Who is Tsuyoshi Shinjo? It’s something a lot of younger New York Mets may ask. Even some baseball fans over in Japan who know him could be asking the same thing.
They won’t grow up knowing him by the name he used during his time in Major League Baseball. The manager of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters over in Japan is going by a different name this season.
Move over HE HATE ME from the old XFL days. There is a new greatest name in sports history and it’s BIGBOSS, the pseudonym Shinjo is managing under in 2022.
Former Mets outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo is more than a great nickname
Shinjo’s time in Major League Baseball was short-lived, lasting only parts of three seasons. Two came as a member of the Mets. The other was with the San Francisco Giants. He wasn’t the great international import some hoped he could be. More disappointing, we didn’t get to experience what seems to be one of the most polarizing personalities in all of sports.
Look no further than his entrance at the Ham Fighters’ home opener when he arrived in style on a flying hovercraft:
Big Boss Tsuyoshi Shinjo showed up on a drone/hover bike (I don't know, the man was flying) for the Fighters' home opener. pic.twitter.com/ZVQQZf7Fqu
— Jason Coskrey (@JCoskrey) March 29, 2022
If only Shinjo—or should we all start calling him BIGBOSS now out of respect?—was able to play well over in the United States. We could have had some amazing moments like this. An entrance to rival anything at Wrestlemania, the only thing missing was a gong at the start of it.
Antics like this, while out of place with the way many think of baseball as a game of tradition, are fun. We won’t see anything like it over in the United States anytime soon—at least not in Major League Baseball.
Speaking of, while BIGBOSS was flying onto the field in style, MLB was confusing everyone with a promotional video for something.
Bring. The. Noise. Introducing MLB Home Run Derby X. Who’s in? https://t.co/wo2ID03jMq #HomeRunDerbyX pic.twitter.com/9phYueLWJy
— MLB (@MLB) March 30, 2022
Those curious to find out more were disappointed (but also a little lucky) to land on a dead link. It’s actually a promotional video for a Home Run Derby of former players. None of them are particularly great ones either.
Unless Jonny Gomes arrives to the event on a hovercraft, the former Mets outfielder now known as BIGBOSS gets the win.