Last week, we examined the history of the Yokohama BayStars and discussed the impending sale of the Central League team and change of ownership from Tokyo Broadcasting Systems Inc. to the DeNA company, and we mentioned where TBS had tried to turn around the fortunes of the club in 2010 by hiring Takao Obana as manager.
Obana, fired on Tuesday, had done a great job as pitching coach with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks and Yomiuri Giants but, as the Yokohama manager, he never got the BayStars out of last place; let alone making the team a playoff contender. I have to tell you, I did not like his style as the field boss.
In person, I saw 14 BayStars games in 2011 and 13 in 2010, plus several more on TV, and I was not impressed. Obana played straight baseball, and there was no excitement. If the leadoff man reached base, the next guy bunted (yawn). On a 3-0 count, batters took a fat, straight, batting practice home run pitch right down the middle of the plate (yawn).
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