THE HOT CORNER: Skipper Oya: Don't give up the ship

Yes, it certainly is easy to bash Yokohama this year. So I think I will take some of my 15 mins of fame to do so.

So much for the Tamura/Terahara trade where they promised us that we were going to have a "double aced" staff with Miura and Terahara.

"We have a lot of young guys who see this as their opportunity"

What young guys? I still don't see Fujita and Ishikawa getting their share of the playing time (you could even add Nonaka into this mix, too). I think it speaks volumes when a team's farm team is out performing the major league team.

As I said in another thread, before we address the obvious issues at hand with our pitching, we need a manager change first and foremost. And from speaking with BayStars fans all over Japan, I think I am not the only one who thinks this. Why not promote Tashiro up from SeaRex and give him a shot?


Sorry for the long rant, but ever since I found this place, I can express my opinions in English finally, which has been great for me and will help me keep some of my sanity as I go through this season with my team. LOL.

I'm torn. I like Ohya-kantoku. I want to believe in him. He did so much right his first time around, then left just when all the pieces fell into place. Why did he leave? The same reason Gondoh-kantoku left after him - too much friction with the front office (which was Maruha at the time - from what I've heard, TBS hasn't been much of a change). Ohya-kantoku deserved that 1998 Championship as much as anybody, and my heart says that Yokohama owes him the chance to go out on his own terms.

When Ohya-kantoku returned last season, one of the first things he did was get Suzuki-kun into game shape. Suzuki had been sidelined for years with various injuries, and it was good to see him in the field again. Fond memories of the late 1990s came flooding back. It was odd, yes. "Is he trying to re-create the 1997 BayStars?" I thought. It was a very odd feeling. On the one hand, I wanted to see a return of that team. On the other, I knew that the past could not be recreated by just sticking in the same players 10 years later. I guess I was in awe of the insanity of the attempt, and hoping that it would work.

Well, it didn't. You're right.

But Ohya-kantoku hasn't been sticking with the same 9 men day in and day out. He's been tinkering. Who'd have thought that Ohnishi would contribute as much as he had? I really liked Nonaka taking over at short last season, but hadn't seen much of him this season. Also, I'm afraid that even the aged Takuro has a bit more range, and that Nonaka hasn't been putting wood on the ball at all this season. I think that Ishikawa may turn out to be the eventual Ishii replacement.

I like the idea of Tashiro Tomio taking over the reigns at ichi-gun. But let him start fresh next season. Tashiro has the character makeup to be like a father figure to the players. Also, he knows the "young players" better than anyone (as he's managing them right now), so he'll be in the best position to make the best changes necessary.

In the mean time, enjoy the winning streak. Some breaks will surely come our way eventually. And with 38 years between our first and second Pennants, the BayStars still have 24 years to go to our third.

For the first 2 months of the season, Ohya was indeed using the exact same lineup day in and day out in some way shape or form. I was at all those games in April and May and I often wonder why. Where was Uchikawa when the season started? Why was Ohnishi sent down after only one week on the starting roster? Why was Koike never given his shot on the main roster when he was murdering the ball at SeaRex? And I thought J.J. was supposed to help us in the infield, too.

And by no means am I a "Takuro Hater" as I dearly love Takuro and wish he was immortal, but Takuro has commited more errors this year than in previous years and he's starting to show his age. And yes, Ishikawa is the future just like Shimozono, Kita, Fujita, and others in our farm system.


Why wait another 24 years when the future is now. Let Tashiro start fresh next year and let's build upon that and hope that a season like this never happens again.