On Mar. 16, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks announced that its players have been involved in exchanging money based on team victories. It’s the fourth club to make such an announcement after the Yomiuri Giants, Hanshin Tigers and Seibu Lions. According to a team spokesperson, for certain games, the player who led the team cheer before a game would collect ¥1,000 from each of the other players after the game if the team won. Outfielder Yuya Hasegawa, head of the team’s player union explained, “We did not do this every game, only for certain games, like those that would result in a three or five-game win streak. We collected ¥1,000 from each player as a ‘reward’ for the cheer-caller.” The practice is similar to the exchange of money based on the outcome of fungo drills that other teams’ players have recently revealed. Sugihiko Mikasa, the vice president of the club gathered all of the players together to issue a verbal warning, and coach Kimiyasu Kubo said, “I think they’ll have to stop doing this.” Source: Yahoo News, 3/16
