Hideki Kuriyama Drew Inspiration from the Analects for Coaching, Identified Yang Dai-Kang's Traits to Move Him to Center Field

Taipei, May 17 (CNA) - The 'CTBC 60th Anniversary' baseball special exhibition today invited Hideki Kuriyama, Chief Baseball Officer (CBO) of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, to host a seminar. Kuriyama revealed that he even drew inspiration from 'The Analects of Confucius' while serving as manager and cited the example of moving Yang Dai-Kang to center field. The 'CTBC 60th Anniversary' baseball special exhibition kicked off today, inviting Hideki Kuriyama, CBO of the NPB's Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, to Taiwan for a baseball exchange seminar titled 'From the Grassroots to World Champions: Development and Decision-Making.' Kuriyama shared his coaching experience, stating that building trust with players is a crucial and difficult part of being a coach. He mentioned learning many things before becoming a manager, even reading numerous ancient Chinese books, including 'The Analects,' from which he learned a great deal and found direction, thinking deeply about how to help players grow. Kuriyama noted that to coach players, one must first get them to approach and connect, finding ways to make them willing to listen. Each person has different traits, and what needs to be taught varies. Kuriyama mentioned that during his time coaching the Fighters, he had players like Yang Dai-Kang, along with his contemporaries Yuki Saito and Sho Nakata. Saito and Nakata were stars since their Koshien days, while Yang was a player striving in a foreign country. Each had different characteristics, requiring different approaches for different players. As an example, Kuriyama pointed out that Yang Dai-Kang's original defensive position was right field. However, he observed Yang's trait of not caring about others' thoughts or opinions, simply giving his all on the field and doing his job well. Kuriyama analyzed that the right field position requires considering the center fielder's positioning and movement, and he felt Yang was somewhat hesitant and indecisive in right field. Moving Yang to center field would allow him to disregard others' positioning and thoughts and focus entirely on securing the center field position. After discussing it with Yang, he was willing to try. Kuriyama emphasized that the manager's role is to enable every player on the team to use their strengths, considering their characteristics and traits, and to utilize and guide their advantages to find a suitable position for them. (Editor: Chen Jen-hua) 1150517