For the past seven days, it has been in theatres near you (if you live in Japan). And at long last, H-TEN took it in on this day. There were around 30 people in a 200-seat cinema, which I suppose should be expected for a Thursday matinee. Anyhow, let’s get down to business. There are some spoiler alerts but since I am guessing most of you won’t have a chance to see this until its video release, if at all, I’m sure you won’t mind reading on.
First, in a nutshell, if you love the Tigers, you will like this documentary that looks back on the team’s 85-year history. More specifically, though, it looks at brief pockets of history and also spends (in my opinion) too much time talking with current players (and manager) about the 2019 season. In fact, the jumpiness of the storyline was so pronounced that it felt like they threw every ingredient they had into a blender and poured it out as though fans didn’t mind eating their meal through a straw.
“Navigator” Masayuki Kakefu, one of the most well-known players in team history, takes us through the team’s history, but suddenly gets highjacked by actor (and Hanshin superfan) Ryuta Sato part-way through, only to make his comeback a little later. He first introduces the most famous scene in team history: the back-to-back-to-back jacks near the start of the 1985 season, which many say propelled the team to its one and only Nippon Series win. It was nice that they interviewed Kakefu and Akinobu Okada, hitters of the second and third of those homers, but they could have stretched the budget and gone to America to fetch comments from Randy Bass, too.
In the ensuing dialogue, Kakefu recounts an event that is unbeknownst to most Hanshin fans: back in September 1976, the team hit FOUR straight homers (and nine total in that game), and Kakefu was even a part of that one (along with Katsuhiro Nakamura, Mike Reinbach, and Koichi Tabuchi). The difference is that the team finished in 2nd place that year and as a result, the moment has not become iconic. Not to mention, they were not all hit to dead-center like the ones in 1985. Nor was the game against the much-hated Yomiuri Giants.
Without going into excessive detail, the movie detailed some other iconic moments and characteristics of the team: Yutaka Enatsu‘s no-hitter + walk-off home run, Shinjiro Hiyama’s career-ending home run, Takashi Toritani‘s 2000th career hit, Koshien Stadium itself, the wind out of right field, the “Lucky Zone” that got taken down before the 1992 season, “the gods of pinch hitters”, “Mr. Tigers”, and more.
As I said earlier, there was an excessive focus on the current team, which took significant airtime away from the true legends in team history. The interview with Yusuke Ohyama was particularly long and mostly uninteresting, though it did help me relate to the pressures he felt being the #4 hitter in the lineup for most of last year.
The interview with Koji Chikamoto was easily the most interesting among those done with current Tigers (there was also one with Fumihito Haraguchi and another with Akihiro Yano). He talked about draft day, which was rather interesting, especially given that he is a local boy who grew up watching the Tigers, and was not expected to be chosen in the first round by anyone, let alone the local team. He also pulled an interesting stunt, asking the interviewer a question: “Do you think I can hear the crowd when I’m stealing bases?”
The answer, which you can skip if you want to hear it for yourself when you see the movie: “Actually, I do. I can hear it distinctly. But not until like the 4th or 5th step, when everyone sees that I’m actually GOING. The roar is a really addicting sound – the crowd noise in reaction to my attempt.”
So which foreigners got featured by name in the movie? Aside from Reinbach (see above)…
Randy Messenger – They talked about his retirement game and how his accomplishments as a Tiger pretty much guarantee his place as a legend in team history.
Matt Murton – His hit with 2 outs in the ninth of a lost game allowed Hiyama, who was in the on-deck circle, to end his career in an unforgettable way.
Craig Brazell – One of only two left-handed hitters to slug more than 40 homers in a season since the lucky zone was taken down.
Jeff Williams – One of the famed members of JFK, a trio of relievers – Jeff, Fujikawa and Kubota – who threw the 7th through 9th and struck fear in all opponents under manager Okada (2005-08).
Gene Bacque – Sawamura Award winner, Yomiuri Giants no-hitter, and they even showed a home video of him giving a message to his old mate Masaaki Koyama. He mentioned that he hoped to come to Koshien in October of last year, but he passed on in September.
To make a long story short, as a Tigers fan, I enjoyed the 97 minutes of footage and interviews. However, if I weren’t such a diehard Tigers fan, I probably would not bother spending too much money on it.
If this movie were a player, he’s the coach’s son. Not there because he’s got more talent than everyone else, but because he’s favored. And that basically sums up why I went.