is a 2008 Japanese television series. It is based on the biography of Michihiro Takabatake, a professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player and coach who became a high-school teacher at the age of 59.

Cast

Katsumi Takahashi is a common Japanese given name used by either sex. Written forms Katsumi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: ;as a given name *克己, "overcome, self/oneself" *克巳, "overcome, sixth earthly branch" *克美, "over ...

as Michihiro Takabayashi *

Ran Itō is a Japanese actress and previous member of the 1970s idol group Candies. As the leading member of Candies, Itō was in charge of the solo of most of the trio's hit songs. Itō was born in Kichijōji, Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. She is married t ...

as Michiko Takabayashi * Shohei Kawaguchi as Kōhei Takabayashi * Katsuya Kobayashi as Kazuma Aragaki *

Kōtarō Satomi (born 28 November 1936) is a Japanese actor from the city of Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In 1956, he signed with Toei film company. He appears in both contemporary roles and in the historical dramas known as ''jidaigeki''. Sele ...

as Seiichirō Tendō *

Masato Hagiwara is a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and professional mahjong player. Biography Early life and education When Hagiwara was three years old, his parents divorced and he was taken in by his father. However, his father died when he was in ...

as Ikkyū Abe *

Kazue Fukiishi is a Japanese actress and former gravure idol. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 28th Yokohama Film Festival for ''What the Snow Brings'', ''Tegami'', and ''Memories of Tomorrow''. Career Fukiishi starred in Takuji Suzuki's '' ...

as Aya Tokitō *

Shinya Tsukamoto is a Japanese filmmaker and actor. With a considerable cult following both domestically and abroad, Tsukamoto is best known for his body horror/Japanese cyberpunk, cyberpunk film ''Tetsuo: The Iron Man'' (1989), which is considered the defining ...

as Saburō Ōta

Awards

* Hoso Bunka Foundation Award (Episodes 1 and 4)

References

2008 Japanese television series debuts 2008 Japanese television series endings Japanese drama television series Television series based on actual events {{Japan-tv-prog-stub