Seibu Lions Takumi Kuriyama outfielder (42) and (38) had a talk with the veterans. Kuriyama has announced his retirement at the end of this season, and Sumitani has followed his lead. They shared their passionate feelings, ranging from memories of their youth to their desire to win Japan's No. 1 baseball championship, which has eluded them since 2008. (Reporting by Ayami Onaka) Ginjiro Sumitani catcher

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—What do you call each other?

(Sumitani) Me, Kuriyama-san.

(Kuriyama) Gin, Ginjiro.

—From the very beginning?

(Kuri) That's right. I might have called him Sumitani at first, but it's Ginjiro.

—What were your first impressions of each other, and what are your impressions now?

(Sumi) I've said this in quite a few places, but my first impression was the bathroom. In the old dormitory.

(Kuri) That story is embarrassing (laughs).

(Sumi) We met for the first time in the bathroom. It was our day off, and Kuriyama, with his blonde hair, was soaking in the bathtub. I went in and introduced myself as "I'm Sumitani." So I was scared.

—What are your thoughts now?

(Sumi) The scout was the same as mine. When I was decided to join Seibu Lions, before I joined the team and moved into the dorms, the scout told me, "Follow in the footsteps of Nakajima (Hiroyuki), Kuriyama, and Nakamura (Takeya)." I don't know if Kuriyama and the others had heard that "a guy named Sumitani is joining," but soon after they took me out to eat and looked after me in various ways, so the impression that they were scary quickly disappeared.

—Is he like an older brother?

(Sumi) Now, I can say that now, but he was like an older brother to me. Of course he was my senior, but back then when I was young, even though I said he wasn't scary, he was a senior, so I never crossed the line (laughs).

—What are your impressions of Kuriyama?

(Kurita) Yes, Ginjiro made a strong impression right from the start. He was only one year older than Wakui (Hideaki, now with Chunichi)?

(Charcoal) It's just one digit difference. Wakui-san is one digit older.

(Kuri) That's right. And then they suddenly go with a battery of teenagers.

(Charcoal) In the second game of the season, the battery consists of teenagers.

(Kuri) After all, they were a battery in their teens, and they made headlines. And, in terms of hitting, they hit a home run in Kitakyushu (a bases loaded slam, their first professional home run against Softbank Hawks on March 29th), and that left a strong impression on me. But it was different to us. Both Okawari (Takeya Nakamura) and I started from the farm team, and so did Nakajima-san, so we came up steadily. (Sumitani) went straight to the first team stage. I thought it was amazing when I saw it.

What are your impressions now?

(Kurita) Well, he did take a detour (after transferring teams). Including that period, I think there were some areas where our training was lacking. Like the relaxed feeling he had earlier. That's something we don't have at our The Lions. He's come back a little more relaxed. But as a player, he's also had a lot of experience. He's becoming a reliable junior player.

—I believe you mentioned that the three of you (including Nakamura) don't go out to eat together very often. When was the last time the two of you went out to eat together?

(Sumi) I don't think two people usually eat together, do they?

(Kuri) There can't be two of us. There must be someone else.

(Sumi) There's always someone there. Like Nakamura-san or Nakajima-san. And other juniors too.

—Will there be opportunities for the two of you to bring in junior colleagues?

(Chestnuts) We had some, didn't we?

(Charcoal) Yes, of course.

—What kind of conversations do you have in those situations?

(Charcoal) Talking about baseball. baseball, talking about baseball, both serious and silly. Probably. It's the kind of thing everyone thinks about, right?

—Do you two decide to bring your juniors along together? Or do your juniors ask to come along?

(Kuri) I think I often take them along. But lately, that doesn't happen anymore. I don't get to go out to eat with Ginjiro or Okawari as often anymore.

(Sumi) We used to go to the sauna a lot, didn't we? Just the two of us.

(Kuri) That's right.

(Sumi) If it's just the two of us, then it's at the place we're on tour.

(Chestnut) He went to the bath.

(Charcoal) It wasn't a super public bath, but I often went to places that were like saunas.

(Kuri) That's how it is, that's how it is. I don't even go to the bathhouse these days.