecutive Japan Series title, as the recipient for the second year in a row. This marks the first consecutive win since Kimiyasu Kudo (current Chunichi manager, then Softbank Hawks manager) from 2018 to 2020.

In his third year in office this season, the team achieved its first three consecutive league titles since moving to Fukuoka. With a record of 91 wins, 49 losses, and 3 draws, they dominated the standings, finishing 11.5 games ahead of the second-place Seibu Lions. In the postseason, they defeated Nippon-Ham with three consecutive wins in the Final Stage of the Climax Series, and in the Japan Series, they swept DeNA—who had handed them a bitter defeat two years ago—with four straight victories.

While last season's wins leader Arihara moved to Nippon-Ham and ace Moinelo was unable to pitch until August due to poor conditioning, the lineup displayed overwhelming destructive power, leading to 44 comeback victories during the season. From May onwards, Masaki, who was placed in the leadoff spot, hit 28 Home Runs, while the new cleanup hitter Kurihara won two titles with 40 Home Runs and 118 RBI. The team also developed young talents such as Shoji, who established himself as the regular shortstop, and Yu Maeda, who recorded 12 wins.

The manager is not holding a fall camp for the second consecutive year, prioritizing time with his family. Immediately after reaching the top in the Japan Series, he spoke of a grand objective. 'The organization's goal itself is to aim for being number one in the world. Unless we build a team where people say, "If there were a stage to decide the world's best, it would be The Hawks," we won't reach that point. Therefore, we have no choice but to set goals for constant league championships and consecutive Japan Series titles. By accumulating those, we position ourselves so that in 10 or 15 years, if such a stage truly exists, people will say that when it comes to Japanese baseball, it's The Hawks,' he said, recognizing the creation of the world's best organization as his mission. Even the first four-consecutive-title run in club history, which they will challenge next season, is merely a passing point.

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The following are comments from Manager Kokubo.

Following last year, I am deeply honored to receive the prestigious Matsutaro Shoriki Award once again.

On behalf of the team, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all stakeholders and fans.

In a season where we set our goals on winning the league for the third consecutive time and becoming the best in Japan for the second year in a row, the players understood their respective roles and fought through to the end to achieve those objectives.

I believe we were able to push through the season with the courage to change and an unwavering determination, truly taking on new challenges as embodied by this year's team slogan, 'Zen-Shin' (All New).

Furthermore, the dedicated support of the coaches, staff, and front office, as well as the cheers of the fans who watched over us with warmth and sometimes strictness, were a great source of strength. I believe this award is a testament to the high organizational strength of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and the fact that each individual was able to fulfill their role as a member of a professional team.

Next year, we will set new goals and continue to take on new challenges as we strive to build a team that the people of Fukuoka and The Hawks fans across the country can be proud of.

Thank you very much for everything this time.

Hiroki Kokubo. Born October 8, 1971, in Wakayama City. 55 years old. After Seirin High School and Aoyama Gakuin University, he joined Daiei (now Softbank Hawks) as a second-round draft pick (reverse designation) in 1993. He was the Home Run king in 1995 and the RBI king in 1997. He was traded to The Giants in the 2003 off-season. He returned to his former team as a free agent in 2007. He retired from active play at the end of 2012. In a total of 2,057 games, he recorded 2,041 hits, a .273 batting average, 413 Home Runs, and 1,304 RBI. He served as the manager of Samurai Japan from 2013 to 2017. After serving as the Softbank Hawks first-team head coach in 2021 and the second-team manager in 2022 and 2023, he became the first-team manager in 2024. Right-handed pitcher and batter.

Established in 1977

The Matsutaro Shoriki Award was established in 1977 to commemorate the late Matsutaro Shoriki (former owner of the Yomiuri Shimbun), who founded Japan's first professional baseball team, the Dai-Nippon Tokyo Baseball Club (now The Giants), in 1934 and made significant contributions to the development of professional baseball in Japan. It is awarded to the individual (manager, coach, player, or umpire) who made the greatest contribution to the Japanese professional baseball world that year. The selection committee members include Sadaharu Oh (Chairman of the Softbank Hawks), Koji Yamamoto (former Hiroshima manager), Ryusho Kadota (non-fiction writer), Shigeru Takada (former Yakult manager), and Hatsuhiko Tsuji (former Seibu Lions manager).

Recipient of the Matsutaro Shoriki Award

Annual Award Winners (Established in 1977)

77 Sadaharu Oh (The Giants infielder)

78 Tatsuro Hirooka (Yakult Manager)

79 Yukio Nishimoto (Kintetsu Manager)

80 Takeshi Koba (Hiroshima Manager)

81 Motoshi Fujita (The Giants Manager)

82 Tatsuro Hirooka (Seibu Lions Manager)

83 Koichi Tabuchi (Seibu Lions infielder)

84 Sachio Kinugasa (Hiroshima infielder)

85 Yoshio Yoshida (Hanshin Tigers Manager)

86 Masaaki Mori (Seibu Lions Manager)

87 Kimiyasu Kudo (Seibu Lions pitcher)

88 Hiromitsu Kadota (Nankai DH)

89 Motoshi Fujita (The Giants Manager)

90 Masaaki Mori (Seibu Lions Manager)

91 Koji Akiyama (Seibu Lions outfielder)

92 Takehiro Ishii (Seibu Lions pitcher)

93 Katsuya Nomura (Yakult Manager)

94 Shigeo Nagashima (The Giants Manager)

Ditto Ichiro (Orix Buffaloes outfielder)

95 Ichiro (Orix Buffaloes outfielder)

96 Akira Ohgi (Orix Buffaloes Manager)

97 Atsuya Furuta (Yakult catcher)

98 Kazuhiro Sasaki (Yokohama pitcher)

99 Sadaharu Oh (Daiei Manager)

00 Hideki Matsui (The Giants outfielder)

01 Tsutomu Wakamatsu (Yakult Manager)

02 Tatsunori Hara (The Giants Manager)

03 Sadaharu Oh (Daiei Manager)

Ditto: Senichi Hoshino (Hanshin Tigers Manager)

04 Tsutomu Ito (Seibu Lions Manager)

05 Valentine (Lotte Manager)

06 Sadaharu Oh (Softbank Hawks Manager)

07 Hiromitsu Ochiai (Chunichi Manager)

08 Hisanobu Watanabe (Seibu Lions Manager)

09 Tatsunori Hara (The Giants Manager)

10 Norifumi Nishimura (Lotte Manager)

11 Koji Akiyama (Softbank Hawks Manager)

12 Tatsunori Hara (The Giants Manager)

Ditto: Shinnosuke Abe (The Giants catcher)

13 Senichi Hoshino (Rakuten Eagles Manager)

14 Koji Akiyama (Softbank Hawks Manager)

15 Kimiyasu Kudo (Softbank Hawks Manager)

16 Hideki Kuriyama (Nippon-Ham Manager)

17 Sarfate (Softbank Hawks pitcher)

18 Kimiyasu Kudo (Softbank Hawks Manager)

19 Kimiyasu Kudo (Softbank Hawks Manager)

20 Kimiyasu Kudo (Softbank Hawks Manager)

21 Shingo Takatsu (Yakult Manager)

22 Satoshi Nakajima (Orix Buffaloes Manager)

23 Akinobu Okada (Hanshin Tigers Manager)

24 Daisuke Miura (DeNA Manager)

25 Hiroki Kokubo (Softbank Hawks Manager)

26 Hiroki Kokubo (Softbank Hawks Manager)