This is the second time, isn’t it? Hanshin manager Akifu Okada, “To the ‘thing’ for the first time in 18 years,” inspiring the players with his rare and wise words.

The Hanshin team has been on a roll since the beginning of September, winning 10 games in a row and making a last-minute push to win the championship for the first time in 18 years. The team is doing well, but a source close to the team is concerned, saying, “I hope manager Akifu Okada’s (65) ‘gaffe’ does not drag them down at the last minute. ……

In 2005, during the first administration, Okada was upset with a decision and told closer Tomoyuki Kubota (42), who was on the mound, “I’ll take responsibility. I’ll take responsibility. It is a well-known story that Okada, who was upset with the decision, said to closer Tomoyuki Kubota (42) on the mound, “I’ll take responsibility.

When he was manager of the Orix, he clashed with the media over the content of news reports. The reporters in charge were all replaced. In the end, I had a conflict with the Orix front office. In the end, he was ordered to take a leave of absence.

The team officials were relieved to hear that he had matured a bit after his 60th birthday, but as the season progressed, their hopes were shattered.

At a game against DeNA in June, after the interleague game, he told an event at the hostile Yokohama Stadium, “The wait time is too long. Tell Yokohama! It is still fresh in our minds that he complained to Yokohama Stadium about the long waiting time for the event. Daisuke Miura, 49, the manager, was aghast, saying, “Even if you tell us, we should tell ……,” and the DeNA team officials were furious. Moreover, the team lost the game, and Okada, perhaps feeling bad, took it out on the press, saying, “That’s what you get for writing something like that.

He also did the same thing on the long road during the summer Koshien Tournament: Before the first-place game against Hiroshima on August 15, he said, “First of all, I’m going to give Arai (Takahiro) a pep talk. He lied, saying, “He doesn’t look good,” and, “I’m fine with a win or two. The Hiroshima Nine were furious, saying, “That old man can say whatever he wants! The Hiroshima nine were furious. Perhaps their fighting spirit flared up, the Carp won two of the three games in a row, overwhelming the Hanshin. Okada was clearly repaid for his gaffe.

After the game against DeNA on August 29, in which Masaru Iwasaki (32), who was in charge of the ninth inning, gave up consecutive home runs to Sano and Maki, the opposing hitters, to turn the game around, Okada was asked by the press, “If you play a whole year, doesn’t this kind of situation happen? He was furious. He was furious. This is the second time we’ve had this kind of match, right? You have to remember that, don’t you?

Whenever he loses a game or something unreasonable happens, he makes a false accusation and takes it out on those around him, and when he is in a good mood, he repeatedly makes gaffes that provoke his opponents. However, no one has yet been able to put the nail in his coffin,” said a sports newspaper reporter who works for the Tiger.

The fact that this is the case is a headache.

Satoshi Shimamura, 56, the general manager of the Tigers, is probably feeling guilty about his opposition to Mr. Okada’s appointment as manager, and is doing his best to avoid causing a stir. Also in the opposition camp was Osamu Tanimoto, 59, the acting owner of the team, is said to have been kept away from the scene of the crime.

Mr. Okada’s close aide is Dori Fujiwara, 44, a public relations official with the manager, but he was a manager and a player during the first administration, so he can’t admonish him. But if the team is eliminated from the CS or loses the Japan Series in a poor manner, complaints will erupt from all over the place and it could develop into the Hanshin’s customary family feud.

The most important point of reinforcement for the Hanshin team may be a talented staff that can ring Okada’s bell.