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The story
The Yomiuri Giants entered October 18 still under an acting-manager setup, and the thread buzzed with speculation that a new manager could be announced as early as Monday. Some posters pointed out how few realistic candidates remain, while others argued the team shouldn’t limit itself to homegrown star players. Meanwhile, other posts fondly recalled legendary managers like Hirooka and Mori from the Giants’ “V9” dynasty era (nine consecutive Japan Series titles, 1965–1973). The same day also brought talk of the Giants’ farm team beating the Chunichi Dragons 3-0 in the Phoenix League, with Makoto Kadowaki and Ruki Mitsuzuka each hitting solo home runs.
What people said
Giants Acting Manager Thread #180
The real blame goes to Fujikawa for leaving him in across innings, and Fushimi's monotonous pitch-calling didn't help either.
Kakegawa Nishi 7-6 Aikodai Meiden
Kakegawa Nishi held on for the win, scoring 7 runs on 10 hits.
Trailing by 2 in the bottom of the 9th, Aikodai Meiden had a sac bunt from no-out first, a groundout that advanced the runner, and a timely hit to close within one — but couldn't finish the comeback.
Aichi high school baseball is just too intense right now.
Well, that's Meiden for you.
Oct 18 (Sun) 12:30, Ikime No. 2 Stadium
Giants 3-0 Dragons
Home runs:
Makoto Kadowaki — solo
Ruki Mitsuzuka — solo
[Giants] Kadowaki and Mitsuzuka homer — six pitchers combine on a shutout relay starting with Kanya Kinoshita… Phoenix League game vs. Chunichi
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/67ae7fa5cc00d800418c8e2b182bd01f793e051a
Especially since I live in the Kansai area, I really hope Teru's posting-system press conference (note: the posting system lets an NPB player negotiate a move to MLB) doesn't clash with the Giants' new manager announcement.
Ryusuke Kita too — the one on the development roster (note: ikusei, NPB's lower minor-league-only contract tier).
To be fair, it was technically a dangling breaking ball off the plate — normally that doesn't get hit.
The fate of every comedy thread!
Exactly why they should just drop this 'must be a homegrown star' rule.
Watching a statue for 3 whole years would be rough (note: 'jizo,' a stone statue, is slang for a passive, do-nothing manager).
Agreed. Even the Tigers (note: '珍,' a common nickname for the Hanshin Tigers) got weaker faster than expected. At this rate the Central League is basically 0 strong teams and 6 weak ones.
What did you think watching the Tigers this year?
Ah, the hot dogs at Korakuen Stadium were so good… (note: the Giants' home ballpark before Tokyo Dome, demolished in 1988)
Hirooka, Mori, Oh, Horiuchi, Takada — is that about the whole list?
Underestimate the momentum of 'dirty-tricks' Yokohama (note: likely a nickname for the DeNA BayStars) and even Benki can't beat them.
Fujikawa rated guys like Fushimi back in his Orix days. For whatever reason he likes veteran catchers, so if they dangle Kobayashi they'd probably get something decent back.
A dedicated bullpen catcher — not even on the active 70-man roster or the development roster. They need a catcher.
Background and Discussion Points
The Phoenix League is an official fall league played at stadiums in Miyazaki Prefecture, giving young players with limited playing time and players recovering from injury a chance to get game reps. The Giants’ farm team turned in a 3-0 shutout relay against Chunichi that day, which some posters contrasted with the first team’s disappointing performance during the regular season. Separately, NPB managerial announcements tend to cluster around the Draft Meeting for many teams, and the thread’s references to a “homegrown star” hiring standard point to the Giants’ traditional personnel philosophy — but it’s worth noting that no specific successor candidate was named anywhere in the thread, so this remains purely speculative.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and summaries of the 5ch thread “Giants Acting Manager Thread #181.”
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