As seen in Daily Sports (Japanese) – トレバーの虎場
As the cold of winter sets in and the long (shortened?) offseason officially gets underway, there are two main things that keep die-hard baseball fans like myself warm. The first is the hot-stove league, which we all gather ‘round and anticipate which players will move to which teams, and how our organization will position itself for a pennant run in 2021. Nothing wrong with headline-watching and discussing the pros and cons of acquiring Free Agent X, Import Y or trading for Player Z. But when Yudai Ohno declares he’s staying with the Dragons instead of coming to his true love, and when Tetsuto Yamada goes back to the cellar-dwellers for 7 more years, there’s just not a lot of warmth being felt from that fire.
There are, of course, other ways of getting toasty to the core, like reading stories about our favorite Tigers giving back to the local community in some form. I am sure the articles we are able to read represent less than half of the actual charity work going on, and you are no doubt familiar with a few of these men and their philanthropic efforts:
Atsushi Nohmi has given x-amount of money worth of toys to underprivileged children every offseason, based on his season numbers (wins, holds, mound appearances, etc.). Takashi Toritani has collected other people’s unneeded shoes and then personally delivered them to children in developing countries throughout Southeast Asia. There are also countless charity runs throughout western Japan that feature the participation of Hanshin Tigers past and present.
There is even wonderful work done by the non-Japanese players that sometimes flies under the radar or does not get as much recognition as that of the locals. Matt Murton (2010-15) has returned to Kansai a few times to do charity work and talks, particularly in support of victims of the earthquake and in northeast Osaka a couple of summers ago. Wilin Rosario (2018) gave something like ¥1 million towards rebuilding efforts in western Japan after massive amounts of rain, a typhoon and landslides decimated the area.
These are wonderful acts of benevolence, but I want to focus on one which involved both me and one of the Tigers. We’ll call him Import J, for the sake of anonymity. Anyhow, this story warms the cockles of my heart because it was so unexpected and unplanned, but is an indirect result of my running this thing I’ve branded H-TEN. It also fits in with my Christian faith.
Now, before you dismiss this as a religious right-wing nutty tale, you should know that the motive behind the movement is love for those who need (and maybe do not receive enough of) it. Pure and simple.
My dear friend and fellow Hanshin fan, Nat, made contact with an orphanage in the area to see if he and his family could support them in any possible way. As his visits to play with the children became a regular part of their lives, he invited others at our church (and for that matter, anyone who wanted to come along, regardless of religion) to join. It has been really heart-warming to hear stories from Nat about how the kids respond to the extra attention and companionship.
Anyhow, Import J’s better half contacted me just over a month ago and asked if I knew of any organization to which they could make a charitable contribution. The first (and only) place that popped into my mind was the place my friend Nat had reached out to. Well, the J family contributed not only a significant amount of money, but also some wonderful furniture and other things to help the cause.
Then someone else within Nat’s circle of contacts said, “I love what is going on here. Whatever donations are collected, I will match.” Now, right around this time, the opportunity arose for the orphanage to purchase a plot of land right next to their facility. The kids do not have much space to play, and this would be a perfect place for them to get out and enjoy being kids. The problem was that the orphanage did not have the financial backing to take advantage of the chance that had come their way. Enter Nat, Import J and Generous Businessman GB, plus the extra support collected at our church, and voila! We have a great chance at making this wish come true for the kids and the orphanage.
My dream is that this project would not end here, but that perhaps the future, Import J and his buddies (import and local alike) could visit this playground and maybe give the kids a lesson or two in baseball. Charity begets charity, which in this case, could beget a whole new bunch of lifelong Hanshin Tigers fans.
Heart warmed up yet? Mine is burning hot! Stay warm, everyone.