Shingo Takatsu

Shingo “Mr. Zero” Takatsu: His nickname sounds like a superhero. He earned it by giving up zero runs while pitching in 11 Nippon Series championship games for a 0.00 ERA. His key pitch, “The Frisbee,” sounds like a superpower. It was a side-arm sinker averaging around 68 mph, so slow that Brooks Boyer, the White Sox’ senior vice president of sales and marketing, described it as “like Bugs Bunny coming in. People get to swing at it two or three times when they miss it.”1

When Takatsu entered the game, a gong rang out through the ballpark, thrilling the fans. Takatsu was a right-handed side-arm pitcher listed at 6 feet tall and 180 pounds, who was beloved by White Sox fans during his brilliant but brief time on the White Sox. As of 2023, he is the first and only pitcher to record saves in all four top-level leagues in four countries – Japan, the US major leagues, Korea Professional Baseball, and the Chinese Professional Baseball League (Taiwan).2 He is like a gunslinger with the card: “Have gun, will travel.” There is so much more to his Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame career.

He was born on November 25, 1968, in Hiroshima, Japan. His father, Toshiaki Takatsu,3 was a self-employed plasterer and business owner, with a hired crew to help him lay tiles, bricks, and paint, while his mother, Mitsue Takatsu,4 cared for the household.5 From birth to elementary school, his family lived in a one-story house in Danbara-cho, Hiroshima City. Takatsu remembered, “It was an old wooden house with impressive glass doors … at the foot of a mountain [Hijiyama], right behind where the atomic bomb was dropped. There must have been some damage, but thanks to the mountains, this area survived without burning.”6

They later moved into a four-bedroom high-rise apartment in front of Mount Hijiyama. From his bedroom, Takatsu had an excellent view of Hiroshima Municipal Stadium, the home ballpark of the local team, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.7

“Of course, I was a huge Carp fan,” said Takatsu. “For a year, I went to [Hiroshima] Municipal Stadium, with my dad and [riding bicycles] with my friends. Back then, fans would rush down to the field after the game. … As [kids], we would always race to see who could get over the fence and reach second base first. … When I returned, I was unable to climb the fence. … I had to have the security guard push [me] up.”8

The Takatsu family would go to a fugu restaurant owned by his aunt, where young Takatsu once saw one of his Carp heroes, closer Yutaka Enatsu. Takatsu thought, “Enatsu is cool” when he watched him pitch – he always liked the closer.9

He was too shy to approach the player, but his aunt said to Enatsu, “My nephew plays baseball and is a big Carp fan. Would you like to [meet him]?”10

When Enatsu agreed, young Takatsu said to his hero, “I play baseball, too.”11 Takatsu had started playing baseball with the local team, the Danbara Red Eagles, at age 9.

Enatsu replied, “Do your best.”12

Relating the story 30 years after, Takatsu said, “I didn’t [ask] anything. else … I was so nervous … [the] intimidating feeling … aura … and power remain clear after many years. It’s burned into my memory.”13

Takatsu went to Hiroshima City Danbara Junior High School, then transferred to Hiroshima Technical High School. There, he went to the Japanese national high-school tournament: the “Koshien.”14 But his dream was to play in a Carp uniform. Takatsu said, “My dream stadium is Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. If I was offered a match at either Koshien or Municipal Stadium, I would choose Municipal Stadium without hesitation.”15

Takatsu wasn’t a star in high school. “There were other super aces and I couldn’t compete with the same pitching style,” he said.16 One was his childhood friend Shunji Ueda. “I wondered how I, who was mediocre in everything, could become an asset to the team.”17 He wasn’t as strong as Ueda, but he searched and found his own way – pitching underhand.18

In his first two years of high school, Takatsu did not make the first team. But his manager, Narumi Ogawa, believed in him, saying “[You] are a late bloomer. … Someday, [you] will become something” – words that Takatsu later remembered as “a precious treasure.”19 Working on his underhand delivery, he became the second starter in his third season, 1986. “Ueda was the absolute ace … and I was a distant second,” he acknowledged.20

In the semifinals of the Hiroshima prefectural tournament, Ueda was out with appendicitis,21 and Takatsu started in four games, threw two shutouts, and pitched a complete-game victory over Onomichi Higashi High School to help his team advance to Koshien.22

But at the Koshien, Ueda returned, and Takatsu struggled – instead of pitching, he played infield, with no hits in seven at-bats. Takatsu felt a little overshadowed by Ueda, saying, “Ace Ueda was said to be the number-one pitcher in the tournament at Koshien … and I didn’t get any attention. … It’s all Ueda, Ueda, Ueda. Ueda’s presence was too big.”23 Even with his struggles, the upbeat Takatsu said, “I was very happy to be able to play in … Koshien.”24

This drove him to improve in college at Asia University. Takatsu compared the dormitory to a “prison sentence” – a former hospital where, he said, “[The] construction was questionable … [and] the dining room was a former operating room.”25 Rooms were cramped, practices grueling, and some players ran away.

At Asia University, Takatsu again found himself in the role of second starter behind southpaw Hideki Koike, soon to be drafted by eight NPB teams. As Takatsu put it, “Seriously, there’s a monster pitcher everywhere I go.”26

To adjust, Takatsu said, “I look at [the] Ace … and figure out what I’m lacking.”27 So he lifted his delivery to side-arm and learned the slider, which would become his superpower. He explained: “When I entered college, I couldn’t throw the speed or breaking ball to match that level, so I changed myself to survive … raising [my] arm a little to increase the speed of the ball.”28 Through four years of college, Takatsu pitched in 40 games and had 11 wins and 15 losses.29

With his side-arm delivery, Takatsu was drafted by the Yakult Swallows in the third round of the Japanese 1991 draft. For his first couple of seasons in the NPB, Takatsu bounced between starter and reliever. In his first season, 1991, he started two of 13 appearances with a 1-2 record and a 4.23 ERA.

During 1992 fall training, manager Katsuya Nomura told Takatsu to focus on the sinker.30 At that time, the velocity of his sinker was about 74 mph31 and they wanted to slow it down.32

Takatsu experimented with the sinker that season. “I thought of various ways to avoid speeding up by waving my arms. The way you grip, the way you use your arms, the way you pull your elbows out … then I created my own original grips and ways to use them that suited me.”33

Takatsu described his sinker: “Hook the outside of your middle finger into the seam and pull it out between your middle and ring fingers … gripping deeply and applying spin … with my sinker, it spins and drops … more … a changeup than a fork.”34 Echoes of Boyer’s Bugs Bunny joke: “The timing goes awry when it suddenly rises … you … think a slow ball was coming and go to swing, only to find out it was even slower.”35 With this new grip, Takatsu would shine.

In 1992, he appeared in 23 games, started in 11, went 5-3 with a 4.68 ERA, and helped the Swallows win the NPB Central League pennant, the second in franchise history. The Swallows lost to the Seibu Lions of the Pacific League in the Nippon Series.

On May 2, 1992, Takatsu earned his first save, against the Yomiuri Giants, and became a closer.36 In his third season, 1993, he started only one game and pitched in a career high 56 games. He ended the season with a record of 6-4, 20 saves, 72 strikeouts, and a 2.30 ERA. That postseason, the Swallows again faced the Lions in the Nippon Series, and this time they won, beating the Lions four games to three, with Takatsu notching three saves in the series and closing game seven to clinch the championship. Summarizing his first three seasons, Takatsu said, “The first year or two was tough … in my third year, I became a closer, and I felt the thrills and excitement. … Once I learned how to hold back batters, I started to really enjoy baseball.”37

In 1994 Takatsu continued this success, with eight wins, four losses, 19 saves, a 2.30 ERA, and his first NPB All-Star Game.

In 1995 Takatsu again helped his team win the Central League pennant with 28 saves. The Swallows went on to win their third Nippon Series championship, 4-1 over the Orix Blue Wave, featuring Ichiro Suzuki. Takatsu was the winning pitcher in Game Three and saved Games One and Five – again on the mound to clinch the championship.

He had 21 saves in 1996, finishing 36 of his 39 games, and made his second NPB All-Star Game.

The Swallows won the 1997 Nippon Series championship over the Lions – a rematch of 1993, featuring shortstop Kazuo Matsui. The Swallows beat the Lions 4-1, with Takatsu winning Game Three and earning a save in Game Five. He struggled as a closer that season and bounced between middle relief and spot starter, recording seven wins and four losses, with a 2.04 ERA.

In 1997, Takatsu married his wife, Maki. Next year, she was pregnant38 with their first of two sons, Daishi and Shota.39 His struggles continued in 1998, with only three saves and a 5.56 ERA. But he became an elite closer the next two seasons. That year, Takatsu made a brief appearance in the first scene of Hideo Nakata’s horror movie Ringu, via actual game footage on the spooky TV. Ringu was later remade in the U.S. as The Ring (2002).

In 1999 he had 30 saves with a 2.18 ERA. and in 2000, 29 saves with a 2.08 ERA. He made the All-Star Game both years.

In 2001 the Yakult Swallows won their fourth Nippon Series championship with Takatsu as closer, 4-1 over the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, who featured US import Tuffy Rhodes. Again, Takatsu clinched the winning game. That season, he had 37 saves and a 2.61 ERA.

In 2002 Takatsu continued his dominance as a closer, with 32 saves in 44 games. That year Takatsu’s teammate for four championships, pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii, signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent.40 Takatsu thought of joining Ishii in moving to US baseball, but he was so close to the NPB all-time saves record that friend advised, “Why don’t you break the Japanese record and then think again?”41 He stayed another season.

In 2003 Takatsu continued dominating, with 34 saves, and made his fifth NPB All-Star Game. After setting a new NPB all-time saves record with 260, Takatsu declared his free agency. He held an open workout in Los Angeles, and the White Sox signed him for the 2004 season. He was the first Asian player signed by the team. He was 34 years old.

Baseball America listed Takatsu as the number-eight prospect in the White Sox organization that preseason.42 During spring training the White Sox kept Takatsu’s secret weapon, the sinker, under wraps. According to manager Ozzie Guillen: “He kept shaking off. … He wanted to throw it. We explained to him why we didn’t want [him] to throw it: We didn’t want anybody to see it.”43

Takatsu began the season as a set-up man. He made his first US major league appearance on April 9, 2004, at Yankee Stadium, where he first introduced his secret weapon, the sinker known as “The Frisbee,” to MLB hitters. The first batter he faced was Hideki Matsui, who having hit his first NPB home run off Takatsu back in Japan, already knew the pitch. Matsui doubled. But Derek Derek Jeter had never seen it before, and became Takatsu’s first US strikeout victim.44 Takatsu soon hit his stride, compiling 26⅔ scoreless innings pitched, from April 23 to June 30. He moved into the closer role during that streak and earned his first save against Atlanta on June 12.

The Chicago Tribune wrote, “Takatsu has become something of a phenomenon at U.S. Cellular Field. … When he enters the game, the crowd gives him a standing ovation and a gong sound is played over the loudspeaker.”45

Takatsu’s entrances into a home game were announced with the ring of a Japanese gong through the ballpark loudspeaker and a video montage on the Jumbotron, like a Shogun warrior, and the fans would stand and cheer. Takatsu said through translator Hiroshi Abei, “The fans give [me] the energy to pitch good.”46 “When my name was called and the bell rang, it felt like the whole stand came forward at that moment … a feeling I had never experienced before in Japan.”47 Out of respect for Takatsu’s heritage, Boyer, the marketing executive, did his research, asking Takatsu for his approval.48

It was a wonderful time for Takatsu and Chicago. He said: “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting all that. I didn’t know how successful I would be coming over to the major leagues in my first year. The team just went out of their way, and you know they created all of that kind of … the gong and the video. The fans, I wasn’t expecting the fans to have that reaction. It did catch me by surprise, but I loved every moment of it.”49

In 2004 Takatsu had 19 saves and a 2.31 ERA, and finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, behind shortstop Bobby Crosby of the Oakland A’s. White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper said, “I’d hate to think where we’d be without him. He’s jumped over all the hurdles. Now we can see what made him a good closer in Japan. He’s calm, but he’s got a fire and enthusiasm.”50

By 2005, the American League had figured out The Frisbee. He saved the season opener for Mark Buehrle, a 1-0 win over Cleveland. But on April 7 with the Sox up over the Indians 5-2, Takatsu came out in the top of the ninth to close. Instead, he gave up home runs to Casey Blake, Coco Crisp, and Ronnie Belliard to tie the game in what turned into an 11-5 loss. From around April 10 to May 10 the team went to closer-by-committee and Takatsu recorded another six saves and two losses in that month. Some solid performances by Dustin Hermanson, with five saves for the Sox over that stretch, plus 17 saves for the San Francisco Giants in 2004, earned him the closer role, and Takatsu became expendable. Takatsu was released on August 1.

Despite his struggles, Takatsu contributed eight saves to the White Sox’ 2005 championship season, earning a ring for his fifth championship between the United States and Japan.

He signed with the New York Mets, pitching well briefly for the minor-league Norfolk Tides, and was called up for his National League debut on September 3, pitching 1⅓ innings of scoreless relief against the Florida Marlins. With the Mets, he was reunited with his Swallows teammate Kazuhisa Ishii and Lions rival Kazuo Matsui. He pitched well the rest of the season, with a 1-0 record, a 2.35 ERA. The Mets did not re-sign him for 2006.

Takatsu returned to the Swallows for a couple more seasons. He pitched well in 2006, with a 2.74 ERA. But 2007 was rough, ending with a 6.17 ERA, but making his sixth NPB All-Star Game. It was his final season in NPB. He compiled 286 saves, since surpassed by Hitoki Iwase.51

Takatsu signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago Cubs in 2008 but was let go.

Then he signed with the Woori Heroes of the KBO League in South Korea.52 He made his debut on June 24 vs. the Doosan Bears. His first KBO save came on June 29, against the LG Twins. He pitched brilliantly the rest of the season, with a 0.86 ERA and eight saves. In Korea, Takatsu said, “I realized the joy I feel when I win is the same no matter where I am.”53

About the level of play in Korea, Takatsu said, “I think top-class players can do reasonably well in the first team in Japan. …”54 Comparing its batters to the United States and Japan, he said, “Korean batters didn’t make too many tricks. Like in America, everyone from number one to number nine seemed to take big swings.”55

Takatsu signed a minor-league contract with the San Francisco Giants in 2009.56 Showing his determination to compete, he said, “I’m prepared for it to be difficult, but I don’t want to give up easily.”57 He pitched for Triple-A Fresno but struggled. He never returned to the US major leagues.

In 2010 Takatsu received an offer to play for the Sinon Bulls of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan. He said, “I really didn’t know anything about Taiwanese baseball. I knew there was a professional baseball game, but I had no knowledge of the level of baseball or the players.”58 But he was happy for the offer and signed. His final season as a player was good: 26 saves and a 1.88 ERA.

On March 31, 2010, Takatsu saved his first game for the Bulls, becoming the first player to get a save in the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.59 He has 347 total saves between all four leagues.

About the Chinese league, Takatsu recalled his little league days. “There’s no dugout, no lockers. A tree. I changed my clothes in the shade of a tree, [like when I] started playing baseball … so I didn’t mind.”60 He relished the chance, saying, “I’ll be able to experience this again this year … happiness … I love closing out matches … I can’t believe I’m playing baseball again!”61

Comparing baseball from all four countries, Takatsu said, “Japan is without a doubt the biggest disadvantage for pitchers. The strike zone is narrow, the ball flies, and the stadiums are small. When it comes to strike zones, America, South Korea, Taiwan, all of them are wide.”62 And on travel between the leagues, “All travel in Korea and Taiwan was by bus. … It used to take many hours to travel from Seoul to Busan in South Korea or from Taipei to Kaohsiung in Taiwan. … In America, traveling on the team’s chartered plane seemed like a dream.”63

In 2014 Takatsu rejoined the Tokyo Yakult Swallows as a coach, and in 2015 helped them to win another pennant, the seventh in franchise history, and his sixth with the team. He coached there until 2019, when he left to manage their Eastern League farm team.64

The Swallows tapped Takatsu as manager for 2020. They finished last for the second year in a row, maybe in part because, according to the Kyodo News, they lost home field advantage “having to play home games away from Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium, which was closed for much of the summer due to its proximity to the National Stadium, the centerpiece of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.”65

Finishing last in 2019 and 2020, the Swallows were the “perennial underdogs fac[ing] the prospect of another long season at or near the bottom.”66 Later in 2020, Takatsu ran into his former manager Nomura. Just a couple weeks after their last meeting, Takatsu would recall his mentor’s sage advice that day, in a eulogy for Nomura’s passing: “Use your head. If you use your head, you can win.”67

With this advice, two Gold Medal Olympians in sluggers Tetsuto Yamada and Munetaka Murakami, and a return to their home ballpark, Takatsu led the Swallows to the Central League pennant in 2021 and they won the Japan championship, for their sixth overall Japan Series win, and the fifth with Takatsu on the team.

It was a high point for the team. Takatsu said: “It was really a hard season, coming off back-to-back last-place finishes, so the joy right now is off the charts. We wanted to represent the Central League with pride, but the Buffaloes were extremely difficult opponents, so this was no easy task.”68 The Swallows led the Central League again in 2022, the ninth league championship in franchise history.69 They lost the Japan Series that year.

In 2021 Takatsu was awarded the Matsutaro Shoriki Award, an honor reserved for those who have made great contributions to professional baseball. In 2022 he was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, listed on 311 ballots, well over the 271 (75 percent) needed for election.70 With managerial success, he has authored several books about managing.71

Despite Takatsu’s seriousness on the field, he has a great sense of humor. To help keep the team loose at spring training, he would don a wig and do a funny impersonation of Monsieur Yoshizaki, the lead singer of the Japanese rock band Crystal King, singing their hit, “Daitokai (Big City),”72 once performing the act on TV.73

Of his time with the White Sox, Takatsu said, “After all was said and done, I really, really enjoyed my time with the White Sox, and I really love the city of Chicago and their fans.”74

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Yuichi Ando, Heather Kerrigan, Dr. Taku Hayashi, and Kanya Honoki for research assistance.

Articles in Japanese were translated with Google Translate. Where possible, quotes from English articles were preferred, as in at least some of those cases, it is clear both Takatsu and a translator were present at that time, and the translation therefore closer to the direct source.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, www.baseball-almanac.com, and MLB.com.

Notes

1 Scott Merkin, “The Gong Tolls Reminder of Takatsu’s Reign,” MLB.com, December 24, 2019, https://www.mlb.com/news/shingo-takatsu-white-sox-cult-hero.

2 As of 2023, 23 players have played in all four leagues: MLB, NPB, KBO, and CPBL. Nineteen of them are pitchers. Three have recorded saves in three leagues (Mike Johnson, José Núñez, and Ben Rivera). Three have recorded saves in two leagues (Alfredo Figaro, Radhames Liz, and José Parra). Three have recorded saves in one league (Ariel Miranda, Ken Ray, and Bryan Corey).

3 “Former Professional Baseball Pitcher Shingo Takatsu’s Father Passes Away,” Sponichi, August 6, 2013, https://www.sponichi.co.jp/baseball/news/2013/08/06/kiji/K20130806006367260.html.

4 “All-Star team Yakult Coach Takatsu Takes Charge in His Hometown,” Sanspo, July 20, 2023, https://www.sanspo.com/article/20230720-5PXI5RXWNVIEBDQXQBFKTVHCFY/?outputType=theme_swallows.

5 “Shin Ie no Rirekisho. Takatsu Shingo,” [New Resume of Family: Shingo Takatsu”], Shūkanbunshun [Weekly Bunshun], March 3, 2011: 96.

6 “New Resume of Family: Shingo Takatsu,” 96.

7 “New Resume of Family: Shingo Takatsu,” 96.

8 “New Resume of Family: Shingo Takatsu,” 96.

9 “Takatsu Shingo chō rongu intabyu” [Shingo Takatsu Long Interview], Yakyū Kozō [Baseball Boy], February 2011: 19.

10 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 19.

11 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 18-19.

12 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 19.

13 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 19.

14 Chicago White Sox 2004 Media Guide, 122-123.

15 Yasutaka Nakamizo, “The Origins of the Greatest Closers of All Time: The Unknown Era of Kazuhiro Sasaki and Shingo Takatsu,’” Sports Graphic Number Web, June 27, 2017, https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/828338?page=1.

16 “Mr. Shingo Takatsu, the Original Magic Ball That Nomu-San Devised After Being Told to Do,” Shizuoka, July 2, 2023, https://www.at-s.com/sp/news/article/national/1269827.html.

17 Nakamizo.

18 “Mr. Shingo Takatsu, the Original Magic Ball That Nomu-San Devised After Being Told to Do.”

19 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 20.

20 Nakamizo.

21 “New Resume of Family: Shingo Takatsu,” 97.

22 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview,” 20.

23 Namakizo.

24 “New Resume of Family: Shingo Takatsu,” 97.

25 “New Resume of Family: Shingo Takatsu,” 97-98.

26 Namakizo.

27 Namakizo.

28 “Mr. Shingo Takatsu, the Original Magic Ball.”

29 “New Resume of Family: Shingo Takatsu,” 96.

30 “Mr. Shingo Takatsu, the Original Magic Ball.”

31 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 22.

32 “New Resume of Family: Shingo Takatsu,” 98.

33 “Mr. Shingo Takatsu, the Original Magic Ball.”

34 “Mr. Shingo Takatsu, the Original Magic Ball.”

35 “Mr. Shingo Takatsu, the Original Magic Ball.”

36 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 20.

37 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 23.

38 “New Resume of Family: Shingo Takatsu,” 99.

39 Chris Kuc, “What Baseball Fathers Know: Advice from Cubs and White Sox Dads,” Hartford Courant, June 19, 2016, https://www.courant.com/2016/06/19/what-baseball-fathers-know-advice-from-cubs-and-white-sox-dads/.

40 Associated Press, “Dodgers, Ishii Beat Deadline with $12.3M Deal,” ESPN.com, February 8, 2002, http://www.espn.com/mlb/news/2002/0207/1324786.html.

41 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 23.

42 Baseball America, https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/2004-top-100-prospects/.

43 Kyodo, “Masahiro Yamamoto and Shingo Takatsu Elected to Japan’s Baseball Hall of Fame,” Japan Times, January 14, 2022, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2022/01/14/baseball/japanese-baseball/yamamoto-takatsu-hall/.

44 Merkin.

45 Chris Chamska, “Remember That Guy: White Sox Reliever Shingo Takatsu,” NBC Sports Chicago, March 25, 2020, https://www.nbcsportschicago.com/mlb/chicago-white-sox/remember-that-guy-white-sox-reliever-shingo-takatsu/320081/.

46 Dave Van Dyck, “Bang That Gong: Cell Fans Fire Up Takatsu,” Chicago Tribune, July 7, 2004, https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-07-12-0407120100-story.html.

47 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 26.

48 Merkin.

49 Merkin.

50 Van Dyck.

51 Kyodo, “Iwase Records 287th Save to Surpass Takatsu,” Japan Times, June 17, 2011, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2011/06/17/baseball/japanese-baseball/iwase-records-287th-save-to-surpass-takatsu/.

52 Patrick, “Shingo Takatsu on His Way to Korea,” NPB Tracker, June 15, 2008, http://www.npbtracker.com/2008/06/shingo-takatsu-on-his-way-to-korea/#content.

53 “New Resume of Family: Shingo Takatsu,” 99.

54 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 30.

55 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 29.

56 “40-Year-Old Takatsu Tries Again as Giants Minor Player,” Nikkan Sports, June 16, 2009, https://www.nikkansports.com/baseball/mlb/news/p-bb-tp2-20090616-506979.html.

57 “40-Year-Old Takatsu Tries Again as Giants Minor Player.”

58 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 31-32.

59 “Shingo Takatsu: From BR Bullpen,” Baseball-Reference.com, https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Shingo_Takatsu.

60 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 32.

61 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 32.

62 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview ”: 34.

63 “Shingo Takatsu Long Interview”: 34.

64 Kyodo, “Former Star Closer Shingo Takatsu to Manage Swallows, Source Says,” Japan Times, September 27, 2019, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/09/27/baseball/japanese-baseball/former-star-closer-shingo-takatsu-manage-swallows-source-says/.

65 Kyodo, “Baseball: Swallows Capture 8th Central League Pennant,” Kyodo News, October 26, 2021. https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/10/19a5ef30d93b-baseball-swallows-capture-8th-central-league-pennant.html.

66 Jim Armstrong, “Birds of Prey: Unsung Swallows Upstage Giants, Tigers in Central League,” Japan Forward, October 2, 2021, https://japan-forward.com/baseball-birds-of-prey-unsung-swallows-upstage-giants-tigers-in-central-league/.

67 Tamura, Ayumi, “Katsuya Nomura’s ‘Another Testament’ and One Suggestion That He Wants to Convey to Shingo Takatsu, Who Is Getting Thinner,” note.com, July 2, 2023, https://note.com/avocado5037/n/ne038005b5cf8.

68 Kyodo, “Baseball: Shingo Kawabata Pinch-Hit Drives Swallows to Japan Series Title,” Kyodo News, November 27, 2021, https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/11/ae31be57e4c3-baseball-kawabata-pinch-hit-drives-swallows-to-japan-series-title.html.

69 Kyodo, “Baseball: Yakult Wins 2nd Straight Central League Pennant in Walk-Off,” Kyodo News, September 25, 2022, https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/09/1a12347287f7-urgent-baseball-yakult-swallows-win-central-league-title.html.

70 Kyodo, “Masahiro Yamamoto and Shingo Takatsu Elected to Japan’s Baseball Hall of Fame,” Japan Times, January 14, 2022, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2022/01/14/baseball/japanese-baseball/yamamoto-takatsu-hall/.

71 Shingo Takatsu, Ideal Workplace Management – The Work of a First Team Manager (Tokyo: Kobunsha, 2023).

72 “A Fan for 32 years. Editor Yohei Kumagai Talks About the Appeal of the Strong and Weak Swallows,” Niew Media, September 25, 2023, https://niewmedia.com/en/specials/022071/.

73 “Shingo Takatsu’s Big City,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70CFCXOK_fA.

74 Merkin.