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The story
Reports say the name of Giants great Tatsunori Hara has suddenly surfaced as a candidate to become the team’s next manager. In this season’s Central League, the Hanshin Tigers clinched their first-ever back-to-back pennant on October 3, while the Giants stayed in the title race but ultimately fell short. Tigers manager Akinobu Okada commented that “the Giants have done well given their roster.” On 5ch forums, opinions split sharply: some want the current coaching staff to continue, others back Shinnosuke Abe staying on or being promoted, while strong objections to Hara — citing past scandals — also emerged.
There’s talk of pushing Tatsunori Hara for the Giants’ manager job next season. The Giants stayed in this year’s title race but couldn’t close it out when it mattered. Given his wealth of experience, track record, and relentless focus on winning, it’s natural that Hara’s name would come up.
This season’s Central League race went down to the wire, with Hanshin clinching their first-ever back-to-back pennant on October 3. The Giants fought hard to the end but came up short.
“No, I think the Giants have done well given their roster. I honestly thought they’d finish in the bottom half this year. Hashigami is something else.” (Akinobu Okada, Hochi Shimbun, October 3)
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Seriously, the Giants are idiots
His birthday's the same as mine though
Want him back as manager in three years
His last team as a player was the Tigers, after all
Let's make Sakamoto player-manager here
Even managers are in short supply these days
and Abe gets promoted from chief coach — that flow works for me
Any pro baseball story not from a sports paper is just speculation
This one's just AERA (a weekly news magazine) making stuff up too
Sports papers say → Kudoh
General papers say → Kuwata
Though Kuwata's name probably hasn't even come up
The Tigers don't have any young talent either
It's just a phase
He's getting up there in age for a first-time manager
No MLB team's going to pick him up at this point
He'll come home no matter who's managing
His name surfaces every time, but he never becomes manager
That's pretty lame
Well, but if anyone's going to mentor Hideki Matsui into managing, I guess it has to be Tatsunori Hara…
Your mom, you mean?
How old are you, posting this on a weekday morning
Come on, that'd be too cruel to Yoshinobu…
Background and Key Points
Tatsunori Hara has managed the Giants three separate times in the past and has a Japan Series championship to his name; since stepping down after the 2023 season, Shinnosuke Abe has been at the helm. It’s worth noting that this “sudden emergence” report is speculation from general and sports newspapers, not an official announcement from the club — a point also raised in the thread, where one poster noted that “any pro baseball story not from a sports paper is just speculation.” The split in opinion comes down to a clash between those who want Hara back based on his managerial record and track record, and those opposed, citing past tabloid scandals. It’s also worth keeping in mind that this managerial-change talk isn’t necessarily driven by poor team performance, given that Tigers manager Akinobu Okada — whose team won the pennant — himself praised the Giants for “doing well given their roster.”
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku Sokuho+) thread “[Baseball] Tatsunori Hara suddenly surfaces as Giants’ next manager candidate“.
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