Oh Sadaharu-kantoku to Retire in 2008

With Oh-kantoku's health problems over the last couple years, I should think that it's about time he retired. He has a long and dignified career, both as a player and as a manager. But it makes you wonder, who will replace him at the helm of the Hawks? And when he retires, will some personnel turnover be in order?

Good riddance.

He was a quality player, and I felt sorry for him always being in Nagashima's shadow. Oh was far better, IMHO.

His antics as manager in preserving his home run record are a huge stain on his career. That kind of cheap antic has no place in professional ball.

Oh has proven himself to be a man of class in every situation I've seen him in. I think the stuff about Rhodes, Cabrera, and Bass not getting pitches to hit is blown way out of proportion by casual observers of the sport. Oh has never proven himself to be that kind of person, so why would that change in those instances? It's about consistency and he is consistently not the kind of person to pull those kind of tactics.

Knowing Japanese pitchers, I'm almost positive that all of those guys threw junk on their own. Nobody wants to be known as the guy who gave up #56. A Japanese player would be known for his whole career for doing that, since they're usually with their teams for longer and NPB is a lot smaller than MLB. I couldn't even tell you the name of the Nationals' pitcher who gave up 756 to Bonds.

You saying, "Good riddance." to Oh shows that you know absolutely nothing about yakyu. It's even more pathetic since the guy is recovering from a bout with cancer. That 2003 Hawks team is still one of the most amazing lineups Japan has ever seen, and I doubt all those players would've been there if Oh hadn't been manager.

Well, the commissioner of baseball in Japan at the time thought that Oh's team was totally devoid of good sportsmanship. As manager, he would have to have been blind not to see what was happening. If you know Japanese baseball, you also know that pitchers get most of their instruction from the bench. They would rarely, if ever, freelance how to pitch.

The first time? Possibly a coincidence. But not the second or third.

Ironically (since Oh himself is not Japanese), there was also an element of racism in the fact that foreign players were blocked from getting a fair shot at Oh's record.

As I said, a great player but a tarnished reputation.

What I want to know is, who do you blame for the pitchers those batters faced from teams other than the Hawks (Cabrera and Rhodes) and Giants (Bass)? There is no way that a manager can control every single pitcher on his staff, let alone the entire league, in a situation like that. The ball isn't thrown out of Oh's hand. What's he going to say?

"Throw him a fastball right down the middle. I want to see my record broken today."

Of course he doesn't want his record to be broken, but that doesn't mean he'd order every pitcher to throw junk. There has to be a middle ground there. Not everything is so black and white.

Back on topic for a moment here.

I think with the way they've been promoting Akiyama these few years, he could be in line to take over Oh's position when Oh-kantoku does retire.

I think they even had reports back then that he was a likely candidate.

The other teams clearly were beyond Oh's direct control. Still, there was probably an element of favoritism present. They would rather a long term NPB player keep the record than a journeyman from overseas.

As for Oh's own teams, he was the manager. He controlled the games. If Oh says, "pitch around the guy," then the pitchers will pitch around him. If Oh says, "pitch like you normally would," then they will. It was pretty blatant, you have to admit. Plus, it happened on more than one occasion.

Like I said, he was a great player, nobody can take that away from him. But any manager who would try and preserve his record the way Oh did (or allowed his teams to do so) deserves little respect.

As a life-long (since their move to Fukuoka in 1989) Hawks fan, I can't help but have mixed feelings about Oh.

When we found out he was going to replace Nemoto, we couldn't have been happier. Nemoto's lineups were carved in stone to the point of lunacy. Akiyama was always clean-up and center field, and when he was injured, Nemoto puts in .105 utility outfielder Satoh (who is long gone now) in his place. Oh replaced Nemoto (who went to the GM position, I believe) after 1994, the Hawks' first .500+ season in Fukuoka. There were high expectations.

Oh, to us, seemed a little too much the opposite. He'd make lineup changes, defensive substitutions, and pitching changes that had us scratching our heads (more than most managers do to fans ).

In 1997 he was almost fired until the Hawks finished .500 for the first time since 1994. Then in 1998, the "dynasty" began. The Hawks did not finishing below .500 since, and had several Japan Series appearances, so Oh was there to stay.

(Some people lay credit to Nemoto who had somewhat helped put together those teams in the years before his death in 1999.)

Now, Oh's influence was probably more along the lines of the name and reputation. People came to the stadium, more press, more free agents, more publicity, etc.

Moriwaki (former Hawk infielder and most American-looking Japanese guy I've ever seen ) had the helm much of 2006 during Oh's cancer battle, and the Hawks more or less performed the same. Granted, having 4 top quality pitchers (Saitoh, Wada, Arakaki, and Sugiuchi) didn't hurt either.

And regarding the "#56" thing, Oh was reported to have said to Rhodes: "hit 60" and pitching coach Obana was the one reported to have influenced the pitchers.

So, how's that for an inevitable retrospective?

Another point is that since a Japanese player never approached 55, we can't say for sure it was discrimination. Who can say that Yamasaki Takeshi would have been treated differently?

A few years ago some lefty garbage baller (Kikuchihara?) on the Carp tied Inao's record of 72 appearances in a season, but his manager wouldn't let him break it out of respect for Inao's greatness.