Wonderful Life / ワンダフルライフ

2004 Fuji TV release that stars Sorimachi Takashi as a former, legendary baseball player who wrecks his batting arm by slipping on a bar of soap in a hotel bathroom after his wife catches him there with yet, another bimbo.

She files for divorce and takes everything he's got, including their son, who declares he does not want to have anything to do with his Otousan anymore, either.

Meanwhile, an adorable, little boy (Sho) living in a town outside Tokyo continues to send his hero letters asking that he please come to their town and be the coach for their ailing little league team.

He and his buddies all love to play baseball, but their coach is so old he sleeps during practice, and their parents are too busy trying to keep their businesses afloat to be able to take the time out to help the boys with their game.

Sho's older sister reads one of the fan letters and decides to send it off with a promise to pay Kirishima if he will be their coach.

Akira Kirishima at first has to struggle with the reality of his sudden, impoverished state after having lived for so, many years the lavish lifestyle where he spent money without thinking about it, had women at his beck & call, and whose baseball techniques had deemed him to be a 'miracle man'.

With nowhere to go and no money to spend, Kirishima and his agent, Tsumasaka Masayoshi (Yashima Norito) take the offer to coach the little league team after Masayoshi has to admit to Kirishima that he, too, is now broke after being accused of fraud and has been disbarred.

Naturally, the two, grown men act like snobs and stick up their noses at the one-horse town and its meager population.
Kirishima doesn't take his new job seriously, either, and soon the boys realize that their hero isn't so great after all.

For the next, ten episodes we watch as Kirishima and Sho adapt, learn, and grow.

This is a wonderful drama and an interesting story that is told in a way that draws you in and keeps you interested for the duration.