Inside the Giants’ Push for Hideki Matsui as New Manager and Plans to Double TV Broadcasts

Even team staff said, “I just found out”

Hideki Matsui (52), a former Giants player who currently serves as a special adviser to the Yankees’ general manager, has been appointed the new manager of the Yomiuri Giants. The appointment was officially announced at a hotel in Tokyo on the afternoon of October 23.

Former manager Shinnosuke Abe (47) was arrested in the act just before interleague play and resigned the following day. Acting manager Hideki Hashigami (60) took over the team, but the Giants finished second in the league and were eliminated in the first round of the Climax Series. In their bid to reclaim the championship for the first time in three years, the team turned to “Godzilla,” Matsui, who hit a combined 507 home runs in Japan and the United States.

A team staff member said:

“At the press conference, team owner Toshikazu Yamaguchi (69) explained that the offer was made after the season ended, but it seems negotiations had been underway behind the scenes for some time. The team treated its talks with Matsui as top secret and made sure that staff members avoided contacting him directly as much as possible.

Yoshinobu Takahashi (51), who is friends with Matsui through email and had been considered the leading candidate for the managerial position, reportedly served as the go-between. He is also widely expected to join the coaching staff. Very few people within the organization knew the full details of the negotiations over the managerial appointment. Even I only found out a little while ago that Matsui had accepted the job.”

In the days leading up to the announcement, team officials had received a surge of inquiries from reporters seeking confirmation of the rumors. The team, however, reportedly maintained complete silence.

“Usually, information like ‘It looks like Mr. So-and-so is getting the job’ leaks out from somewhere. But no matter what we asked, all we got was, ‘Please wait until the official announcement.’ The fact that they were keeping everything so tightly under wraps made me wonder if something was up… but I never imagined Matsui would actually become manager. The Giants may have less influence than they once did, but they are still the most powerful team in Japanese baseball. Their information control was impressive.” (TV network employee based in Tokyo)

The “Matsui fever” has apparently already begun.

“Nippon TV seems to have already started considering doubling the number of Giants games broadcast on terrestrial television. Ratings for baseball broadcasts have been declining year after year, but things are different when Matsui is the manager. There is no other manager who can draw this kind of audience. The Giants had around 20 games broadcast on terrestrial TV this season, but that number could rise to around 40 next season.” (Nippon TV employee)

Matsui has stated that he will take charge starting with the autumn training camp on October 30. He is also expected to take part in contract negotiations with first-round draft pick Shoki Oda (18), a right-handed pitcher who was a surprise selection.

The long-awaited “Matsui Giants” are finally becoming a reality. How will the team be transformed?