The special documentary "Professional Baseball Players Disqualified from the Team," which follows professional baseball players who have been released from the team and their families as they fight to seize the future, will be broadcast on TBS from 11:10 pm on December 25th. This will be the 21st broadcast this year, and this time it will focus on the decisions of former Giants player Hirokazu Kikuta (23), former Seibu Lions pitcher Sho Ito (25), and former Rakuten Lions pitcher Hide Sugawara (30).
◇ The sentence given to the “successor to Kazuma Okamoto”: A fateful tryout for his parents
Hirokazu Kikuta, who was said to be "the successor to Kazuma Okamoto" and "a candidate to be the Giants' future No. 4 hitter," was cruelly cut from the team at the young age of 23 in his fifth year as a professional. He is a die-hard baseball family who have supported each other by building a practice field in their garden. For the sake of his mother and father who supported him, he cannot let it end like this. He takes on the fateful tryout with the aim of returning to the NPB.
◇Unprecedented fourth cut from team: Wife who supported him since independent league days
Pitcher Sho Ito once contributed to Seibu's league victory. However, this year he was notified that he was no longer needed for the fourth time, which is unusual. He has a wife and child who have supported him since his days in the independent league. His wife works as a hairdresser to support the family and devotedly supports her husband. His injured elbow has now fully healed, and for himself and his family, he has a stronger desire than anyone else to "continue playing baseball." What was the unexpected outcome that awaited him?
◇ A man who once retired returns to tryouts, his old fastball making a comeback
Pitcher Sugawara Hide once pitched well at Koshien and joined the Rakuten team. Just as he was shining as a reliever and starter, he injured his elbow. Since then, his performance has been poor, and three years ago he was cut from the team... With his elbow not feeling good, he retired, leaving him with a bitter feeling of regret. However, after retiring, Sugawara has been secretly training while working at a baseball school, and this year, at the age of 30, his old fastball has returned. This unusual challenge is taken on by a man who once retired, wanting to show his two young children "what it's like to play baseball."
