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The story
Former Yomiuri Giants stars Hideki Matsui and Yoshinobu Takahashi both appeared as instructors at the “Sanrio Baseball Academy” event held in Tokyo on September 12. With both men seen as leading candidates to become the Giants’ next manager, their joint appearance reignited media and fan speculation about a possible “cabinet appointment” (a term used for joining the team’s management). That said, the event was strictly a baseball clinic, and nothing has actually been decided regarding the managerial appointment. On 5ch, reactions were split — some expressed hope, while others were skeptical, arguing Matsui “wouldn’t give up his peaceful life” for the job, and others raised questions about the relationship between the two men.
Giants’ next-manager candidate Hideki Matsui meets his “old ally” — expectations rise for a “Godzilla × Wolf” dream-combo appointment
The Giants are hot on the heels of first-place Hanshin, with a come-from-behind pennant win looking increasingly realistic. Amid this, Hideki Matsui — seen as a candidate for the next managerial job — returned to Japan and met up with another leading candidate. Fans have been buzzing with speculation over the timing of his return and what he said and did there.
The two former Giants players who appeared as instructors at the “Sanrio Baseball Academy” event in Tokyo on September 12 were Hideki Matsui and Yoshinobu Takahashi. After the event wrapped up, they fielded a question about the pennant race with Hanshin.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
The Giants are getting their 10th straight pennant (V10)!!
He's not going to give up his peaceful life just to get flooded with abuse.
From his own perspective, being Giants manager is definitely the short straw he'd rather avoid — but if that "promise to Mr. Nagashima" really is about becoming manager, then maybe he'd actually do it.
He'll do it.
Fulfilling his promise to Manager Nagashima means exactly that.
DeNA is the one actually surging, but it came a bit too late.
there'll probably be some no-expense-spared "celebration" reinforcements.
The DH rule kicks in next year too, so yeah, we might see the Giants go all-out with reinforcements, limiter off.
The newspaper company (Yomiuri) doesn't have that kind of money though.
At least it's not Egawa and Nakahata — this still counts as Heisei era.
You're way too much of a newbie fan when it comes to Matsui.
Just let him do it for 3 years — if it doesn't work out, he'll step down on his own.
Honestly, I've barely heard of any players who were close with Matsui.
Maybe Yoshinobu Murata, at most?
As soon as Motoki and Miyamoto quit as coaches, the team won the pennant the very next year.
It'd be hilarious if the two managers settled whose strategy to use mid-game with rock-paper-scissors lol
That's basically the Giants right now.
Hashigami is the acting manager, but it's Kawai who's actually calling the signs.
Apparently Kawai decides the starting lineup too.
That would've been impossible while Watanabe (Nabetsune) was still alive.
You need to be at least that strict to manage a team.
Yoshinobu Takahashi, Tadahito Iguchi, Hideki Okajima
Do you not have ears or something?
Yutaka Wada: "Yeah, exactly."
but I wish he'd get some managerial experience somewhere else first.
If he manages elsewhere first, it'll lose its freshness, so that's not happening.
If anything, it'd be a farm-team (ni-gun) manager job — but you can't have a National Honor Award recipient doing that.
*Since Tetsuharu Kawakami, first appointment only
Tetsuharu Kawakami 1961 age 41
Shigeo Nagashima 1975 age 39
Motoshi Fujita 1981 age 49
Sadaharu Oh 1984 age 43
Tatsunori Hara 2002 age 43
Tsuneo Horiuchi 2004 age 56
Yoshinobu Takahashi 2016 age 40
Shinnosuke Abe 2024 age 45
Youngest: Shigeo Nagashima, 39
Oldest: Tsuneo Horiuchi, 56
Background and key points of this discussion
The Giants are currently being led by acting manager Tadaki Hashigami following manager Shinnosuke Abe’s leave of absence. Some comments point out that batting coach Kazuhiro Kawai is effectively the one calling signs and setting the starting lineup, and this lack of clarity in the chain of command is part of what’s fueling interest in who becomes the next full-time manager. Since retiring as a player, Matsui has held roles such as advisor for the Yankees, but he has kept his distance from coaching on the Japanese baseball scene, so it remains uncertain whether a managerial appointment would go smoothly. On the thread, some commenters point to his “promise” with Shigeo Nagashima, while others voiced skepticism about him taking the job, citing the harsh treatment and public scrutiny that comes with it — producing a mixed reaction of hope and doubt.
*This article is compiled by excerpting and summarizing the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “Giants’ next-manager candidate Hideki Matsui meets his ‘old ally’ — expectations rise for a ‘Godzilla × Wolf’ dream-combo appointment.”
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