Giants’ Acting Manager Hashigami Set to Step Down — Hideki Matsui Among Successor Candidates; 5ch: ‘Like He’d Take That Job Now’

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The story

The Yomiuri Giants’ acting manager, Hideki Hashigami (60), is expected to step down, with Hideki Matsui, Yoshinobu Takahashi, and coach Kawai among the names floated as potential successors. Former manager Shinnosuke Abe (47) left the dugout after the team’s Climax Series elimination loss to DeNA, and it has now been decided he will return to the organization. On 5ch, posters voiced skepticism over whether Matsui — who lives in New York and has his children’s schooling to consider — would really take the manager’s job, while also debating whether coach Kawai, who once played for another team (Chunichi), fits the unwritten rule that Giants managers must be “homegrown.”

Giants’ Acting Manager Hideki Hashigami Set to Step Down — Hideki Matsui, Yoshinobu Takahashi, Coach Kawai Among Successor Candidates; Former Manager Shinnosuke Abe to Return to the Organization

It was learned on the 11th that Giants acting manager Hideki Hashigami (60) is expected to step down.

Former manager Shinnosuke Abe (47), who had been running the team since resigning and taking charge from the interleague games onward, saw the Giants eliminated this day after losing Game 2 of the Climax Series (CS) First Stage to DeNA.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

2AnonymousOct 12, 2026 01:45
Honestly, watching the Burger King mascot on YouTube is more fun than watching Peace-kun, the mascot of Omiya Park.
3AnonymousOct 12, 2026 01:46
Matsui already made his fortune — no way he's taking this job at this point.
15AnonymousOct 12, 2026 01:52
Can Kawai even become manager after once playing for another team?
Isn't there an unwritten rule that it has to be a homegrown guy?
23AnonymousOct 12, 2026 01:55
Re: #15
Hashigami, who has zero ties to the team, pulling off 'acting' manager was already an irregular exception.
But becoming the real 'manager'? That's another story.
Kawai wasn't even a core hitter, and he left the team on bad terms once before.
It's Hara.
22AnonymousOct 12, 2026 01:55
Kawai's a no-go. Back when it wasn't clear if he'd leave the Giants,
he went and joined Ochiai's Chunichi. I'm a Chunichi fan myself, but still.
If Matsui agrees, it's Matsui. If he turns it down, it'll be Hara or Uehara.
34AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:00
Re: #22
Hashigami, who isn't even a Giants alum, got the acting manager job over Kawai.
There's no way Kawai becomes manager now.
25AnonymousOct 12, 2026 01:57
Fans are tired of Hara too —
the only choice that would actually make them happy is Matsui.
39AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:02
Re: #25
Matsui's still based in the US with his kids' schooling to think about — no way he takes this, especially with the roster as it is.
It makes more sense to think he'd take the job together with the new Tsukiji stadium project.
Whether his popularity and name value still carry that much weight these days, though, who knows.
29AnonymousOct 12, 2026 01:58
That said, I really think the Giants feel a sense of crisis,
so a 'Matsui Giants' might actually happen.
Countering the Tigers and Kudoh's Chunichi would take that kind of impact.
37AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:01
Re: #29
I heard Matsui turned the team down even when Nagashima was on his deathbed and personally asked him — that's gotta mean he doesn't trust the front office.
He's not coming back unless they offer him something like an executive-level front-office position.
A manager job alone won't cut it.
41AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:03
Matsui's not giving up his easy life in New York just to become manager.
43AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:04
Re: #41
A manager's just a disposable piece anyway.
Matsui's no fool — he figured that out long ago.
45AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:05
There's history and pride behind only picking homegrown alumni who've never worn another team's uniform.
Even Sadaharu Oh never got that job, so 'Matsui' or 'Uehara,' lol, no way that's happening.

Actually, is there not a single alum out there willing to step up and say 'I'll turn this team around'? Pathetic.
50AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:06
Re: #45
What's this guy even talking about.
56AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:08
Re: #45
He did manage, after Fujita…
100AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:28
Re: #45 is probably trolling
Pitcher Kadotori!! (another old Giants name — just a joking jab)
62AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:10
Re: #56
That was before Oh went to SoftBank, lol
69AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:12
Re: #62
'Furuta's Formula' covered the story of how Oh ended up going to Daiei recently.
Apparently he turned it down at first, but Nemoto — on his deathbed — reportedly said that since Oh was even willing to hear the offer out, there was still a chance, so push him into it.
In a way, it was Nemoto's last power play (寝技, lit. a 'grappling hold' — a final clever maneuver).
67AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:12
Even if they're bringing Abe back out of pity, they should at least give it a year or two cooling-off period.
Why hand the haters more ammo to pile on?
Do fans even want this?
71AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:14
What about Hashimoto or Monna? Wouldn't they work?
104AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:29
Re: #90
Probably because they got good reviews at the WBC or something.
Even with an incompetent manager, the setup had the number two covering for him.

Re: #71
'Hashimoto, Monna' — sounds like the name of a once-in-a-millennium talent (well, the name alone, anyway).
75AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:16
Egawa never did end up managing, huh.
84AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:20
Oh, there's Komada. He'd be fine.
He seems like the type who'd yell 'You idiot!' at the mound every single game.
88AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:21
Re: #84
What about Makihara?
90AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:21
Why did Hashigami become a Giants coach when he's not even a Giants alum?
98AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:25
Re: #88
Wasn't Makihara the guy who had a huge contract dispute? Something about free agency.
I'd say his odds are even lower than Kuwata's.
106AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:29
Re: #98
The Giants really are something, holding a grudge over a free-agency spat, lol

As a former Giants fan, it's sad seeing the team fall this far — there's barely a trace of what it used to be.
105AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:29
Can Matsui even manage a team?
111AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:33
Re: #105
I figured his Yankees minor-league roving instructor gig was just an honorary title in name only,
but I was surprised to see him going around coaching really seriously.
He might actually be cut out for that kind of work.
114AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:34
Re: #111
I'd love to see that, just once.
109AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:30
What about Toshihisa Nishi?
118AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:35
Re: #109
At least his face kind of resembles Yoshinobu Yamamoto's, I'll give him that.
115AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:34
He cleaned up Abe's mess and this is the thanks he gets
They should've just given him a full season, even just one.
122AnonymousOct 12, 2026 02:40
Re: #115
What are you talking about?
Hashigami was only brought in as a Giants coach because Abe called him up.
Now that Abe's gone from the field staff, there's no reason left to keep him on (as a coach).

Background and Key Points of the Debate

This season, following former manager Shinnosuke Abe’s resignation, the Giants took the unusual step of appointing Hideki Hashigami — a man with no field-management experience who isn’t even a Giants alum — as acting manager. Giants managerial succession has traditionally gone to homegrown alumni, so the thread’s central debate was over whether someone like coach Kawai, who once played for another team, could become manager. Hideki Matsui’s name comes up readily as a candidate, but opinions are split on how realistic that actually is, given his continued life and coaching work in the US and some skepticism about his relationship with the front office. As for the circumstances of former manager Abe’s resignation and the assessment of his return to the organization, the thread contained no definitive information beyond what’s already been reported, and comments offering uncertain personal judgments have been left out of this article.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuhou+) thread ‘[Breaking] Giants’ Acting Manager Hideki Hashigami Set to Step Down… Hideki Matsui, Yoshinobu Takahashi, Coach Kawai Among Successor Candidates; Former Manager Shinnosuke Abe to Return to the Organization‘.

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