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The story
On 5ch’s “Anything Live Broadcast G” board, discussion was heating up over who might manage the Chunichi Dragons next season. Posters reacted with surprise to reports that Koichi Ogata was the frontrunner for the job, while big names like former players Kimiyasu Kudo and Masumi Kuwata also had their names floated — though many questioned how realistic it was for someone to take over a team they’d had no ties to as a player. Comments attributed to former catcher Takeshi Nakamura were also quoted, as posters weighed the chances of other names in the mix, including Hatsuhiko Tsuji and Hirokazu Ibata.
What people said
If this actually happens, an Ogata vs. Arai last-place battle would be hilarious to watch
By that logic, none of the big names would ever take the job
GM Tatsunami can handle Nagoya's political and business circles
Miyamoto isn't really popular though
That's the tough part when a player you loved becomes manager — you have to watch them get hated on
Maybe for Samurai Japan, but not for a team like Chunichi
He did come manage DeNA though…
Kudo's already said he'd take a manager job if offered one — he's not really the type to worry about his reputation
Kudo went to Meiden (Nagoya Denki, a well-known Nagoya-area high school)
Does just being from the area mean he'd actually join a team he had no ties to as a player?
That connection feels way too thin
He was a Chunichi coach at one point, remember?
He's coached at Chunichi before and has a managerial track record — honestly it makes more sense for his name to come up than Kuwata's or Kudo's
Tatsunami doesn't seem like he'd want that
Most people only picture Occhi (nickname for Hiromitsu Ochiai) at Chunichi or the Giants
Wasn't he at Nippon-Ham too?
He was briefly at Lotte and Nippon-Ham too, near the end of his career
Some people don't even know Occhi was ever at Nippon-Ham — that image just never stuck
He's from Akita
I think he went straight from being a Chunichi coach to manager
Yeah, from Akita — he'd been a coach the year before. He only took the job because Hoshino said he'd back him up, and then Hoshino turned around and poached Shimano too on his way to the Tigers. That's a rough story
Personally I think Kuwata's pretty old-school (Showa-era mentality) too though
No idea about his baseball philosophy, but at least he doesn't seem like the power-harassment type
You'll end up dreaming of a Furuta- or Tanishige-style manager
Shima — not impossible
Araki — not right now
Ibata — not next year
Tsujimoto — apparently he keeps turning it down himself, so no
Kudo — no
Kuwata — can't say anything careless about this one
Lol what is this
Basically already answered
So Kuwata, huh
Masa also said something like — since he hasn't heard of anyone from the Chubu region being approached for a coaching job, the manager's probably going to be someone from Kanto or Kansai
Is that really okay…?
People with great skill can't understand people without it
Training someone's control to be like Uehara's or Kuwata's is way less reproducible than just training a wild pitcher to throw 155 km/h — that's dozens of times more consistent as training…
Yeah, that's true
In that case, maybe someone like Ibata?
Then it'd just be Tatsunami
Which manager would actually drive fans away?
Someone with yakuza ties or something?
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Speculation about the Chunichi Dragons’ next manager is an annual post-season topic, but this time the fresh angle is the report that Koichi Ogata is the frontrunner. Ogata previously managed the Hiroshima Carp, so a move to Chunichi is seen as a surprising choice even within the organization. Big names like Kimiyasu Kudo and Masumi Kuwata also had their names floated, though many think it’s unlikely someone would take over a team they had no connection to as a player. Within the thread, the debate centered on whether the priority should be “a manager who can build a strong team” versus “a manager who can draw fans,” with Kazuyoshi Tatsunami and Hirokazu Ibata’s names coming up in the latter context. Comments attributed to former Chunichi catcher Takeshi Nakamura are also quoted, but readers should note that the source and timing can’t be confirmed from the text itself — it’s circulating on 5ch strictly as secondhand information.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary from the 5ch (Anything Live Broadcast G) thread “[Headquarters] The Chunichi Dragons’ next-manager candidates have been narrowed down to these BIG 6.”
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