Adjust Font Size: A A       Guest settings   Register

Deceit! Skulduggery! Corruption! To-Lucky a victim of politics!

Discussion in the NPB News forum
Deceit! Skulduggery! Corruption! To-Lucky a victim of politics!
Excerpts from SanSpo:

Clearly something was wrong: [Tigers' mascot] To-Lucky didn't do his traditional back-flips! Apparently the Hanshin employee who has worn the To-Lucky suit for the past 7 years was relieved of his duties on April 24.

"They just gave me my notice out of the blue. I don't know why. Naturally I'm broken up about it" says Mr. A, who played To-Lucky.

An anonymous Hanshin staff member explains, "It's clear there were problems with his performance. All the back-flips and stuff were really over the top." Last year, players who hit homeruns displayed their pleaseure by pretending to clean To-Lucky's clock with stiff-arms, etc., something which was "violent, and therefore problematic from the point of view of educating children."

Hanshin received complaints when To-Lucky and Takahiro Saeki of the Yokohama BayStars tried out pro-wrestling moves on each other.

Much remains unexplained about the taming of To-Lucky, the "face of Koshien" who wowed fans - kids and adults alike - with his 5 back-flips for a homerun, 10 for a winning game.

Click to reply to this topic  Reply to this topic
Comments
Re: Deceit! Skulduggery! Corruption! To-Lucky a victim of politics!
[ Author: Animaru Resulie | Posted: Apr 29, 2003 6:40 AM | HT Fan ]

Now if we could only push that orange rabbit into early retirement...
Click to reply to this topic  Reply to this post
To-Lucky's back in action
[ Author: torakichi | Posted: May 6, 2003 9:28 AM | HT Fan ]

To-Lucky was back to his somersaulting best on Sunday! OK, so he didn't hang upside-down off the outfield fence like he used to do, but you can't have everything.
Click to reply to this topic  Reply to this post
Re: Deceit! Skulduggery! Corruption! To-Lucky a victim of politics!
[ Author: torakichi | Posted: May 13, 2003 9:36 AM | HT Fan ]

From an interview with Senichi Hoshino in SanSpo:

I tell you what, though, it wasn't me that fired To-Lucky. The weeklies said I did, but I don't have that kind of authority. I mean, if I did sack him, I'd tell you; I didn't even know about it.

The kids love him, don't they? Geez, I'd hate it if people thought I fired him. I don't mind if some old geezer goes off at me, but I couldn't handle it if kids and ladies were complaining to me about my firing To-Lucky.

You know, I've seen him practicing his somersaults in the bullpen, and I thought "Man, that's some hard work." But my mind's full with thinking about the players; I can't be worrying about the mascot as well!

Well, the Hanshin marketing department can go to h***. That's the sort of organisation they are. They don't give proper explanations for anything, and that's why the rags are full of speculation.

Click to reply to this topic  Reply to this post
Re: Deceit! Skulduggery! Corruption! To-Lucky a victim of politics!
[ Author: Guest: no | Posted: May 14, 2003 10:24 AM ]

I dont know who To-Lucky is. Could you please tell me?
Click to reply to this topic  Reply to this post
Re: Deceit! Skulduggery! Corruption! To-Lucky a victim of politics!
[ Author: Sara B | Posted: May 14, 2003 9:06 PM | HT Fan ]

Lucky and To-Lucky are the official tiger mascots (girl and boy, respectively) of the Hanshin Tigers. They entertain the crowd fantastically at Koshien and are beloved by millions. If To-Lucky does not regain his baseball job, he might consider the field of politics. He could easily beat Koizumi in the general election.
Click to reply to this topic  Reply to this post
Topic: NPB 2003 Attendance Previous Topic
Go back to the topic listing  Back to Topic List    Click to go to the top of the page  Top of the page
Next Topic Topic: Hanshin Signs Lou Pote
Discussion
About

This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.

It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.

Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder

Sidebar

Beta Version - Still a work in progress.

Search for Pro Yakyu news and information
Copyright (c) 1995-2024 JapaneseBaseball.com.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Some rights reserved.