Hanshin Manager Fujikawa “clashes with coaches” in Japan Series…triggered by “Duplantier’s arbitrary appointment in Game 2”.

Surprise strategy fails

On October 30, the Hanshin baseball team, seeking its first Japan championship in two years, lost Game 5 of the Japan Series against SoftBank at their home ground in Koshien, ending their season.

The Hawks’ bottom line was strong. They were strong. ……

After the game, manager Kyuji Fujikawa (45) opened the game by saying, “We won the first game of the “Battle of the Tigers and Hawks” for the first time in 11 years since 2014, but from there we lost four straight games in a nightmare.

Four of the five games were decided by a single point, so the argument is often made that the losses were close, but an alumnus of the baseball team says, “The difference was obvious.

The main reason was that Yusuke Oyama (30), the mainstay of the Hawks lineup, was in a slump during the series. The Hawks’ battery focused on Oyama, whose batting average was below 10% in the Climax Series, and took thorough countermeasures. Analyzing that he had a noticeable swing and miss, they threw fastballs to his chest, a pitch distribution that worked beautifully.

In contrast, SoftBank’s infielder Hotaka Yamakawa (33), who had been out of form during the regular season, “woke up” with arches in three consecutive games, tying a series record. The difference in the fielders was obvious in this series. In particular, I think the second game was a watershed. The heavy defeat in that game gave the Hawks a big boost.

Morigi Akira (88), the famous general who once led the ever-victorious Seibu team, advocated the theory that “the second game is the most important in the Japan Series,” and former Giants manager Tatsunori Hara (67) agreed with this opinion.

It was during the second game of the series that a number of players and staff members testified that “an atmosphere of disquiet” had begun to flow among the Hanshin bench. What exactly happened?

Fujikawa and the coaches clashed over the use of starter John Duplantier (31),” said a team staff member.

Duplantier had been a part of the starting rotation since the opening day of the season, pitching in 15 games and winning six. He pitched consistently with a 1.39 earned-run average, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio of 11.22 was impressive.

However, his last appearance for the first team was on August 9 at Kyocera Dome against Yakult, and since then he has been in the second team.

In fact, he had not pitched enough in the farm system, and he did not pitch in the CS. However, manager Fujikawa decided to use him in the second game of the Japan Series because he thought it would be a surprise to have him pitch in the Japan Series. Of course, the pitching coach and other leaders strongly advised him not to do so, but he decided on his own to send him to the mound.

As a result, Duplantier gave up seven runs in the middle of the second inning. This is a judgment call, and there have been many cases in which Fujikawa’s arbitrary decision worked out well, but since this game was to be a key game on the grand stage of the Japan Series, he could have been a little more careful. In fact, there was a coach who said, “As has been the case since the beginning of the season, if you don’t listen to our opinions more, the relationship of trust will collapse,” said a source close to the team.

The information about this clash of opinions spread quickly throughout the team after the loss in the Japan Series.

At that time, it was announced that pitching coach Satoru Kanamura (49) was leaving the team and that battery coach Katsunori Nomura (52) would be reassigned to another position. As for Mr. Kanamura, his contract expired, but some unscrupulous people speculated that he and Director Fujikawa may have decided to leave their current positions due to differences in opinion. Some people even speculate that they both left their current positions due to differences of opinion with Director Fujikawa.

After the game, Fujikawa spoke of his defeat, saying, “I found what I need to do, including myself, again. It is the fate of a coach of a winning team to be accused of misdirection. Next season, will he be more flexible in accepting the opinions of the coaches, or will he be more dogmatic in the big games?