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The story
Comedian Cunning Takeyama has apologized on X after paying tribute to former pro baseball star Isao Harimoto, who died on the 9th, on a TV show — where he cited the batting order as “3rd Nagashima, 4th Oh, 5th Harimoto,” which turned out to be inaccurate. On the thread, opinions split over his excuse of “misremembering something from childhood,” with the discussion spreading into a debate over how much of Nagashima and Oh’s playing days a 55-year-old like Takeyama could actually have witnessed, and further into pointers that the Giants’ real batting order back then wasn’t fixed but shifted over time. The topic gradually drifted into comparing memories of historic batting orders and famous moments in pro baseball.
Cunning Takeyama Apologizes for Saying “3rd Nagashima, 4th Oh, 5th Harimoto” — “Sorry, I misremembered from when I was little”
Comedian Cunning Takeyama (55) updated his X account on the 10th, apologizing for comments made that same day on TBS’s “Gogo Sma” (weekdays 1:55 PM).
On the show, Takeyama paid tribute to former pro baseball player Isao Harimoto, who died on the 9th. He had commented things like “3rd Nagashima (Shigeo), 4th Oh (Sadaharu), 5th Harimoto.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Never actually saw them play though
Harimoto played until '81, so given Takeyama's age he'd probably know.
Same age as him — I remember Oh and Harimoto playing, but Nagashima I only ever saw as a manager.
Weird fake-know-it-all move.
5th was Suetsugu — though some say Kunimatsu.
Nice one.
Still, on TV where cue cards ('kanpe') are fair game, he should be unstoppable — pun on his duo name.
7:30 PM Army of the Apes
8:00 PM Japan Sinks
so both orders are technically correct.
Only people pushing 70 ('araseb', slang for 'around 70') are mad about this.
4th Hara
5th Yoshimura
That's the real one, right?
but he did commentary like he was a homegrown Giants legend.
He'd have been 3-4 years old when Nagashima retired in 1974.
you'd think he'd realize Harimoto was brought in to replace Nagashima after he retired.
And if he couldn't work that out, he should've just done some homework.
Can't even laugh off a slip this small — what a complainer (lol).
he completely gives up on ever returning to the Giants as a batter.
Trusting Ban to keep his mouth shut, he reveals it…
"There's a plan to sign a major slugger!"
poaching other teams' cleanup hitters and aces is nothing new for them.
That practice actually started with Bessho —
they poached him from Nankai even though it meant eating a fine.
3rd – Akiyama
4th – Kiyohara
5th – Destrade
That's the one
that starts a war with Hanshin fans over Bass-Kakefu-Okada.
Everyone hypes this trio up based on Japan Series highlights alone, but over a full season it wasn't that impressive.
Akiyama choked in the clutch, Kiyohara didn't hit many homers — Destrade's the only one I remember actually being great.
Their career peaks were all at different times, but I'd say the Lee brothers and Ochiai were the strongest.
First stint as manager (1975-1980)
In 1975, the year after he retired as a player, he became Giants manager.
His first year ended in the team's first-ever last-place finish, but by 1976 — helped by the addition of Isao Harimoto and others — he'd turned things around and won the pennant.
He resigned after the 1980 season, taking responsibility for poor results.
Second stint as manager (1993-2001)
He returned as Giants manager in 1993.
He rallied the team with buzzwords like "Make Drama" and "Make Miracle," winning the pennant in 1994, 1996, and 2000, plus the Japan Series title in 2000.
He stepped down after the 2001 season and later became lifetime honorary manager.
Didn't know about the first stint — I watched under Fujita, right before the second stint, and liked that team.
The second stint felt like they just collected sluggers who couldn't move anymore, so I wasn't a fan.
Quite a few people know the Chunichi Dragons' batting order from Bandou's song too.
With Takada, you're not a real fan unless you know about the 'Takada foul.'
1st Takagi gets on base
2nd —
3rd Inoue with a timely hit
4th Martin homers
Can't remember who's 2nd lol
Can't remember 5th on down either lol
2nd Taniki lays down a sacrifice bunt.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Isao Harimoto was one of the greatest sluggers of the postwar era, spending most of his long career with the Toei Flyers and Lotte Orions, and playing for the Giants only in the final few years of his career. The thread split mainly over two points: one, a generational debate over how much of Nagashima and Oh’s playing days a 55-year-old Takeyama could actually have witnessed firsthand; the other, a historical-accuracy argument that the Giants’ 3rd and 4th spots actually swapped between Nagashima and Oh depending on the era, making it hard to simply call this a “misremembering.” Criticism of Takeyama himself stayed fairly limited, with a notable strand of defense arguing a slip this minor wasn’t worth attacking. What readers might easily miss is that reactions weren’t uniformly critical — fact-checking from baseball history buffs and casual chatter about generations and memory were unfolding side by side.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] Cunning Takeyama Apologizes for Saying “3rd Nagashima, 4th Oh, 5th Harimoto” — “Sorry, I misremembered from when I was little”.”
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