Scary novice managers who quenched their thirst for victory and the Korea-Japan professional league were all top of their teams in the first year, up to a new record of 91 wins and the most wins

Oct 05, 2024

Kokubo, who set the record for the most wins for a new coach by winning 91 games. Softbank beat Chiba Lotte 1-0 in the final match on the 4th and ended the regular season with five consecutive wins. Photo capture = Softbank Hawks SNS

Softbank has been at the top of the league with an overwhelming ride since April. With all the regular season schedules completed, there are 13.5 games against second-place Nippon Ham with two games remaining. Photo capture = Softbank Hawks SNS

Kokubo said of the record for the most wins for a novice head coach, `It's not impressive because that's not the goal.' Autumn baseball, which is more important than winning the league, is waiting. Photo capture = Softbank Hawks SNS

This season, three out of 12 Japanese professional baseball teams started the season as novice managers. All three retired from the team where they played as main players and took leadership classes. He was a legend who left a clear mark when he was a player, and he had something in common: internal promotion.

At the end of last year's season, Toshiaki Imae (41), a former infielder, took the helm of the Rakuten Eagles, while Shinnosuke Abe (45), a former catcher, took the helm of the Yomiuri Giants, and Hiroki Kokubo (53), a former infielder, took the helm of the Softbank Hawks.

On his forehead, he was the first-team batting coach, Abe was the first-team head coach, and Kokubo was the second-team coach. Kokubo previously served as the head coach of the first team. He was actually waiting for his turn as the next head coach.

When he was a player, he was strong in big games. He played an active role in the Japan Series in 2005 and 2010 when he was a member of the Chiba Lotte Marines. Leading the team to the top, winning the MVP award.

Abe played 19 seasons as a Yomiuri player, recording 2,132 hits, 406 home runs and 1285 home runs. Kokubo, who played for Softbank (Daie) and Yomiuri, posted a total of 2,041 hits, 413 homers, and 1304 RBIs.Abe and Kokubo started after graduating from college and achieved 2,000 hits-400 home runs.

The novice head coach put in his first year. Abe's Yomiuri won the Central League by competing with the Hanshin Tigers right before the end of the pennant race. Under coach Tatsunori Hara, the team, which fell to the B-class (4th to 6th place out of 6 teams) for the second consecutive year in 2022-2023, succeeded in revamping the atmosphere and rose to the top of the league for the first time in four years.

Imae Rakuten competed with Chiba Lotte for third place in the Pacific League. Unfortunately, he failed to advance to autumn baseball due to a lack of hindsight, but his power itself was so weak. Matsui Yuki, who played as the main closing pitcher, moved to the San Diego Padres in the Major League last winter.

Kokubo's Softbank confirmed the top spot in the Pacific League early on. He has been leading the way throughout the season, showing an overwhelming performance in the batting. Orix Buffaloes of the Yamamoto Yoshinobu (LA Dodgers) raged for three years until last year, returning to the top for the first time in four years.

In both Central and Pacific League, a novice head coach burst champagne. In this year's KBO League, coach Lee Bum-ho, a novice head coach, led the KIA Tigers to the championship.

The 143rd game of the season was held at Fukuoka Dome on the 4th. They beat Chiba Lotte 1-0. Ryoya Kurihara's 20th home run of the season in the sixth inning made it a young Bong-seung. He won five consecutive games and finished the regular season in a good mood.

Yomiuri, who stayed in the B-class for two consecutive years, reached the top of the Central League for the first time in four years this season. The Yomiuri players are rinsing manager Abe. Photo capture =Miuri Giants SNS

There are 13.5 games left against the second-place Nippon Ham Fighters. It was 42 games ahead of the last-place Seibu Lions. Softbank ranked first in team batting average, home run, and score in 12 teams in both leagues. The team's ERA was slightly different, ranking third after Yomiuri and Hanshin.

91 wins, three draws, and 49 losses.

Coach Kokubo won the final game of the regular season and the record was followed. It is a new record for the most wins in the first year of the head coach. It exceeded 90 wins posted by Seibu coach Haruki Ihara in 2002 and Softbank coach Kudo Kimiyasu in 2015.

Coach Kokubo said in a media interview on the 4th, `It's not very impressive because it wasn't the goal of (the most wins)." He ranked first in the league somewhat blandly, but autumn baseball is waiting. From the 16th, the Climax Series Final Stage against the second- and third-place winners will begin. Only when we win here can we reach the Japan Series and aim for the top spot in both leagues. The final goal is to win the Japan Series. In other words, a more important task is waiting.

SoftBank is a team that invests generously in strengthening power every year. Like Yomiuri, the goal is to win every season.

For 10 seasons between 2011 and 2020, SoftBank was an absolute powerhouse. During this period, he lifted the Japan Series trophy seven times. He won four consecutive games between 2017 and 2020. In 2019-2020, it humiliated the Yomiuri. He won all four games for the second consecutive year.

Kokubo, who was the leader of Daiei, has a deep relationship with Yomiuri. He was injured during an exhibition game in 2003 and took the entire season off, with the club's high-ranking

Abe led Yomiuri to a league championship in his first year at the helm. He served as the head coach under Hara and succeeded as the head coach last fall. Photo capture =Miuri Giants SNS

There was a conflict.

Kokubo was traded to Yomiuri for free a week after the team won the Japan Series in 2003. It was an incident that turned the Japanese professional baseball upside down and enraged Daiei players. Kokubo, a former captain of Daiei, also claimed in Yomiuri. He played for the Yomiuri Giants for three years and returned to the old team, which changed to Softbank. After six more years, he retired.

huelva@sportschosun.com