Hanshin Tigers Relief Pitcherโ daichi Ishii Reflects on Emotional Championship Win
Kobe, Japan – Hanshin Tigers relief pitcher Daichi Ishii shared deeply personal reflections on the team’s recent championship victory, describing it as a profoundlyโ more meaningfulโข experience than their previous title โขtwo years prior.Theโฃ emotionalโค weight of this win, he explained, stems from โขthe team’s collective journey โand โขa shift in mindset fostered by manager Fujikawa.
This year’sโ championship carries a unique resonance for Ishii and the Tigers, contrasting sharply with theirโข 2023 triumph. โขWhile โฃthe previous win came with โa roster largely โunfamiliar with championship success,โ the current teamโข understands the pressureโ and expectation of sustained excellence. The victory โmarks the โขHanshin Tigers’ first Japan Series titleโฃ as 1985, ending a 38-year drought and igniting celebrations across โฃthe Kansai โregion. Theโค team โnow prepares to โขrepresent Japan in international โcompetition, while fansโ anticipateโ a new era ofโ dominance.
Ishii creditedโค Manager Fujikawa’s guidance – specifically, the directive to “Don’t think I’ll win” โ- as pivotal to the team’s โsuccess. He explained that focusing on โฃthe process,โ preparation, and โexecution ofโฃ individual roles, rather than obsessing over the outcome, allowed the players to perform at their best. “If the team hasโ toโ keep winning in goodโค condition and staying in โtop position,the idea of winning is ahead of the results. I become obsessed with winning and become unable to do anything I could. So you shouldn’t think ‘I have to win.’ I thinkโฃ thatโ focusing โon what I’veโข done up until now andโ on my own preparations โขis what the director calls ‘completely doing โeverything in general.'”
The pitcher also revealed a particularly poignant moment during the season: his wife’s emotional reaction while visiting him in the hospital after being hit in the head by a pitch. He emphasized โtheโข importance of maintaining โขa broad perspectiveโ and accepting that setbacks โขare unavoidable. “In aโ situation whereโค the score isโ twoโ points, it’s like, ‘It can’t be helped by one point.โ There’s still no tie. Let’s stop making a comeback.’ โคNo matter what you think, โthereโข are times when you โฃget hit. If the โคrange of ‘it has to be โคlike this’ is too narrow, it โwill be tough. I’ll try to keep my toleranceโ wider.”
Throughout the season,โ Ishii stated the teamโ operatedโฃ underโ a “zero-consensus goal,” focusing solely on fulfilling individual responsibilities.โฃ “We have been playing a zero-consensus โขgoal this season, but I really don’t think โขabout anything. Iโค was just thinking about doing my job.”
