Orix Buffaloes manager Katsuhiro Nakamura said Wednesday he is stepping down as skipper of the Pacific League club.
Orix Buffaloes Manager Katsuhiro Nakamura leaves a press conference held on Wednesday night at Skymark Stadium to announce his resignation as manager after his team concluded the season with a 52-81-3 record.
KYODO PHOTONakamura made the announcement with club president Takashi Koizumi in attendance after the team's season-ending game against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles at Skymark Stadium.
Nakamura, 57, led a team that acquired sluggers Kazuhiro Kiyohara and Norihiro Nakamura in a bid to make the playoffs, but the team was hit with a series of injuries before slumping in the standings and finishing fifth with a 52-81-3 record.
"I had high expectations for the team from the beginning of the season, but when we finish close to 30 games below .500 it's time to draw the line," Nakamura said.
"I have to apologize for my inadequacy. We lost three straight to Rakuten in mid-August and I was pretty shaken up by that."
A former Hanshin Tigers manager, Nakamura became the Orix general manager in 2003 and worked on bolstering the team through its merger with the Kintetsu Buffaloes. He became manager after the late Akira Ogi stepped down in the 2005 offseason.