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The story
The Yomiuri Giants, locked in a fierce pennant race with the Hanshin Tigers, are buzzing with talk about next season’s managerial appointment. Former manager Shinnosuke Abe abruptly resigned in May, and coach Hideki Hashigami has been serving as acting manager ever since — but he’s seen as unlikely to be promoted to the job outright. An AERA DIGITAL article hinted that there’s someone who ‘absolutely must become manager,’ phrasing it in a way that seemed to point not to presumed favorite Hayato Sakamoto but to someone else entirely. On 5ch, users ran with the article’s provocative headline, floating names like Seiji Kobayashi and Tomoyuki Sugano, and even Suguru Egawa and Tsuyoshi Shinjo, while others pointed out the unwritten rule that a Giants manager must be a homegrown player who was either a cleanup hitter or an ace. The discussion also touched on Sakamoto’s track record and the long-standing exclusion of Egawa from managerial consideration over his brief stint with the Hanshin Tigers.
9/16 (Wed) 12:30 — AERA DIGITAL
Attention is turning to the Yomiuri Giants’ managerial appointment for next season and beyond, as the team wages a fierce pennant race against the Hanshin Tigers.
Acting manager Hideki Hashigami took the helm on May 26 following former manager Shinnosuke Abe’s abrupt resignation, and through skillful bench management and deployment of players, he has put the team within reach of a come-from-behind title against a stacked Hanshin roster. Even so, the prevailing view is that Hashigami is unlikely to be promoted to full-time manager this coming offseason.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Sakamoto: "The analyst should be the one to become manager."
Huh?
Who's going around saying such sloppy stuff, lol
I thought there was news about Abe coming back, was that wrong?
Is this just a clickbait rumor piece?
It was just Hirooka saying things like
"What if they brought Abe back?"
"An outsider can't teach the Giants' tradition and pride"
"It's strange why they let Hashigami, one of Nomura's disciples, serve as acting manager"
Sincere guys won't cut it
You need someone who can play the heel
There's no upside to this 'pure bloodline' policy
Did Sakamoto even bat cleanup that much, though?
Dave's a problem child but he could work too
Might as well go with Kiyo at this point
Kiyo's great
'Baseball, totally turnt' (a dark joke about his past drug scandal — gangimari is slang for being high, and yakiu is meme-speak for 'baseball')
Isn't he popular with the middle-aged auntie Giants fans?
There's even a bento named after him or something on the Tokyo Dome menu
so he must be popular, right?
Kuwata's next in line after him
Because of the 'pure bloodline' policy
Egawa was with the Hanshin Tigers for even just a moment
Background and key points of discussion
Former Giants manager Shinnosuke Abe abruptly resigned in May, and coach Hideki Hashigami has been running the team as acting manager ever since. There’s said to be an unwritten rule that a Giants manager must be a homegrown player who served as cleanup hitter or ace, with Hayato Sakamoto widely seen as the frontrunner — though there’s also strong support for keeping Hashigami on permanently. The thread mainly revolved around two points. First, in response to the article’s provocative line about someone who ‘absolutely must become manager,’ a string of half-joking posts floated names other than Sakamoto — Seiji Kobayashi, Tomoyuki Sugano, and even Suguru Egawa, Masumi Kuwata, and Tsuyoshi Shinjo. Second, there was debate over the ‘homegrown’ requirement itself, tied to the fact that Egawa has reportedly been excluded from managerial consideration because of his brief stint with the Hanshin Tigers. It’s worth noting that the ‘Abe comeback’ claim mentioned in the article appears to be little more than speculation based on the personal opinion of Tatsuro Hirooka.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread ‘[Giants] Not Sakamoto: Who’s the Active Player Being Hailed as the One Who ‘Absolutely Must Become Manager’?.’
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