Every two months, Hayama Chōji, who is the secretary of the Da Nang Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an event company, and a promoter of baseball, will deliver reports on events held in Da Nang.
FB: shoji.arima
This year, the Red Healer Legends are coming to Incheon Port
Hello! This year in Da Nang, the rainy season began early in January, with almost no rain and no excessive heat. The sky has remained clear with the best conditions ever—just like how it was in January. Now it’s already March. March in Japan is the season of the new year. In Vietnam, the baseball atmosphere isn’t quite there yet, but I’d like to take the initiative to create it instead!
Therefore, we are planning to hold a baseball event in Da Nang again this year. The dates are March 21st and 22nd, 2026. The guest of honor this year is... Takahashi Keiko, the lead pitcher of the Red Heirs! Additionally, we have another guest scheduled, but we are currently in the process of coordinating details. Stay tuned for more updates!
Takashi Takahashi’s active playing career spanned from 1975 to 1992. During his 18 years of active playing career, he played for the Hiroshima Carp for 13 years, the Chiba Lotte Giants for one year, and the Hanshin Tigers for two years, making him a long-time player. His accumulated achievements include 1,722 appearances, 1,826 hits, 604 runs scored, 163 home runs, 477 stolen bases, and a batting average of .288. He was a three-time home run champion, the first in the batting title race, the fifth in the best nine, and the Japanese Series MVP. This is indeed a record worthy of being called a legend.
In addition to that, he has also been a coach for three years at Fukuoka Daiei and nine years at Chiba Lotte, and one year at Orix. Nishikawa Kazuya, who came to Danang last year, also received coaching from Chiba Lotte during his time there. He currently runs a YouTube channel, which boasts 194,000 subscribers. During his current stay, he plans to host not only baseball-related events but also talk shows, so please look forward to it!
Vietnam's baseball is starting to take off!
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese baseball community is taking action. In December 2025, at the 33rd SEA Games held in Thailand, baseball was officially included as a competition. Furthermore, in October last year, it was announced that Vietnam has joined the WBSC (World Baseball Softball Federation), allowing the national team to participate in international competitions.
The result was 1 win and 5 losses. Compared to strong Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and the Philippines, it was still a result that left us feeling the gap in strength. However, the fact that we managed to win one match is a very significant achievement. We have also participated in the national team in the past, and in 2011’s 26th SEA Games (26th Southeast Asian Games), we also participated. At that time, we managed to win one match as well, and strangely, the opponent we defeated was Malaysia, just like this time.
However, given the team finished sixth out of seven teams, it can be said that this was a tournament that saw both some success and some significant challenges. However, in this case, I think the most important achievement was that the players gained a lot of experience. I hope these experiences will be taken back to each club and used in daily training.
At the end of the year, the WBSC World Ranking will also be announced, and Vietnam ranked 74th out of 83 teams (Japan is first). Due to the point system, the number of matches is greatly affected. Increasing the number of matches is crucial, and for that, not only the frequency of activities but also financial strength become extremely important. In any case, I look forward to the future progress of Vietnamese baseball. I myself also hope to contribute to the development of Vietnamese baseball, so I will keep working hard. Bye-bye👋
