The penalty for predicting victory is selling at Kyocera? "Rookie" commentator T-Okada: "You have to attract big customers..." - a baptism by senior commentator

Sports Hochi

2025.3.25(火) 21:05

Former Orix player T-Okada, who retired last season, named Softbank as the favorite to win Pacific League this season. As for the "punishment game" in case of a wrong prediction, a plan to face the number one salesgirl at Kyocera Dome Osaka, the home stadium of his former team, emerged, and he was already "baptized" as a rookie baseball commentator.

T-Okada appeared with former Yakult and Softbank player Ryota Igarashi on "Monday also goes to Patere," which was livestreamed on the 24th night on the official YouTube channel of "Pacific League TV." The talk lasted about an hour and was titled "Ryota Igarashi x T-Okada: This year's promising players debate! 'The favorite to win is...' [Supported by Hochiki Corporation]."

Regarding Softbank, which is aiming for consecutive championships, T-Okada said, "After all, all the players are hungry to win. There are many players who know how to turn the tide and how to win. Even if someone gets injured, someone new comes up. (The depth of the player pool) is truly amazing," speaking of the team's strength from the perspective of someone who has just retired.

He pointed out Nippon-Ham in its fourth year as manager, as a rival in the championship race. Kiyomiya and others' talents blossomed, and the baseball finished second last season. "baseball that Manager Shinjo wants to play is precise and nasty. I think the players were confused at first, thinking, 'Are we really doing this?'" Igarashi also agreed, saying, "The players are beginning to understand what we want to do," and that the team has matured.

On the other hand, their old team Orix sank to the bottom of the standings in the opening round. The team has had some injuries, including Mori's absence for the season opener due to a muscle injury in his right internal oblique abdominal muscle. Mori is not expected to start the season, but when he comes back, he will definitely be at the center of the team. When the pieces come together, he will definitely come up.

The program was also abuzz with the topic of the penalty game if the prediction was wrong. Viewers sent in ideas such as "wearing gold pants," "one-shot comedy," and "selling at Kyocera." Igarashi responded to the selling proposal by saying, "Let's see how well T can do against the number one," and came up with a plan to compete against the number one selling girl. He went on to provoke the idea by saying, "It's a bit sad for an alumnus to lose to the number one selling girl," to which T-Okada, who was the face of the team until last season, replied with a laugh, "You need to get some big customers." It seemed like he wasn't completely opposed to the idea of selling as a selling girl if he was wrong.

"Monday also goes to Patere" is a baseball talk show that is broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of Pacific League TV every Monday from 9:00 pm during the professional baseball season. Next week (31st), two former catcher, Motonobu Tanishige and Tomoya Satozaki, will appear.