Where are they now?
Discussion in the Open Talk forum
Comments
Re: Where Are They Now?
[ Author: Yakulto | Posted: Sep 18, 2007 1:22 PM
| TYS Fan
]
- Satoshi Iriki stuck around in Taiwan after finishing his playing days, [...] drifting through a few McJobs, he took an entry-level position at a company owned by his new brother-in-law. The firm is one of those bento delivery places; Iriki is learning to cook and the boss is looking to use Iriki's name value in a marketing capacity.
This makes me sad to read it. My memories of the older Iriki brother were his great contributions (of 10 wins) to the Swallows' 2001 pennant winning season. Particularly his wins at Tokyo Dome where he was so hyped up to try and bring down the team that had let him go the year before that he was punching the air after every inning. It's just a shame that he couldn't reproduce his form of that season again.
Good luck to him.
This makes me sad to read it. My memories of the older Iriki brother were his great contributions (of 10 wins) to the Swallows' 2001 pennant winning season. Particularly his wins at Tokyo Dome where he was so hyped up to try and bring down the team that had let him go the year before that he was punching the air after every inning. It's just a shame that he couldn't reproduce his form of that season again.
Good luck to him.
Re: Where Are They Now?
[ Author: torakichi | Posted: Sep 18, 2007 8:22 PM
| HT Fan
]
- My memories of the older Iriki brother were his great contributions (of 10 wins) to the Swallows' 2001 pennant winning season.
Right. Iriki's section of the program was full of those images. It was almost as if the TV people wanted to convey an "Oh, how the mighty have fallen" impression, but in the end he seemed happy.
Apparently, his second wife is a childhood sweetheart. They'd lost contact as they moved on to different things after graduation, but the girl had called him when he was experiencing some mid-career problems. Iriki said he was "too troubled" at the time to recognize that a sympathetic ear was on offer, and blew her off.
Then, after his post-Japan and post-Taiwan doldrums, he came back to Japan and was driving around in - I forget - was it Miyazaki Prefecture? Anyway, he was driving along and he spotted the girl (by this time well into her 30s, as was Iriki) outside a beauty salon. It turned out she owned it.
She recognized that Iriki was really down in the dumps, so she invited him in for a chat and (what else?) a haircut!
Apparently, they're now happily married with a baby.
Right. Iriki's section of the program was full of those images. It was almost as if the TV people wanted to convey an "Oh, how the mighty have fallen" impression, but in the end he seemed happy.
Apparently, his second wife is a childhood sweetheart. They'd lost contact as they moved on to different things after graduation, but the girl had called him when he was experiencing some mid-career problems. Iriki said he was "too troubled" at the time to recognize that a sympathetic ear was on offer, and blew her off.
Then, after his post-Japan and post-Taiwan doldrums, he came back to Japan and was driving around in - I forget - was it Miyazaki Prefecture? Anyway, he was driving along and he spotted the girl (by this time well into her 30s, as was Iriki) outside a beauty salon. It turned out she owned it.
She recognized that Iriki was really down in the dumps, so she invited him in for a chat and (what else?) a haircut!
Apparently, they're now happily married with a baby.
Re: Where Are They Now?
[ Author: Yakulto | Posted: Sep 19, 2007 5:07 PM
| TYS Fan
]
Interesting story. Glad to hear he seems to be happy with his lot.
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.
Apparently:
- Since being fired by the Giants, Tsuyoshi Johbe has been learning to make soba. Eventually, he and his wife want to open a restaurant.
- After playing in South Korea and Taiwan, Hiroshi Shibakusa was released earlier this year. He is currently deciding on a new career direction.
- Hideki Irabu has lived in Los Angeles with his family for the past 2.5 years. He owns a popular soba restaurant and spends most of his days riding a monster trike and reading.
- Satoshi Iriki stuck around in Taiwan after finishing his playing days, but considerable alimony payments to his ex-wife meant he soon ran out of money. Back in Japan, he decided to look for something new. After drifting through a few McJobs, he took an entry-level position at a company owned by his new brother-in-law. The firm is one of those bento delivery places; Iriki is learning to cook and the boss is looking to use Iriki's name value in a marketing capacity.
I'm sure more former players were featured, but Japan started to fight back against Fiji and the pace of play picked up considerably, so by the time I next changed channels, the program had already finished.Incidentally, Japan played valiantly and mounted a fierce injury-time charge, but couldn't quite overcome the Fijian defense. Final score: Japan 31 Fiji 35.