Former director Yano sells “24,000 yen tickets” but… “Quit Tiger” called a “traitor” and a “quitter”.

Hanshin is on the verge of winning the league championship for the first time in 18 years. Although the Tigers fell from the top of the standings to ninth place in the interleague tournament, the Tigers’ fever is still continuing, with the Tigers hijacking all the All-Star divisions. The people who have benefited the most from the Tigers’ success are the Tigers alumni involved in the broadcast of Hanshin games.

The June 9 game between Nippon-Ham and the Hanshin Tigers on Kansai Television was the first time that Toritani and Itoi teamed up for commentary. It became a hot topic of conversation among Tora partisans. Ryota Imanari, who is a skilled talker, is increasingly being asked to be the MC of a TV station’s sports YouTube channel,” said the baseball desk of a sports newspaper.

But not all alumni are in a bubble.

Among the “quitting tigers,” such as Fukudome and Itoi, who left the uniform at the end of last season, there is a clear divide between the brightest and the darkest.

Akihiro Yano was thought to be going back to being an exclusive commentator for ABC TV (TV Asahi), but he has become a freelance commentator and also does commentary for Sun TV and Mainichi Broadcasting System. You also earn money from giving lectures. During his tenure as manager, he once introduced a letter-writer, Seiji Sugiura, in a post-game interview and was protested for “commercial purposes,” but he held an event “Our Dream vol. 1” with Sugiura in April.

The “Fan Meeting 2023,” held for the first time in Tokyo on May 28, was hosted by the president of a management company, and although it did not cost much, the highest ticket price was 24,000 yen, about the same as a hotel dinner show. It has succeeded in generating high profits by targeting the core fan base,” said a staff member of a local TV station.

Former manager Yano, who has the sign “former manager of Hanshin” in his name, is still in the spotlight, but it is former head coach Kazuki Inoue who is a real disgrace.

Mr. Yano, a senior colleague from his days at Chunichi, persuaded Inoue to become the Hanshin coach while living in a hotel in Osaka City, a city with which he had no connection. He was scorned by his local Tanimachi sources in Nagoya, who said, “You traitor! He is unable to return to the radio station where he used to commentate exclusively before becoming a coach, and he is not allowed to comment on local newspapers. The only work he does is a once-a-month commentary on a local radio station’s night game broadcast. His only income now is his savings from his days as a coach and a consulting fee from the yakiniku restaurant he runs in the entertainment district of Nagoya. It seems that he is negotiating behind the scenes with Chunichi Dragons executives to see if he can find another job for next season.

If the Yano administration had been able to win the championship, life might have been different. The world of professional baseball is a harsh one.