◆Exhibition game: The Giants 1-8 Nippon-Ham (March 14, Tokyo Dome)

Nippon-Ham Fighters manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo (54) praised The Giants player Hisayoshi Nagano for his retirement game. In an interview after the game, he immediately mentioned Nagano's name, saying, "Before the game today, he suddenly came to my office and said, 'I'd like to have my retirement game. Thank you for your support.' I thought, 'Wow, he has such a great personality.'" He was impressed by Nagano's humble attitude, which even extended to the opposing team's manager.

Manager Shinjo and Mr. Nagano also share a connection. Shinjo's coach at Nishinihon Junior College High School (Fukuoka) was the manager of Chikuyo Gakuen (Fukuoka) and coached Mr. Nagano. "So he's like a cute junior to me, and today the person wearing the mask was Shindo (who is from Chikuyo Gakuen), so we're senior and junior. It was great," he recalled happily.

To Mr. Nagano, who hit a single to center field off Yanagawa in the 8th inning, he said, "You've been practicing that. And you got a hit. The excitement was building up. (If I could ask for more) I would have liked to see you with bases loaded. But you showed us a great performance. You've been playing for 16 years, right? Thank you for your hard work. I look forward to seeing what Nagano does in the future and will continue to follow your progress," offering heartfelt praise as a senior figure in baseball world.