Hanshin Manager Kyuji Fujikawa’s “Outburst of Frustration”… Furious Over Repeated Hit-by-Pitch Incidents and Player Scandals, He Says, “Young Players Can’t Even Chat”

A “Cold Shoulder” Toward Former Players

With about 30 regular-season games remaining, the Central League championship race appears to be a head-to-head battle between the Hanshin Tigers and the Yomiuri Giants. However, Hanshin manager Kyuji Fujikawa (46), who is aiming for the team’s first-ever back-to-back league titles, is reportedly growing increasingly frustrated with each passing day.

“Although Hanshin currently holds the advantage, there’s no guarantee the Giants won’t stage a comeback, so I keep my postgame press conference remarks to a minimum. Especially after a loss, I just repeat a phrase along the lines of, ‘All we can do is focus on tomorrow.’

His cold treatment of former players who visit for interviews has intensified; it’s often the case that he practically ignores them even when they come to say hello. One former player who came up through the team’s farm system even confided to a reporter, ‘It’s not the players’ fault, but I just can’t bring myself to root for Kyuji.’ I suppose that just shows how focused he is on the season, but I wonder what he plans to do during the offseason…” (Team official)

What is clearly frustrating Manager Fujikawa the most is the growing number of hit-by-pitch incidents.

“As of August 18, the Hanshin Tigers lead all 12 teams with 54 hit-by-pitches.There was even a scene where he stormed out of the dugout during the game against the Giants right after the Obon holiday began. The reason is simple and clear: as a backlash to their runaway championship last season, more and more teams are instructing their pitching staffs to ‘aim for the inside corner against our key players.’Led by Teruaki Sato (27), who is aiming for the Triple Crown, players like Shota Morishita (26) and Yusuke Oyama (31) cannot be held in check unless they flinch at pitches on the inside corner.

Manager Fujikawa normally believes that “players should be rotated to give them rest,” but with a thin bench, he simply can’t do that.The team has entered a “vicious cycle” where its core hitters, who play in every game, are constantly targeted. The increasingly frustrated manager is adopting a combative stance, declaring, “It’s about time we fought back (in a battle of hit-by-pitches)!” and Chief Hitting Coach Eiichi Kotani (45) is in agreement,” said a team staff member.

It’s said that Head Coach Yutaka Wada (63) and others are desperately trying to calm the on-edge Manager Fujikawa, but the tension on the bench continues to mount nonetheless. It is the young Tigers who are cowering in fear.

“Manager Fujikawa initially aimed for a runaway championship, just like last year, but he’s growing even more frustrated because the team hasn’t been able to pull away from the Giants, whose lineup is several notches below ours. Since he often takes his frustration out on the bench, the young players are constantly watching his every move.Furthermore, the manager has imposed strict media control both last year and this year, and has mercilessly benched any young players who made careless remarks to the press. As a result, some young players reportedly say, ‘We can’t even chat casually on the bench…’” (ibid.)

Amid this tense atmosphere within the team, on August 19, FRIDAY reported on Ryoto Ihara’s (26) “assault while heavily intoxicated.”

“The manager is absolutely furious. However, the team has reportedly instructed various media outlets not to ask Manager Fujikawa any questions regarding Ihara. Since this is a player’s scandal, one would hope for at least a brief comment from the manager… but as things stand, it’s being completely ignored.”

With the crucial final stretch of the season underway, let’s hope the manager’s frustration doesn’t spread in unexpected ways…