The selection committee for the 50th Matsutaro Shoriki Award, presented to individuals who have contributed to the development of professional baseball, met in Tokyo on the 4th and selected Softbank Hawks manager Hiroki Kokubo for the second consecutive year, following his achievement of three consecutive Pacific League titles and two consecutive Japan Series championships. He becomes the third person to win the award in consecutive years, following Ichiro (then of the Orix Buffaloes) in 1994 and 1995, and Kimiyasu Kudo (then manager of the Softbank Hawks) from 2018 to 2020.

The selection process, which became a contest with Central League Triple Crown winner and Hanshin Tigers infielder Teruaki Sato, resulted in a unanimous decision for Manager Kokubo. His leadership was highly praised, with comments such as 'He won three consecutive extra inning games in the Japan Series' (Chairman Koji Yamamoto), 'The team has no weaknesses' (Committee Member Hatsuhiko Tsuji), and 'He possesses both the ruthlessness to replace starter Yu Maeda with two outs in the fifth inning of Game 4 of the Japan Series, and the kindness to express gratitude for the cheers for Yuki Matsumoto (who gave up home runs in Games 1 and 2) during the victory interview' (Committee Member Ryusho Kadota).

Manager Kokubo will be awarded a prize of 5 million yen and a commemorative gold medal.

Matsutaro Shoriki Award Selection Committee Member

Sadaharu Oh (Softbank Hawks Team Chairman - Absent)

Koji Yamamoto (Former Hiroshima Manager)

Ryusho Kadota (Writer)

Shigeru Takada (former Nippon-Ham manager)

Hatsuhiko Tsuji (former Seibu Lions manager)