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The story
On October 3, 2026, Hanshin headed into Hiroshima with a championship “magic number” of 1, while the Giants faced a game that would lock in their 2nd-place finish. In Central League history, there has never been a year when Hanshin won the pennant and the Giants finished 2nd (in 1962, ’64, ’85, 2003, ’05, ’23, and ’25 the Giants finished anywhere from 3rd to 5th) — attention is now on whether that will finally happen this year. On the 5ch “Giants Acting Manager” thread, alongside interest in this unprecedented combination, posters also traded unconfirmed rumors about Hayato Sakamoto’s retirement, discussed the Chunichi Dragons’ final game of the season, shared news about Hiroshima pitcher Hayato Tsunehiro’s surgery, and exchanged some light banter between Hanshin fans and Hiroshima/Chunichi fans.
What people said
Giants Acting Manager 161
G-DB (Tokyo Dome) 18:00
S-D (Jingu) 18:00
C-T (Mazda Stadium) 14:00
E-B (Rakuten Mobile) 18:00
M-H (ZOZO Marine) 18:00
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/cc59eec029a4466c62d2db1b19b339cb77aa6619
75
18:00
CBC Radio
Commentary: Kenjiro Kawasaki / Play-by-play: Yusuke Sakakibara
This is the Dragons' very last game of the season
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/8e3a091563a6a76bea30942ed649d6cab7d679a0
If Hanshin clinches the pennant, the Giants' 2nd-place finish is also locked in. There has never been a "Hanshin 1st and Giants 2nd" combination in Central League history. Will new history be made?
<Hanshin's championship years and the Giants' finish that year>
'62: Giants 4th
'64: Giants 3rd
'85: Giants 3rd
'03: Giants 3rd
'05: Giants 5th
'23: Giants 4th
'25: Giants 3rd
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/f2791db1bc3a78ce42bc4d0236e0194a7dd25135
Maybe Sakamoto's retiring
At least I don't have to sit through those annoying special broadcasts
What are Giants fans in Kansai gonna do today
Giants fans in Kansai are visibly on the decline anyway
[Added to active roster]
Taichi Taka (C)
[Removed from active roster]
Ken Sugita (C)
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/c9b72a392e42300589aaace6a01fe70448d73355
Finally get why he's being used the way he is
Saturday, October 3, 15:00-18:59, TBS
Chasing an unprecedented 7th consecutive Asian Games title! Yukiko Ueno's Japan softball team is back for its 7th straight Games!
Can the 44-year-old legend lead them to gold!? Japan's judo team, riding a medal rush, goes for a 3rd straight Asian title!
○ Asian Games ★Men's soccer final — the fated Japan-Korea clash★ Japan aims for its first gold in 16 years, plus more
Saturday, October 3, 19:00-22:30, TBS
Oiwa's Japan team fought through a tense semifinal to advance!
Their rival in the final: Korea, the team that's beaten them in the final two Games running.
Can these young samurai, the future of the national team heading into the next World Cup, finally get their revenge?
Gotta watch living legend Yukko go for it!
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/10cd84e0f5548ac36b8e3225d87891a8ca0a2931
Tough for both Takemaru and Urata
G-DB (Tokyo Dome) 18:00
C-T (Mazda Stadium) 14:00 ← day game!
▽ Announced starters for Sat 10/3
(G-DB) Haruta Inoue (L) vs. Shunya Shimada (R)
(C-T) Nobuhiro Morishita (R) vs. Hiroto Saiki (R)
Got the day wrong
My bad
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/c9918bbadaa45573a7768031f2340caf2baca507
Hiroshima announced on the 3rd that pitcher Hayato Tsunehiro underwent "bone spur removal surgery for an olecranon osteophyte disorder" in his right elbow at a hospital in Gunma Prefecture. A recovery timeline hasn't been set, but a return is generally expected within 2-3 months.
Oh right, did Tsunehiro ever "graduate" from that (board injoke about his recurring injuries)?
Could this be a comeback pennant for our team!?
How many minutes behind is that info
Did you just Google the score and post without actually watching?
The Saito on the Fighters (ex-Tigers), that one
Guess I can't deny the Google thing about me…
Hang in there, it's not over yet
If that's the type, I'd guess "Toilet" (a disparaging nickname used on the board) would want him too — but that trade happened back in the Shinjo/Donden (Okada) era: Saito and Egoe for Nabe-ryo and the younger Takahama brother
Background and Key Points
The Giants’ finishes in years Hanshin won the pennant, as laid out in the thread (1962, ’64, ’85, 2003, ’05, ’23, ’25), were all 3rd to 5th place — the combination of Hanshin finishing 1st and the Giants finishing 2nd has never happened in Central League history. This reflects a recurring pattern where a strong Hanshin season has tended to coincide with a struggling Giants season, and attention is now on whether that pattern is finally breaking this year. The comments about Hayato Sakamoto’s retirement remain secondhand — reportedly heard from a team insider — with no confirmation from Sakamoto himself or an official team announcement, so they should be treated with caution. Opinions in the thread diverged over how to read Hanshin’s dominant run: some posters living in the Kansai area voiced weariness over the flood of special TV programming, while others pointed out that the number of Giants fans in Kansai is itself shrinking. True to form for this thread, broad pennant-race talk ran alongside standalone items like the update on Hiroshima pitcher Tsunehiro’s surgery.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Giants Acting Manager 162.”
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