This season, three out of 12 Japanese professional baseball teams started the season as novice managers. All three retired from the team where they played as main players and took leadership classes. They are from legends, who left a clear mark when they were players, and they have something in common: internal promotion.
At the end of last year’s season, Toshiaki Imae (41), a former infielder, took the helm of the Rakuten Eagles, while Shinnosuke Abe (45), a former catcher, took the helm of the Yomiuri Giants, and Hiroki Kokubo (53), a former infielder, took the helm of the Softbank Hawks.
On his forehead, he was appointed as the batting coach for the first team, Abe as the head coach for the first team and Kokubo as the head coach for the second team. Kokubo previously served as the head coach for the first team. He was virtually waiting for his turn as the next head coach.
When he was a player, he was strong in big games. When he was a member of the Chiba Lotte Marines, he showed great performance in the Japan Series in 2005 and 2010. He led his team to the top and won the MVP award.
While playing for 19 seasons as a Yomiuri Giants player, Abe had 2,132 hits, 406 homers and 1285 homers. Having played for Softbank (Daie) and Yomiuri, Kokubo had 2,041 hits, 413 homers and 1304 RBIs. Abe and Kokubo started college and reached 2,000 hits and 400 homers.
A novice head coach made his first effort in the first year. Abe’s Yomiuri Giants won the Central League title by competing with the Hanshin Tigers right before the pennant race ended. Under the leadership of Tatsunori Hara, the team that fell to the B-Class (4th to 6th place among the six teams) for the second consecutive year in 2022-2023 succeeded in changing the atmosphere and became the top player in the league for the first time in four years.
Imae Rakuten competed with Chiba Lotte for third place in the Pacific League. Unfortunately, he failed to advance to the fall baseball league due to lack of hindsight, but his power itself was too weak. Matsui Yuki, who played as the main closing pitcher, moved to the San Diego Padres in the Major League last winter.
Kokubo’s Softbank confirmed its No. 1 ranking in the Pacific League early on. It showed overwhelming performance in pitching and hitting, leading the league throughout the season. Orix Buffaloes of the “super ace” Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LA Dodgers) raged for three years until last year, but returned to the top in four years.
In both the Central and Pacific leagues, a novice head coach burst champagne. This year’s KBO League was also led by Lee Bum-ho, a novice head coach, to the championship of the KIA Tigers.
It beat the Chiba Lotte Marines 1-0 in its 143rd game of this season held at the Fukuoka Dome on Sunday. Riyoya Kurihara’s 20th homerun in the sixth inning set a milestone. He ended the regular season happily by winning five consecutive games.
With two more games to go, he has a gap of 13.5 games with the second-ranked Nippon-Ham Fighters. He has 42 games ahead of the Seibu Lions, who came in last. Softbank ranked first in team batting average, home run and score among 12 teams in both leagues. It ranked third in team ERA after Yomiuri and Hanshin.
91 wins, three draws, and 49 losses.
Coach Kokubo has the record of winning the final game of the regular season. It is a new record of most wins in the first year as a head coach. The record exceeded 90 wins posted by Seibu coach Haruki Ihara in 2002 and Softbank coach Kudo Kimiyasu in 2015.
“It was not my goal (to win the most games), so I was not impressed,” Kokubo said in a media interview on Wednesday. He ranked first in the league somewhat plainly, but autumn baseball is waiting for him. The final stage of the Climax Series, which is to be held with the winners of the second and third places, will begin from July 16. Only when he wins here, he can reach the Japan Series and seek the top position in both leagues. The ultimate goal is to win the Japan Series. In other words, there is an even more important task ahead of him. 토토사이트
Softbank is a team that invests generously in strengthening its power every year. Like Yomiuri, the goal is to win every season.
During the 10 seasons between 2011 and 2020, Softbank was an absolute powerhouse. During the period, Softbank lifted the Japan Series trophy seven times. It won four consecutive championships between 2017 and 2020. It humiliated the Yomiuri Giants from 2019 to 2020. It won all four games for two consecutive years.
Kokubo, the leader of Daiye, has deep ties with the Yomiuri Giants. He was injured at an exhibition game in 2003 and took a full season off, but he spent money on rehabilitation treatment with high-ranking officials of the club
There was a conflict.
Kokubo was traded to the Yomiuri Giants for free one week after the Japanese team won the Japan Series in 2003. It was an incident that angered the players of the Daiei after turning the Japanese pro baseball upside down. A former Daiei captain, Kokubo also claimed the role of the Yomiuri Giants. After three years as a member of the Yomiuri Giants, he returned to his old team that changed to Softbank. After six more years, he retired.
