Tsuyoshi Shinjo, a professional baseball skipper for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, entered the stadium on a HOVER BIKE in his managerial debut ... and the video of it was incredible!!

Shinjo -- AKA "Big Boss" -- lived up to his nickname by arriving in style for his first game with the Nippon-Ham Fighters.

In the video, you can see the 50-year-old effortlessly flying the hovercraft around the stadium before his team took the field for the game.

In the clip, Shinjo gets pretty high off the ground, so you can tell he isn't afraid of heights -- he also sticks the landing smoothly ... as if he had some experience doing it before.

The "stunt" was on-brand for the Fighters' manager, who first gained a huge fanbase as a player ... making him a larger-than-life figure in Japanese pro sports.

Shinjo replaced longtime manager Hideki Kuriyama ... and told reporters that he wanted to be referred to as "Big Boss," presumably because he saw himself as a celebrity.

Tsuyoshi spent 3 seasons in MLB ... playing for the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants. He was the first Japanese-born position player to play in the National League in 2001.

The former MLB outfielder appeared in the World Series with the Giants in 2002 ... but San Francisco came up short as they lost to the then Anaheim Angels.

Shinjo returned to Japan to play for the Nippon-Ham Fighters ... and led them to a title in his final season of pro ball.