Behind the bench of Hanshin’s Satoteru: “Behind the slump is a misunderstanding with manager Okada.
The Hanshin Express, which has been on a roll since 2007, won 10 straight games for the first time since 2007. The team also ran smoothly along the “Road of Death,” which is a regular feature of the summer Koshien season, and on August 16, the long-awaited magic mark of 29 was lit. As manager Akifu Okada (65)’s ”
But “I can’t see Okada getting carried away because he was hurt by the first administration. In July 2008, we had the magic light turned on early, and then we were swept by the Giants by 13 games to lose the championship.
In the end, they failed to win the Climax Series, and Okada was forced to resign. That is why, as soon as the winning streak came to an end on August 15 against Hiroshima, Okada pulled the team together by dropping thunderbolts on the fielders, who had missed numerous chances due to poor pitching.
The team’s officials and Hanshin fans, who had experienced a run for the top in 2008 and again in 2009, were not too happy about the magic light being turned on. Even so, the “outside world” is said to be excited, with pundits and alumni flocking to the stadiums where Hanshin games are held one after another, perhaps because the team’s 10-game winning streak has been so good.
The most enthusiastic are the team’s alumni,” he said. Hanshin stories are a favorite of Kansai TV, radio and
Even alumni who have not come down to the stadium much in the past are showing up at the stadium to gather information and curry favor with manager Okada.
The team’s united efforts to win are truly a “tiger of progress,” but what comes into focus here is Okada’s “lost” communication, as mentioned earlier, according to a Hanshin reporter. The Hanshin reporter said that Okada’s “lack of communication” is what comes to the fore here. In particular, there is concern about the “disconnect” between manager Okada and Teruaki Sato (24), who has been sluggish so far this season with a batting average in the low .200s.
Okada made it clear early in his tenure that Satoteru would be fixed at third, and he was given the No. 5 job from the start of the season. He had been entrusted with the No. 5 spot since the season opener, but his poor form was so bad that he dropped him to the farm on June 25.
On August 15, when the winning streak came to a halt in a game against Hiroshima, Teruaki Sato struck out on three pitches with no outs and runners on second and third. The next day, he was removed from the starting lineup, and the manager complained to the media, “If a player can’t do what is natural and falls apart on his own, he will not be able to play in games.
The most troubling thing for Sattel is that he is not directly criticized by the director, but rather through the media
A baseball team official ordered Okada to ”
The same thing happened to Ryutaro Umeno, 32, the regular catcher who suffered a broken bone in his left wrist after receiving a dead ball in a game against Yakult on August 13, and he had the same problem as Satteru. Okada-san believes that ‘if the manager directly gives a hard time to the players, they will become apathetic,’ so he sends out a message to them through the media.
However, today’s players do not trust the media, and direct communication is more effective. If the players are left with doubts, they will not be able to work as a team at the critical moment, and they may not be able to get through the climax of the tournament.
Teruaki Sato, the cannon who holds the key to the game. I hope he can overcome the “lost” communication with Director Okada and achieve his long-cherished wish. ……
PHOTO： Kyodo News
