On the 7th, Nippon-Ham manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo announced the start of sponsorship applications for the 2026 "Win a SHINJO Board and Win 1.11 million yen Shima Prize" campaign.

Now in its third year, the award will be presented to anyone who hits Home Run into the boards set up in both wings of the stadium. catcher Ariel Martínez has done it before during practice, but no one has ever done it in a game.

Manager Shinjo greeted the crowd by saying, "We're starting to accept applications from sponsors today, so if you're interested, please apply. It's not easy to get a spot, but I have a feeling we might win two this year."

When asked which players he is likely to hit, he said, "For us it would be Reyes, Mannami, Nomura and Yoshida. For other teams too, players on the team might be able to hit it. I think it was two years ago, Fushimi hit home run and it got really close, so I thought anyone could hit it (laughs)." Furthermore, when asked about the difficult right field position, he laughed and said, "It would be Kiyomiya or Yanagi. Well, I don't think I'll be able to hit it."

When asked to predict who will be the first player, he said, "Yamaguchi from Lotte. He's also got a lot of punch. And then there's Nakamura Seibu Lions, who's also fun." He unexpectedly chose a player from another team, saying, "baseball is entertainment, and I think it's good to have a sense of fun," and expressed his excitement for the birth of the first player.