Pancho Itou Dies on July 4
Discussion in the NPB News forum
Pancho Itou Dies on July 4
Wow, it's been a tough couple weeks for the baseball all over the world. First, famed Cardinals broadcaster Jack Buck dies, then Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile dies not even a week later. Then Ted Williams passed away on the 5th. And I didn't realize it until today, but Kazuo "Pancho" Itou died in Japan on the 4th. Pancho was a noted MLB fan and baseball historian who often appeared on Pro Yakyu News on Fuji TV. He was a funny, quirky little guy who overflowed with enthusiasm for all things baseball. He will be missed.
Reply to this topic
Comments
Re: Pancho Itou Dies on July 4
[ Author: Guest: Gary Garland | Posted: Jul 9, 2002 2:20 PM
]
For those interested (and Itoh was a real interesting guy; Sankei Sports has recently been reprinting some
older pieces he did for them and for those that can read Japanese I suggest you have a look), Marty Kuhnert and Wayne Graczyk did a nice little article about Pancho for the Japan Times. He really did love MLB wholeheartedly. It might be worth putting him in the writer's section of the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown.
older pieces he did for them and for those that can read Japanese I suggest you have a look), Marty Kuhnert and Wayne Graczyk did a nice little article about Pancho for the Japan Times. He really did love MLB wholeheartedly. It might be worth putting him in the writer's section of the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown.
Re: Pancho Itou Dies on July 4
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Jul 9, 2002 8:12 PM
| YBS Fan
]
For many players, Itoh's covering of the pre-Nomo MLB was a major factor in them wanting to cross the Pacific. In fact, before 1995, I thought that Itoh-san was the person running NHK's "Major League Stadium" broadcasts. After Nomo's success, more mainstream announcers kind of pushed their way into MLB broadcasting to get a piece of the action, but Itoh-san was still the top commentator.
Nikkan Sports reported on many of Itoh-san's colorful moments. Such as when he explained the Kanji for Hanshin's #1 draft pick in 1976, "Masayama Seikyoku ... 'Sei' wa sekkusu no 'sei'" ("Sei" as in "sex"), which cause the otherwise formal cerimony hall to explode in laughter. Players like Kuwata still vividly, and fondly, remember their names being called at the draft by high pitched voice of the pudgy little Itoh-san.
Pancho was one of the more cheerfully colorful characters to have been involved with baseball in Japan, and will go down in history as a true pioneer.
Nikkan Sports reported on many of Itoh-san's colorful moments. Such as when he explained the Kanji for Hanshin's #1 draft pick in 1976, "Masayama Seikyoku ... 'Sei' wa sekkusu no 'sei'" ("Sei" as in "sex"), which cause the otherwise formal cerimony hall to explode in laughter. Players like Kuwata still vividly, and fondly, remember their names being called at the draft by high pitched voice of the pudgy little Itoh-san.
Pancho was one of the more cheerfully colorful characters to have been involved with baseball in Japan, and will go down in history as a true pioneer.
About
This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
Copyright (c) 1995-2024 JapaneseBaseball.com.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Some rights reserved.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Some rights reserved.