<figure id="attachment_337080" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-337080" style="width: 759px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5b5763c8"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/10/b5024e7295ea71f304ab545ce5d8c9fe-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-337080" class="wp-caption-text">Yamakawa at an apology press conference on October 5.</figcaption></figure>
<p> Hotaka Yamakawa, 31, of the Seibu baseball team, who has been suspended indefinitely from playing official games, held a press conference on October 5 at his home base, the Verna Dome, despite the fact that he was not prosecuted for his trouble with a female acquaintance.</p>
<p> Yamakawa, speaking publicly for the first time since his trouble with a female acquaintance was revealed in May, politely apologized for the trouble he had caused the team officials, fans, and his family due to his negligence in his personal life.</p>
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<p> On the other hand, he did not say that he would not exercise his domestic free agent (FA) rights, which he had acquired after the indictment was dismissed, saying, &#8220;Of course, I have to think about it carefully. Yamakawa, who is currently participating in an autumn educational league for young players in Miyazaki, also apologized directly to Kazuo Matsui, the manager who visited him on the evening of October 14, saying, &#8220;I have caused you the most trouble. It is believed that Yamakawa was unofficially asked by Matsui to stay on as a member of the team, but he said, &#8220;I <strong>have to think about it (exercising his FA rights), but my first priority is to do my best in the games</strong>. He may be saying that if any other team is interested in acquiring him, it may be an option.</p>
<p> Matsui, who, as the on-site leader of the team, requested that Yamakawa stay on, saying that he would be of great help to the team if he did so, made the following statement to baseball insiders before his visit to Miyazaki.</p>
<p><strong> Before his visit to Miyazaki, Matsui had made the following statement to baseball insiders: &#8220;Regarding Yamakawa&#8217;s case, the decision on the punishment itself was made by the higher-ups, so it is out of my control. I believe that decisions will continue to be made in areas beyond my control.</strong></p>
<p> What does this mean? A veteran reporter who has been covering the Pacific League for some time revealed the following.</p>
<p><strong> Even if Matsui requests Yamakawa to stay on, I don&#8217;t know if the baseball team will respect his feelings or not. I believe that the decision on his future path will be deeply influenced by the upper management of the team and even the owner Takashi Goto,&#8221; he said.</strong></p>
<p> The Seibu Seibu Lions, as a member of Seibu Holdings (HD), will be watching Yamakawa&#8217;s actions and making decisions on his career path. This was truly evident at the press conference mentioned at the beginning of this article. A sports newspaper reporter who attended the press conference stated.</p>
<p><strong> The Lions were emphasizing their stance that the press conference was held at Yamakawa&#8217;s request. In other words, I think they wanted to convey to us media that the Lions were not proactively opening the meeting.</strong></p>
<p><strong> When Yamakawa was surrounded by the press, the PR person who was closest to him and listened to his comments was a person who originally worked in crisis management at Seibu Holdings. In addition, there were several other members of the public relations department at the press conference who were also listening to Yamakawa&#8217;s remarks.&#8221;</strong></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" If it weren&#39;t for his problems with women, he would have joined the team last year."></div>
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<p>Yamakawa is not so shy in his personality or his words. Normally, he is well received by the media because he speaks honestly about his feelings, even to reporters from sports newspapers and TV stations, as well as to reporters assigned to the World Baseball Classic (WBC), with whom he is usually unfamiliar. However, this time, when it was revealed that he had injured a woman acquaintance and was directly questioned by a Bunshun Online reporter in May, Yamakawa took almost the same stance as he usually does, saying that he was definitely not forced to do so. This lacked consideration for the feelings of the woman, who had strong feelings of victimization. If Yamakawa&#8217;s &#8220;irascibility&#8221; is exposed again at the press conference, further damage to the image of Seibu HD is inevitable. Such was the thinking behind the bizarre sight of several members of the public relations department at the press conference, even though it was not led by the baseball team.</p>
<p> So what about Softbank, which was said to be in the thick of a move if Yamakawa wins FA rights this season? Another sports paper desk clerk revealed, &#8220;If Yamakawa has a problem with a woman, it would be a big problem for Softbank.</p>
<p><strong> If Yamakawa had not had any problems with women, the relationship between the two was so good that it was said that he had already decided to join Softbank last year. However, the situation has changed drastically with the recent incident, and now I hear that Softbank&#8217;s GM, Director Yasuhiko Mikasa, who is also the head of the field, cannot make a decision even at his own discretion. Like Seibu, I think this is an owner&#8217;s matter. This is not only because of the strength of the team, but also because of how the acquisition of Yamakawa would affect the image of the parent company and the stock price.</strong></p>
<p><strong> However, it is said that not only about Yamakawa, but also about other important decisions, the owner Masayoshi Son has been deeply involved in the final decision-making process. For example, when Hiroshi Fujimoto succeeded former manager Kimiyasu Kudo as manager, the team&#8217;s internal committee tried to promote Hiroki Kokubo, who had served as head coach under Kudo, to the position of current second-team manager, but the decision was ultimately overturned by the &#8220;owner&#8217;s approval. It is said that the decision was overturned by the &#8220;owner&#8217;s decision.</strong></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" What owner Son is concerned about"></div>
<figure id="attachment_337089" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-337089" style="width: 1777px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f4cdd546"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/10/a4aa73209df556b3a1d8930630d8548b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-337089" class="wp-caption-text">Masayoshi Son, the owner of the company, threw out the first pitch at the &#8220;Festival of the Hawk&#8221; against Rakuten at Tokyo Dome in June this year. What kind of &#8220;pitch&#8221; does he intend to throw to acquire Yamakawa?</figcaption></figure>
<p> What happened when Fujimoto took over as manager in 2010? The aforementioned desk clerk continued, &#8220;Owner Son really values the fans&#8217; opinions.</p>
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<p><strong> The owner is a person who values the fans&#8217; opinions very much. He must have analyzed in his own way the many people who wondered if it would be all right for him to promote Kokubo to manager. When former manager Kudo took over as manager, he was entrusted with creating practice menus for the fielders from the start of camp. After the season opener, he continued to follow the wishes of Kokubo, focusing on the offensive side of the game, including the fielder&#8217;s order and strategy, but although the team&#8217;s defensive rating was the best in the league, the batting lineup did not perform well. The pitching and hitting did not mesh until the very end of the season due to the withdrawal of the main guns, Gracia and Despaigne, from the lineup to participate in the Tokyo Olympics qualifiers. This season was the first losing season for the Kudo administration, and the team sank to fourth place and B class for the first time in eight years.</strong></p>
<p><strong> The head coach at the time, Mr. Kokubo, was notoriously stereotypical. For example, he tried to apply to Yanagida the experience he had gained from Chairman Oh, who was then manager, who had instilled in him a sense of responsibility as the central figure in the team by assigning him the No. 4 position even when he was in bad shape. However, Yanagita was not that enthusiastic about the No. 4 position, and even in the interchange games in which he was assigned the No. 4 spot for all games, his batting average was in the low .200s and his form was not improving. I think the inflexible use of the position by head coach Kokubo backfired, and the owner could not easily overlook his skill, which was questioned by fans.</strong></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The Giants took Sho Nakata after he was found to be violent: ......"></div>
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<p>What about the Giants, who had the &#8220;precedent&#8221; of trading for Sho Nakata, who was once suspended from all games for both teams after he was found to have committed violence within the Nippon Ham team in August 2009? A veteran professional baseball reporter revealed, &#8220;I don&#8217;t think they will acquire Yamakawa.</p>
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<p><strong> A veteran professional baseball reporter revealed, &#8220;I don&#8217;t think the Giants will acquire Yamakawa. When the Giants acquired Sho Nakata, it was almost decided in a &#8220;telephone conference&#8221; between the top managers in the field, with Tatsunori Hara receiving advice from Hideki Kuriyama, the manager of Nichi-Ham at the time. The trade was actually opposed by Giants owner Juichi Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi is a strict compliance officer, having worked as a reporter in the Social Affairs Department and in the Judicial Affairs Department, as well as in the Legal Department. After the negative view of the team became widespread when Nakata was acquired, he would not repeat that experience.</strong></p>
<p><strong> There is also the issue of organization. The Giants are likely to start next season with Okamoto at first base and Sakamoto at third base. Sho Nakata, who was with the Giants until this season, is considering using his FA rights to move on, and if they take Yamakawa, they will be left with a surplus of talent.</strong></p>
<p> On October 15, Yamakawa hit his first home run since returning to the lineup in a Miyazaki Phoenix League game against the Orix, as manager Matsui and others looked on. Since not only Yamakawa but also the lives of those around him have been changed so drastically, if there is a way for him to play baseball for Seibu, I think it would be better for him to bow down and say, &#8220;Please let me play baseball for Seibu again next season. &#8230;&#8230;</p>
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 Seibu infielder Hotaka Yamakawa, 31, who apologized at a press conference for his trouble with a woman acquaintance, hit a home run in the Phoenix League on March 15, his first in a long time. However, it seems that his future career path is not easily decided at the field level. ......

Seibu&#8217;s Yamakawa Apologizes for Trouble with Woman; Is His Future an Owner&#8217;s Deal? Softbank and the Giants&#8217; speculations on the rumored transfer.

Seibu’s Yamakawa Apologizes for Trouble with Woman; Is His Future an Owner’s Deal? Softbank and the Giants’ speculations on the rumored transfer.

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