It seems not everyone in Japanese professional baseball is shouting "Issho-kenmei" (一生懸命, to do something with all one's might). A seven-year veteran infielder missed the transport due to oversleeping, leading to the absurd situation of being excluded from the first team.

Commenting after the exhibition game against Hanshin on the 12th, the new manager of the Saitama Seibu Lions, Fumiya Nishiguchi (52), said, "I ordered third baseman Ryuusei Sato (28) to go to the third army."

The reason is absurd. Due to oversleeping, he missed the flight to the next game location.

According to the explanation from the club, this is what happened. Seibu had just finished a two-game series (5th-6th) against Nippon Ham in Sapporo last week. They used a flight to Shizuoka for the next game, but the player in question did not show up at the airport.

Naturally, he was unable to board, and Sato could not accompany the team from the subsequent schedule.

The manager's anger is understandable. Nishiguchi noted, "There's no tension or sense of crisis at all. He needs to think about his position and understand that this is not the time for such behavior. He will probably have to reflect in the third army for about two weeks."

The tension or sense of crisis he speaks of refers to two things. First is the team atmosphere. Seibu, a traditional powerhouse that has claimed Japan's top spot 13 times, has long lost its former prestige. In the past five years, they have only made it to the postseason once (in 2022), and that time they were eliminated in the first stage of the championship series (losing two games to SoftBank).

Especially in the last two years, they have fallen to 5th and 6th place. Ultimately, after suffering two eight-game losing streaks early last year, manager Kazuo Matsui stepped down. As a result, the season ended without an appointment of a successor, operating under an acting system.

Ryuusei Sato's own position is also ambiguous. It is still difficult to regard him as a fixed starting third baseman. He played 91 games in 2023 and 93 games in 2024, but he did not leave a strong impression. Although his defense is fairly acceptable, his offensive capabilities are deemed lacking.

His batting record over five seasons is only 0.227-0.330-0.338 (batting average-on-base percentage-slugging percentage). Before the transfer, he was in a situation where he had to compete for the starting third baseman position within the team.

Above all, a greater issue is that the image of being a "nuisance" or "troublemaker" has been emphasized again. The incident from five years ago has yet to fade from fans' memories.

This dates back to April 2020. An article on the social section of a Japanese newspaper caught attention. It was about a professional baseball player charged with violating traffic laws.

Sato, who was 23 at the time, was caught speeding while driving his teammate Makoto Aiuchi (then 26). He was driving 149 km/h in a 60 km/h zone, exceeding the limit by 89 km/h. He was subsequently brought to court, and the Tokyo District Court sentenced him to three months in prison, suspended for two years.

The repercussions did not end there. This was during a critical period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The league was suspended, and the club issued a stay-at-home order to the entire team. Unless absolutely necessary, they were instructed to refrain from going out or gathering.

However, it was revealed that Sato had been speeding due to a golf appointment. The club imposed a severe penalty of indefinite suspension and a ban on wearing uniforms for violation of health protocols.

The sanctions were lifted afterward. However, the club continued with follow-up actions and sent him to Nippon Ham through a trade (in 2021). After various twists and turns, he returned after two years (via trade). However, he still failed to get his act together and caused further problems.

[OSEN]