Nikkan Sports newspaper, in its July 24 edition, ran a story speculating who would be the manager of the Nippon Ham Fighters when the team moves to Sapporo in 2004. The headline read, "Oya ka? Gaikokujin ka?" meaning it could be former Yokohama BayStars manager and Yakult Swallows catcher Akihiko Oya or a foreigner. A subhead said the club will surely be looking for a new skipper to go with its new image in its new home the year after next.
Oya fared rather well in his lone two-year stint as a field boss with Yokohama. Though the team finished fifth in the Central League under him in 1996, he led the BayStars to a strong second-place finish in 1997 but for some reason was fired. He would be a good choice to lead the Fighters to the north country, but the prospect of a foreign manager is very interesting.
It will have been nine years since Bobby Valentine guided the Chiba Lotte Marines to the runnerup spot in the Pacific League in 1995, and maybe Japan is ready for another American manager in the wake of the relative success achieved by foreign managers in the recent soccer World Cup: Frenchman Philippe Troussier with Japan and Dutchman Guus Hiddink of Korea.