<figure id="attachment_393663" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2124px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-393663"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7ec5ca39"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/adce99ab718dc1bed4e68cc6b04d37b5.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-393663" class="wp-caption-text">Abe of the Giants (top) and Kokubo of SoftBank (bottom right) are both celebrating their first championship in four years. Hanshin manager Okada, who missed winning back-to-back championships for the first time in the team&#8217;s history, shows a sense of melancholy. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Relieved&#8221; at new Giants&#8217; victory.</h2>
<p>The 141st game of the season, and the first time in history that the Giants have won back-to-back championships. It was the newly born Giants, led by <span class="strongInContent">Shinnosuke Abe, 45,</span> in his first year as <span class="strongInContent">manager,</span> who won the rare &#8220;big game&#8221; in the history of the Giants. An alumnus of the Giants confides, &#8220;In the championship interview, manager Abe said, &#8216;I&#8217;m going to win the championship.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In the championship interview, manager Abe said he was relieved, but this year was the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Giants, and it was a memorial year for the team. It was a season we absolutely could not afford to lose. I heard that the amount of reward money, such as the manager&#8217;s award, paid to players who contributed to the team was raised significantly from 2 million yen per game to 5 million yen. I am sure everyone has forgotten by now, but the acquisition of Oduah (30), a 200-million-yen assistant pitcher with 178 hits in the majors, was another sign of the seriousness of the team. When he left just before the season opener, the team acquired Hernandez (29) and Montes (27) from 3A. I think the pressure on manager Abe must have been enormous, because he had all this support from the team, and if he had missed the V&#8217;s, he would have had to go to &#8230;&#8230;.</span></p>
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<p>There were many other reasons for the victory, including the development of relievers and the emergence of young players, but Abe and his Central League rivals all point to <span class="strongInContent">Tomoyuki Sugano (34), who</span> went 15-3 and amassed a 12-game winning streak, as the biggest contributor.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The ace&#8217;s revitalization plan actually began last year. The plan was devised by Yasuo Kubo, 66, a traveling pitching coach. He is a master at rescuing pitchers who were struggling, such as Messenger (43), who was smoldering as a reliever in his first year with the Hanshin team, and transforming him into a 100-win pitcher. He always says, &#8220;Question common sense. He has increased the output of his fastball despite the weight loss, and has raised the release point so high that it looks like a standing throw to the uninitiated, which has increased the sharpness of his slider. He finished last season with a 4-8 record, but he needed time to build a new body and solidify his form. It also took time for Sugano, who has more experience than anyone else, to accept the change,&#8221; said a baseball team official.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_393658" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2278px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-393658"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="985841db"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/619c61a962b7394ce76edb53e852de2b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-393658" class="wp-caption-text">Sugano says that being able to work with Seiji Kobayashi (35, right), who is the same age as him and knows each other well, throughout the year was &#8220;a big deal.</figcaption></figure>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Post &quot;Okada"></div>
<h2>Kazuma Okamoto&#8217;s yearning</h2>
<p>Ace&#8217;s brilliant resurgence in the Memorial Year. Everything is going well for the Giants, but what is worrisome is the departure of their main gun, <span class="strongInContent">Kazuma Okamoto (28)</span>.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Okamoto&#8217;s admiration for Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays is well known. Okamoto&#8217;s performance in the WBC, not to mention his record of six consecutive years with more than 30 hits, is highly regarded by the MLB. He surpassed Munetaka Murakami (24) in batting average, runs batted in, and home runs. It seems that Far East scouts were in the stands all year long this year, and officials from the mainland came to visit at the end of the season. The Giants are not negative about Okamoto&#8217;s challenge, so if they continue to win Japan&#8217;s championship, the door to their dream may open.</span></p>
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<p>Meanwhile, the Hanshin, who lost the championship game, are in the midst of an &#8220;adventure for the post-Okada position,&#8221; according to a desk of an evening newspaper.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The evening paper&#8217;s desk says, &#8220;Although this season is the last year of his two-year contract, we never heard that the team had asked Akifu Okada, 66, to continue pitching until the end of the season. From the tone of the owner and Kazuo Kado, 75, chairman of parent company Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, I thought that Hankyu&#8217;s intentions had been conveyed to the Hanshin side, and that the rest was up to Okada-san&#8217;s stomach, On the morning of October 3, the last game of the season, Sports Hochi reported, &#8220;Okada-san will retire at the end of the season. The newspaper also said, &#8220;His successor is likely to be Kyuji Fujikawa (44). Fujikawa serves as the paper&#8217;s critic, and since other media outlets have followed suit, it is almost a given that he will step down. However, whether Fujikawa, who has no coaching experience, will suddenly take over as manager? mark on his resume.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> For a long time, the Hanshin team&#8217;s managerial appointments were a &#8220;sacred area&#8221; that the Hankyu team could not touch. However, in the off-season of 2010, Chairman Kaku overturned the team&#8217;s decision to appoint Hirata Katsuo (65, current head coach) as manager. Although he said, &#8220;I will not interfere this time,&#8221; Kaku&#8217;s term of office ends next June. For at least one more year, Hankyu&#8217;s wishes cannot be ignored. Mr. Okada, in whom Chairman Kaku has complete confidence, will probably remain with the team in a position similar to that of the late Senichi Hoshino as senior director and exert his influence. If that is the case, the most likely successor would be Mr. Hirata, whom Mr. Okada can easily handle. The baseball team has been working in that direction at one time, so there should be no objection.</span></p>
<p>The team&#8217;s officials mentioned <span class="strongInContent">Takashi Toritani (43), Kyuji Fujikawa (44), and Makoto Imaoka (50)</span> as &#8220;post-Okada&#8221; candidates.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Mr. Okada has met with Chairman Kado many times since the summer, and it seems that he told him, &#8216;I want you to take over the batting order until a successor is developed. Imaoka, who learned Okada&#8217;s leadership most closely as a hitting coach, fits Mr. Okada&#8217;s policy that a manager should experience coaching first, but there are concerns about his physical condition. Mr. Okada and Chairman Kado may be considering Toritani. On the other hand, the baseball team is said to be pushing for Kubota. He is popular with the fans and not as difficult to handle as Mr. Okada and Toritani (laugh). In any case, I see it as a hint as to who will join the cabinet as a leader.</span></p>
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<p>The Pacific League champion is also led by rookie <span class="strongInContent">manager Hiroki Kokubo, 52,</span> who is in his first year in the post. In contrast to the Central League, SoftBank had an unassailable 10-game lead over the second-place team all year, but there was still a losing streak from the end of August through September. The team&#8217;s alumni cited the &#8220;spine-chilling incident&#8221; as the cause.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The famous staff member who was known for his closeness to the players suddenly disappeared from the field. As far as I have heard, there were two ″causes″. One is that a photo of the staff member on top of the belly of one of the main players who was playing bridge on the field was uploaded on social media. The other was that the staff member was forced to move a member of the press who was writing a story in the aisle of the stadium. It is widely rumored that Mr. Kokubo, who apparently did not hear what was being said, may have been upset that the manager did not think it was a good idea, and was furious that he was being used as an excuse. The players liked what they were doing, but the staff&#8217;s sticky attitude must have irked the director.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="One more person has disappeared..."></div>
<h2>He doesn&#8217;t even show up for the beer tap.</h2>
<p>Another <span class="strongInContent">coach, Tatsuya Ide, 53,</span> disappeared at about the same time.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He was a very good coach. &#8220;At the end of August, there were three times in one week when runners were killed on home base. The day after, Coach Ide, who was participating in pre-game practice, suddenly disappeared from the field. The public relations department just said, &#8216;He is absent due to poor health. After that, no one saw Coach Ide. He must not have even been at the beer reception. The reporters are trembling and saying, &#8220;This is a midsummer purge drama. &#8230;&#8230;</span></p>
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<p>Perhaps the &#8220;incident&#8221; tightened the team&#8217;s belts, and the team went on to win seven straight games and bludgeon its way to V. A sports newspaper reporter covering the Hawks commented, &#8220;The Hawks are now in a position to win the championship. A sports newspaper reporter covering the Hawks said, &#8221; <span class="strongInContent">Kensuke Kondo (31), who</span> broke his right ankle and participated in the team&#8217;s big rally on crutches, is going to be used by the manager in the CS.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Yuki Yanagita (35), who also left the lineup in May due to injury, will probably be used at third right field, and Kondo at fifth DH. As a secret plan, they are also thinking of using veteran left fielder Tsuyoshi Wada (43) in relief.</span></p>
<p>A suicide mission indeed. Is FRIDAY the only one who thinks it will happen?</p>
<p>The presence of an absolute ace can make the difference between victory and defeat in a short-duration game, and although Chiba Lotte&#8217;s <span class="strongInContent">Akinori Sasaki (22)</span> is a threat in the CS, he says, &#8220;That will only last until this season. He may not be in Japan next year,&#8221; said the aforementioned desk clerk of an evening newspaper.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Ever since he joined the team, he has been carefully nurtured and cared for so as not to break down. He has never been a member of the rotation for a whole year. But before he could return the favor, he withdrew from the players&#8217; association, and right up to the start of camp, he was agitating to be allowed to go to the majors. I had an argument with the umpire once, and his attitude on the mound was not very good either. He has been out of place on the team. This is the first time this season that I have won double-digit games, and I don&#8217;t think anyone would hold me back if I said I was leaving.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_393662" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-393662"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0b1dcb44"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/db3daa0d6e1470d47c31bfec7db41b76.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-393662" class="wp-caption-text">Chiba Lotte manager Yoshii Masato (59), who is watching the &#8220;treasure&#8221; at close range, was observed by officials from 10 major league baseball teams when he pitched on October 1.</figcaption></figure>
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<p>Conversely, Yakult <span class="strongInContent">manager Shingo Takatsu, 55,</span> who was expected to resign even if he announced his resignation after two consecutive years of battling for the bottom of the standings, did not wait until the end of the season to sign a contract extension. A former Yakult manager says, &#8220;There is a purpose to this extension.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The team has already decided on the next manager, but he doesn&#8217;t have any experience as a coach. So, we are going to have Manager Takatsu fight an &#8220;extended battle&#8221; and learn imperialism while he is there. The name of the &#8220;next manager&#8221; is Nobuchika Aoki (42). He is Mr. Swallows who will retire at the end of this season. The president of the team is in love with him. Murakami and the other key players are also enamored with him. He is the ideal leader.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_393661" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-393661"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="086ea93c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/5c7458e48e30a58d81bd2c964302e9e7.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-393661" class="wp-caption-text">Yakult manager Takatsu, who has been troubled by a string of injuries and the collapse of his starters, will focus on improving his pitching staff in his sixth season.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Fans and the team are divided in their opinions of <span class="strongInContent">Daisuke Miura, 50, the manager of DeNA</span>.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He has all the talent, but he plays baseball roughly. They make errors at crucial moments, and they can&#8217;t win the big game because they can&#8217;t get a single point off the bench. Every year, they barely make it to the CS, but some people point out that this is actually what the team is aiming for. One of the main players once told me, &#8220;The team executives told me that second place would be ideal. He was probably half joking, but it is true that if the team wins the championship, the total annual salary will go up dramatically, but if the team finishes second, the increase can be kept to a minimum, and the team can also bring in customers. That&#8217;s how they make money. Mr. Miura, aside from his leadership, has a great ability to attract customers,&#8221; said sportswriter Yamato Fujimoto.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_393657" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2382px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-393657"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="dc96407c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/c4279a6be4945200ccda20674f6ca421.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-393657" class="wp-caption-text">DeNA Dora 1 player Takateru Tokai (22) did not win a regular spot. He accepted the coach&#8217;s instruction with great energy, saying, &#8220;It stung! and he is still working out today.</figcaption></figure>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Seibu suffered a heavy defeat."></div>
<h2>This disaster was predicted.</h2>
<p>Seibu suffered a historic defeat with a debt of over 40 million yen. The Seibu sportswriter said, &#8220;Several people predicted this disaster.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> One is Hisanobu Watanabe, 59, the GM and acting manager. Kazuo Matsui, 48, who took a leave of absence midway through the season, made the mistake of leaving the players to their own initiative. Watching Matsui, who did not scold players for making errors or failing to bunt, Watanabe said, &#8220;If you don&#8217;t tell them clearly, they won&#8217;t understand. It is typical of a weak team to be carefree. They don&#8217;t practice enough. The other is Yosuke Hiraishi, 44, the head of the team. Last offseason, after the first year of Matsui&#8217;s administration, he was blunt in his comments to the media: &#8220;Seibu is lukewarm. The strict seniors like Shogo Akiyama (36) and Hotaka Yamakawa (32) and the practice bug had left one after another, and all that remained were young players and players who lead with their backs, such as Sousuke Genda (31). I heard that Head Coach Hiraishi gave them a lot of verbal warnings, but the weight of words is different between a head coach and a manager.</span></p>
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<p>Acting manager Watanabe took over the reins, and with the team losing more games than ever, the search for the next manager was difficult, as he said, &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t matter who takes over. The next <span class="strongInContent">manager</span> is now being considered for the promotion of <span class="strongInContent">Fumiya Nishiguchi, 52,</span> to the position <span class="strongInContent">of second team manager</span>.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Yusuke Torigoe, 53, who served as head coach and second-unit manager of Chiba Lotte, will reportedly be invited as head coach. This is a sign that the baseball team has taken a serious step forward, saying that a &#8220;tough person&#8221; is needed to rebuild the team that has fallen into disrepair. Mr. Nishiguchi is a man of his own pace. Mr. Torigoe is a graduate of Meiji University. Team president Tsuyoshi Okumura (57) is his senior at Meiji University, so he must be in the same line. I think Mr. Watanabe will also step down as GM,&#8221; said Fujimoto.</span></p>
<p>The incident occurred off the field.</p>
<figure id="attachment_393659" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-393659"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="0b633792"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/57f0cdb9bfb64279fff7f87fb263874e.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-393659" class="wp-caption-text">Although GM Watanabe has been in charge since late May, Seibu has the worst record of all time, with 16 consecutive losses to Chiba Lotte and over 90 losses for the season.</figcaption></figure>
<p>From the October 18/25, 2024 issue of FRIDAY</p>
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 The newly born Giants, led by first-year manager Abe, won the championship for the first time in four years, but behind the scenes, the ...... incident occurred off the field! The "secret behind-the-bench report" that the reporters can't write about!

 The Giants' resurgence to win the most games! Tomoyuki Sugano's revival plan / Hanshin's "Post-Okada" adventure / Softbank's "mid-summer purge" that even their own reporters were shaken by / Yakult's aim to "keep Takatsu on" even in the race for last place / Seibu's historic defeat: "Those who predicted it" and more...

The Truth Behind Takatsu’s Tenure Amid Hawks’ Purges: A Confidential Report Beyond Sports Writers’ Reach

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