Hanoi Capitals Baseball

This is the amazing story of a Vietnamese boy that starred in baseball in Japan10 years ago.  On July 30, 2001, the Mainichi Daily brought news that for the first time, a Vietnamese student had officially participate in the famous Zenkoku baseball tournmant (83^rd Annual National High School Tournament of Japan) that involved 49 teams at Koshein, Osaka – he was Nguyen Tran Phuoc An, 16 years old (pictured above), wearing jersey no. 16, a 10^th grader, in a key role as a pitcher for Toyodai Himeji High School.  He was the youngest student athlete at the Koshein tournament, but had the biggest responsibility of anyone in his team as a pitcher.  Previously, in July, 2001, Phuoc An had made a major contribution in sending the Toyodai Himeji team to first place among 160 teams in his province so they could win the right to represent their province in the 49 team tournament, that was the result of a competition of 4,163 teams throughout the country.  Participating in Koshein is a major honor, and is the dream of millions of Japanese youth.

            Phuoc An was the youngest child of Mr. Tran Van A and Nguyen Thi Ich, although he put his mother’s family name first.  His parents came to Japan in 1984, and he was born one year later.  He was 1.75 meters tall, and weighed 64 kg, and began playing baseball in grade school, throwing left handed.  News of his participation in the Koshein tournament was printed in many newspapers such as Asahi, Kobe Shinbun, Kobe Diri Sport, Nikkan, Nikkan Sport, SSport Nippon, Sport Hochi, etc. – causing the local Vietnamese people and Japanese persons alike very interested in following the tournament, and this gave them a chance to understand more about this sport.  There were about 30 Vietnamese and 200 Japanese faithful in Kobe and Osaka that would go to watch and root for An.   

            In the first game of the tournament on August 12, 2001, Toyodai Himeji defeated Gifu Mita by a score of 9-4 and defeated Josuihan by a score of 4-3, but lost badly to Nichinan Gakuen by a score of 15-0.  Though they did not win, the appearance of Phuoc An was a great pride to the Vietnamese people in Japan. 

            In 2003, in the final of the Senbatsu tournament (75^th annual tournament), Phuoc An’s Toyodai team won and was invited to participate at Koshein.  Phuoc An wore jersey No. 1 this time, and as a high school senior, had grown to 1.79 meters tall and 69 kg in weight, and could throw a baseball 142 km/hr.  In the first game of the tournament on March 27, 2003, Phuoc An’s team defeated Okayama Joto by a score of 4-2. 

            On March 30, 2003, Phuoc An’s team met Naruto, and blanked their foe 3-0 to qualify for the quarterfinals of the prestigious Koshein tournament, for the first time in the last 24 years for the school.  In this game, Phuoc An was a standout hitter and pitcher, as well as fielder.  He struck out 15 batters of Naruto.  If one of his teammates had not misplayed a ball that was ruled a hit, he would have had no-hitter. 

            On March 31, Toyodai then battled with Hanasaki Tokuharu in the semi-finals.   The teams were tied after 15 innings, with the score 2-2.  The game continued the next day, and was replayed as a new game.  On April 1, as the game was played again, the teams were still even, after nine innings, with the score knotted at 5.  In the 10^th inning, with Toyodai batting, with the bases loaded and no outs, the Hanasaki Tokuharu pitcher was worried that if the opponent go a hit, his team would lose, so he tried to throw outside the strike zone.  He didn’t expect that he would be way off target, and his catcher could not get the wild pitch, and the Toyodai runner on third base ran home, scoring a “Sayonara” walk off run getting the score to 6-5 and putting Toyodai in the championship game.

            On April 2, Toyodai met Hiroshima, a super strong team, and Toyodai tried its best, with Phuoc An getting an RBI to score a run to save his team’s reputation, but they lost 5-1.  Thus, the road hand ended for the Toyodai team, because in baseball, there is no second place, no third place – only a champion.

            Although Toyodai lost, they had improved greatly since 2001, and made it their furthest in 24 years, a great accomplishment.  That year in 2003, Phuoc An was talked about a lot, as it was his last year, and he was about to graduate high school.  Everyone was wondering if he would enter college or become a professional baseball player. 

            At this time, you could say, “Phuoc An” was the most famous Vietnamese name that became known to the Japanese people.  Many Vietnamese people in Japan, and especially thousands of Japanese in the region of Himeji, Kobe, Osaka, etc., closely followed with all their emotion and pride in An.  At his school, girls began to wear traditional Vietnamese Ao Dai Long Tunics, and this also caught the public attention.  A number of former college students in Japan and around the world learned the news of him and were extremely proud.  Also by following him, many Vietnamese learned about this new and strange sport.   More information can be found at: http://members2.jcom.home.ne.jp/kuratateo/06sp-3.htm

Japan National TV (NHK) Documentary on Phuoc An

The image and name of Nguyen Tran Phuoc An was introduced by the Japanese media blitz over a week in March, 2003, and made a great impression in the hearts and minds of the Japanese people.

With a promising future, NHK TV Station, the No. 1 TV station of Japan aired a special program devoted to famous people with a feature called: Human Story – the Koshein Tournament of An the Pitcher, that was 50 minutes long, and introduced Phuoc An on both April 11 and 12, 2003.  Phuoc An since he was small loved to play baseball and his whole family fully supported him.  His brother Tri had used his salary to buy baseball equipment for his little brother even though it was very expensive, and regularly played with him.  When Phuoc An joint the school’s baseball club, his talent developed and he was the key pitcher of the team.  The first newspaper article on Phuoc An was printed on August 22, 2000 and that is still a great memory to his family.  The article inspired and pushed Phuoc An to practice even harder.    

There have been dozens of articles on Phuoc An.  The Vietnamese TV stations also regularly did documentaries on him, and he was considered a rising star.  The next goal in August of 2003 of Toyodai’s team was to win the championship of Hyogo province to qualify for the Zenkoku tournament in April among the 49 teams that were the champions of all provinces in Japan.  This tournament was also to be held at Koshien.

            This time, Phuoc An’s team lost, and did not qualify for the tournament, but he was one of 20 players chosen from nationwide to compete in Thailand from August 28 to September 6, 2003 for the Japan national U-18 team.  His team finished third, behind South Korea and Taiwan.  He is still a Vietnamese citizen, so his being chosen for the Japanese national team was exceptional for the Japan Baseball Federation.  And, he brough honor to the Japanese team, as he pitched 13 innings in Thailand.

In a report on Saigon – Houston Vietnamese TV in Texas that was broadcast to the Vietnamese community, this news of Phuoc An was delivered, and the Director of the TV Station Anh Duong Phuc enthusiastically observed: “Vietnamese have talented people everywhere!”

Nguyen Tran Phuoc An Joins Toshiba’s Professional Baseball Team

            When Phuoc An was 18 years old, after graduating from high school in January, 2004, he joined Toshiba’s company baseball team (starting in February, 2004).  At that time, he was based at the company’s headquarters in Yokohama.  This was a semi-professional team, where he would work two hours in the morning and in the afternoon play for the company’s team to help promote the company, and in his future, he would have the opportunity and potential to eventually play professional baseball.

Here is a link to a video of one Phuoc An's games from 2003, he is wearing jersey no. 1, left-handed pitcher of TOYO team.  The entire game is online, and is one of his big tournament games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=G6hWSsTbRWU&feature=endscreen

The story above was written by Professor Do Thong Minh, Eastern Capital Newsletter, Tokyo, Japan, January, 2012 and translated by Tom Treutler.

Hanoi Youth Baseball Club thanks esteemed Professor Do Thong Minh of Tokyo, Japan for his research and for bringing this amazing story to many people.