No, I was not in attendance at Saturday’s gathering of fans and players at Koshien Stadium. Thousands of other fans were, though. Some of the proceedings followed the annual traditions of this “special day” while others were introduced for the first time.
But the most important revelations to the general public were the team’s 2018 slogan and uniforms…
朝から病院！タイガースチャレンジ２０１８「執念」！訳分からんでスンマソン🙇 pic.twitter.com/v9ehCn1Vhb
— T-rocks (@PONCHANG009) November 26, 2017
So the slogan is 執念 (Shunen = Tenacity) Tigers Change 2018. The idea being that the team should be tenacious in all they do: every game, every at bat, every time on the mound, every defensive play. I’d like to see the team have tenacity like never before, that’s for sure!
But… Tigers Change 2018? Come on now, why you gotta be so lazy? If you’re just going to use the same English as the year before, don’t use anything at all. Or better yet, use the English part of the 2016 slogan (remember 超変革?): Fighting Spirit. At least it matches the Japanese part a little better!
Still, I like my own idea for a slogan, personally… 虎視眈々 Eye of the Tiger. What do you think? 虎視眈々 (Koshitantan) basically means to watch and wait for an opportunity to prey on someone/something. It also has the kanji for tiger in it, as well as one for “look” or “observe” – which fits nicely with the English part, Eye of the Tiger. And has there EVER been a cooler song in a sports movie?
Anyways, back to actual news… the team also unveiled their uniforms for next season. Modeling them were pitcher Takumi Akiyama (home) and outfielder Masahiro Nakatani (away). The two young guys had breakout seasons and took home the Special Fresh Award given out by manager Tomoaki Kanemoto. They shared the ¥10-million prize money.
阪神・中谷 来季４０発！ファンの前で倍増宣言「執念を出せば、いい結果に」（デイリースポーツ） https://t.co/yje40ADJTh
— 藤村甲子園111 (@f_koshien) November 26, 2017
What do you think of these unis? Tigers folklore says the team performs worse when there is yellow in the uniform, but they had yellow in the 2003 and 2005 pennant winning uniforms. I personally like the home jerseys and will probably splurge on one next season… but the road one, I’m not so fond of. Maybe it’ll take some time to grow on me. I actually liked what they wore on the road last season. Or maybe, as one Facebook commenter said, they should all wear Toritani Batman masks, and then they’ll look tough!
Your comments concerning the slogan and the uniforms are most welcome.