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Tsuyoshi Shinjo

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Tsuyoshi Shinjo (新庄 剛志, Shinjō Tsuyoshi, January 28, 1972), also known during the 2022 Nippon Professional Baseball season as BIGBOSS (ビッグボス, Biggubosu), is a former Japanese professional baseball outfielder and the current manager for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Tsuyoshi Shinjo
Tsuyoshi Shinjo in 2006
Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters – No. 1
Outfielder / Manager
Born: (1972-01-28) January 28, 1972 (age 52)
Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Professional debut
NPB: September 10, 1991, for the Hanshin Tigers
MLB: April 3, 2001, for the New York Mets
Last appearance
MLB: June 27, 2003, for the New York Mets
NPB: October 26, 2006, for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
NPB statistics
Batting average.254
Home runs205
Runs batted in716
MLB statistics
Batting average.245
Home runs20
Runs batted in100
Teams
As Player

As Manager

  • Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters (2022–)
Career highlights and awards

Shinjo began his playing career with the Hanshin Tigers, and moved to the United States to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets. He is the second Japanese-born position player to play an MLB game, as well as the first in the National League. In 2002, he joined the San Francisco Giants and was the first Japanese-born player to appear in the World Series. He had a second stint with the Mets in 2003, and returned to Japan to play for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, with whom he won the Japan Series in his final season.

Career

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Born in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan and raised in Minami-ku, Fukuoka, he played for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan from 1990 until 2000, then for Major League Baseball's New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. In 2002, he became the first Japan-born player to play in the World Series, where he went 1 for 6 with three strikeouts. He ended his three-year stint in American baseball by being demoted to AAA after hitting .193 for the first half of the 2003 season. He returned to Japan and played for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters from 2004 until 2006. He is known for his flamboyance, colorful wristbands, dyed hair, and a unique hop as he catches the ball. His uniqueness has endeared him to baseball fans and has made him one of the most popular players in the Japanese leagues despite not being in the echelon of elite active players. In fact, his popularity was what kept him off the bench during his stint with the Tigers when manager Katsuya Nomura tried to turn him into a pitcher in the rotation rather than risk his team with his mediocre play.[1]

Shinjo ended his career in storybook fashion. Playing for years on losing teams in Hanshin and despite playing in the 2002 World Series alongside Giants legend Barry Bonds, Shinjo showed emotion and shed tears as his final game crowned him a champion, as he was a member of the Fighters squad that won their first Japan Series title since 1962 with a 4 games to 1 series win over the Chunichi Dragons. As Shinjo took the field for the top of the ninth inning in the final game, he was given a standing ovation from the home crowd. Before the inning began, he was visibly emotional. Although the final play was only close to him, (left fielder Hichori Morimoto caught the final ball) the cameras showed only Shinjo's dramatic reaction. Traditionally, the players toss the manager in the air for series wins first, but the players tossed Shinjo in the air first instead of manager Trey Hillman.[2]

Shinjo is now a television celebrity in Japan as well as a model for his own line of clothing. He has also won the maximum 10,000,000 JPY prize in a celebrity edition of the Japanese version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Kuizu $ Mirionea.[3]

In October 2021, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters announced that Shinjo would be the manager for the upcoming season.[4] With his hiring, this gave him the nickname, "Big Boss" or "Big Boss Shinjo" by fans, due to his celebrity status and his fun, over the top, unorthodox clubhouse atmosphere. He was also hired by the Fighters to replace longtime manager Hideki Kuriyama, who became the manager of Samurai Japan at the end of the season. The success of the nickname led him to register himself as BIGBOSS, and on March 24, 2022, just a few days before Opening Day, NPB officially approved BIGBOSS as his registered name for the 2022 season.[5]

During the 2022 season, Shinjo became well-known for entering the field in a home game against the Saitama Seibu Lions in a hoverbike.[6] He also entered his first ever home game as manager, as SB Nation described it, "straight out of wrestling".[7] He also showed up to spring training in a three-wheeled motorcycle. He also has his own jersey, with his registered name replacing the nameplate of the Fighters.

When the club made the jump to Es Con Field Hokkaido, Shinjo announced the partial retirement of his "Big Boss" moniker at the club's final game against the Chiba Lotte Marines at the Sapporo Dome. He also designed a new alternate uniform for the Fighters, known as "New Age Games" (officially known as "NEW AGE GAMES produced by SHINJO").[8] These jerseys used a black, red, and gold color scheme with a V on the center, standing for victory.[9] Some fans, mostly Americans, had noticed its similarity to the Vancouver Canucks' infamous Flying V jerseys from the 1980s.

MLB stats

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Tsuyoshi Shinjo in 2002
SEASON TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
2001 NYM 123 400 46 107 23 1 10 56 25 70 4 5 .268 .320 .405 .725
2002 SF 118 362 42 86 15 3 9 37 24 46 5 0 .238 .294 .370 .664
2003 NYM 62 114 10 22 3 0 1 7 6 12 0 1 .193 .238 .246 .484
Total --- 303 876 98 215 41 4 20 100 55 128 9 6 .245 .299 .370 .669

Japanese baseball stats

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SEASON TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG SLG OBP OPS
1991 T 13 17 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 .118 .118 .118 .236
1992 T 95 353 39 98 16 3 11 46 18 73 5 2 .278 .433 .320 .753
1993 T 102 408 50 105 13 1 23 62 20 91 13 2 .257 .463 .305 .768
1994 T 122 466 54 117 23 7 17 68 30 93 7 5 .251 .440 .304 .744
1995 T 87 311 34 70 15 3 7 37 26 76 6 4 .225 .360 .294 .654
1996 T 113 408 55 97 16 4 19 66 55 106 2 2 .238 .436 .335 .771
1997 T 136 482 62 112 17 3 20 68 44 120 8 4 .232 .405 .306 .711
1998 T 132 414 39 92 21 3 6 27 25 65 1 2 .222 .331 .275 .606
1999 T 123 471 53 120 21 7 14 58 23 72 8 2 .255 .418 .303 .721
2000 T 131 511 71 142 23 1 28 85 32 93 15 6 .278 .491 .321 .812
2004 F 123 504 88 150 28 3 24 79 15 58 1 3 .298 .508 .327 .835
2005 F 108 380 54 91 20 1 20 57 14 64 5 1 .239 .455 .274 .729
2006 F 126 477 47 113 21 0 16 62 24 76 2 6 .258 .416 .298 .714
Total --- 1411 5163 647 1309 234 36 205 716 326 990 73 39 .254 .432 .305 .737

Managerial career

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Tsuyoshi Shinjo in 2022
Team Year Regular season Postseason
Games Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
F 2022 143 59 81 3 .421 6th (last) in PL –
F 2023 143 60 82 1 .423 6th (last) in PL –

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Metropolis – Sports – Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Kazuhiro Kiyohara
  2. ^ "44年ぶりＶ！新庄泣きっぱなし". nikkansports.com (in Japanese).
  3. ^ "新庄剛志 バリ島で悠々自適のフリーダム生活" (in Japanese). Asagei+plus. December 20, 2013. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  4. ^ "日本ハム新監督に新庄剛志氏、球団が正式発表". asahi.com (in Japanese). October 29, 2021.
  5. ^ "Unprecedented registered name "BIGBOSS", NPB confirms terms and conditions and says "it is not in conflict with the rules"". Daily Sports Japan (via Yahoo Japan News) (in Japanese). Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  6. ^ "Forget the bullpen cart, Nippon-Ham Fighters manager Tsuyoshi "BIG BOSS" Shinjo just entered the game on a freaking hovercraft". The Loop. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  7. ^ Dator, James (March 25, 2022). "This Japanese baseball legend got an entrance straight out of wrestling". SBNation.com. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  8. ^ Dator, James (May 15, 2023). "This Japanese baseball team's Deep-V uniforms are the future of sports attire". SBNation.com. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  9. ^ "新庄剛志監督プロデュース 《NEW AGE GAMES produced by SHINJO》開催！ 本人デザインユニフォームの着用・販売決定". 北海道日本ハムファイターズ (in Japanese). Retrieved May 30, 2023.
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