On April 14th, Tsuji Hatsuhiko and GG Sato appeared on the official YouTube channel of Pacific League TV program "Monday on Patere" and picked out some players that caught their attention from the last week's games and gave a commentary. This time, we will share some "tidbits" that didn't make it into the broadcast.

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At the beginning of the program, GG Sato introduced "Today's guest is Tsuji Hatsuhiko!" and GG welcomed Tsuji with a smoke effect using cooling spray that he himself had brought with him, creating a scene reminiscent of the once-popular "Gekidan Shishi" theater troupe.

During his time as manager of Saitama Seibu, when Tsuji's name was read out during the pre-game introduction of starting line-up and shown on the screen, Kakeru Yamanobe player, Sena Tsuge player, Haruka Yamada The "Gekidan Shishi" team, which also featured players (now with Tohoku Rakuten), enlivened the stadium with a variety of performances. Apparently, Mr. Tsuji himself would sometimes give advice to the "theater troupe's performance ideas" that the players had come up with... In this way, Mr. Tsuji, who often gave a glimpse of the warm relationship of trust between him and the players, was asked about the things he considered important when interacting with them as a manager.

"First, I listen to what the player has to say, and then I speak my own story. When a player made a mistake, I would first ask him what his intention was in making that play. I wouldn't say things like, 'Why did you do it like that there? You should have done it like that.' If the player's intention was correct and it resulted in a mistake, I would say, 'Let's practice again.' And even if the play was something that shouldn't have been done, I would listen carefully to the player's intentions and feelings, and then explain it to him."

Also, when he saw that a player was feeling down, such as when an error led to runs, he would make a point of talking to the player about their mistake, changing his words to suit each player's personality. This style comes from Mr. Tsuji's experience as a player.

"When I was still playing, if I made runs and conceded a goal, I felt more comfortable if the coach criticised me (about the play). Even if it was criticism, I thought that being spoken to by the coach, who is the highest position on the field, was a sign of high expectations."

Tsuji-san made the effort to talk to the players about even the smallest things because he was happy that the coach cared about him. "Even something as trivial as, 'Isn't your hair getting long? Get it cut!' was fine," he said with a smile, looking back on his time as coach.

I believe that the communication techniques that Mr. Tsuji shared with us this time about communicating with young players are applicable to everyone, not just when talking about baseball.

Interview and text by Mayuko Goto

LIVE broadcast program "Monday is also Pate-tele"
・Streaming date: Every Monday from 9pm (scheduled to be available until October during the season)
・Streaming destination: Pacific League TV official YouTube channel
・Cast: A pair of former professional baseball players will appear each week
(Ginji and Yuji Kaneko / GG Sato and guests / Ryota Igarashi and T-Okada / Motonobu Tanishige and Tomoya Satozaki)

Next week on Monday the 21st, Ryota Igarashi and T-Okada will be appearing. Don't miss it!