The announcement last week by Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Trey Hillman that he would step down at the end of the season came as a shocker.
I never saw it coming and, while I'm sorry Hillman will be leaving, I understand his first obligation is to his family and wish him the best in the United States.
It was in the fall of 2002 when his name first surfaced here as the man likely to take over the manager's job in the Fighters dugout for 2003.