Playback ’05] “We were in the mood to make up, but…” Kiyohara and Manager Horiuchi: The “cold war” witnessed by this magazine

The path they took at the end of their feud…

The two men’s feud was the result of their voluntary training, in which they were prepared to “drink water out of mud,” as Kiyohara said in the off-season when it was decided that he would remain with the team. Kiyohara was assigned the No. 4 spot at the start of the 2005 season, and although he had a good start, hitting 500 homers in April, becoming the eighth player in history to do so, his performance gradually declined due to a series of injuries and other problems.

He also had an ongoing feud with manager Horiuchi. On August 4, 2005, he lashed out at a reporter for complaining about being demoted to No. 7 and refused to high-five the manager, coaches, and players after hitting a home run.

After the season, Kiyohara was given a letter of resignation and transferred to the Orix. And because the team finished fifth in the standings, manager Horiuchi also resigned. The two men, who had been bitter enemies, left the Giants at the same time, coincidentally.