Japanese fan’s love for the Expos fuelled by Rose’s visit to his country
Hiroo Toyooka, right, poses with friends and his sign saluting the Expos at a game in Japan years ago when Brad Wilkerson of the Expos came to town with the MLB All-Stars. Photo Submitted by Hiroo Toyooka.
May 24, 2021
By Danny Gallagher
Canadian Baseball Network
When he's not practising Buddhism in Hiroshima, Hiroo Toyooka is a big baseball fan, especially of the Montreal Expos.
Toyooka, 59, witnessed his first professional baseball game in his home country on Sept. 14, 1968 with his father and he was in for a delightful surprise.
He witnessed a perfect game thrown by Yoshiro Sotokoba of the Hiroshima Carp. He was immediately hooked on baseball.
"I became an avid fan then. My father took me to the ballpark and I watched the perfect game in person. Sotokoba had 16 Ks,’’ Toyooka said. “I was only a child. Hiroshima Carp is the only, beloved team in Japan since I witnessed the perfect game. Every year, I watch Carp games 10-20 times.’’
When Toyooka saw Pete Rose play in Japan in the late 1970s, he was smitten with No. 14 and Major League Baseball all-star teams have travelled to Japan many times.
"Rose came to Japan as a star player and fascinated us. Since then, I've become a big fan of Charlie Hustle,'' Toyooka said in an email exchange. "I think he was one of the most energetic kids in baseball history. The Big Red Machine and the all-star teams were really, really shocking to me.''
And when Rose signed to play with the Expos for the 1984 season, Toyooka was enthralled with the Expos, becoming a devoted fan.
"He was the player who inspired me to love the Expos. He was one of my favourite Expos but he was not my favourite Expo,'' he said. "I have many favourites. At the beginning, it was Gary Carter, Tim Wallach, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson.
“Then Hubie Brooks, Dennis Martinez, Andres Galarraga, Larry Walker, Oil Can Boyd, Ken Hill, Rondell White, Moises Alou, Pedro Martinez, Vlad Guerrero, Jose Vidro, Javier Vazquez, Orlando Cabrera, Tony Armas Jr., Michael Barrett, Brad Wilkerson, and so on.
“Especially, I love Kid, Vlady and Pedro. And, Rusty Staub is also a favourite as a historical figure. I use the handle ‘Staub’ on the online bulletin board that deals with MLB.
“I remembered that Montreal was the city where the Olympics were held in 1976. Those games were very nice and exciting,’’ Toyooka said. "So I was very interested in the Expos and did a lot of research. What I found out was that it was a weak and small market team like Carp. They had players like Gary Carter, Andre Dawson , Tim Raines ,Tim Wallach, fantastic players.
"Even though I had never been to Montreal, I became one of the biggest fans of Expos, before you know it.’’
Toyooka has been a Buddhist priest for 38 years and he's allowed to go and see baseball games and collect memorabilia just like anyone else, saying "our sect is quite free.’’ His Facebook profile shows the word Expos and in the background are two figurines, including one of Staub. The accompanying photograph with this story shows Toyooka on the right.
“I became a priest when I was 20 years old, and so, I have almost 40 years of experience,’’ Toyooka said. “I belong to a sect called Jodo Shinshu (Hongwanji), which was opened by Shinran.
"I collect baseball cards and jerseys. That hobby is no problem with our sect,'' Toyooka said, adding the only Expos player he has ever met is Wilkerson, who came to Japan with the MLB All-Stars in 2004.
"I went to the Osaka dome with a banner that said, Expos Forever In My Heart','' Toyooka said. “I went to Toronto once and watched baseball at the SkyDome, when Roberto Alomar was active. I bought his jersey. I saw Hideo Nomo pitch that game.’’
Danny Gallagher’s new Expos book Never Forgotten is available at Amazon and Indigo.