Post by Fish Troll on Oct 24, 2008 19:56:49 GMT -5
TOKYO (AP) -- How about Ichiro Suzuki as Japan's manager at the World Baseball Classic? At least one manager in Japanese baseball thinks that may be a good idea.
Katsuya Nomura, manager of the Rakuten Eagles, thinks the Seattle outfielder could be just the man to lead Japan's defense of the title at the 2009 WBC.
"Maybe we should just let Ichiro be a playing manager," Nomura was quoted to say on the Nikkansports Web site Friday.
The Suzuki suggestion is a possible answer to Japan's difficulty in finding a suitable person for the position.
Senichi Hoshino, who was the manager when Japan failed to win a medal at the Beijing Olympics, was considered a candidate but has said he doesn't want the job.
Sadaharu Oh, who guided Japan to the title at the inaugural WBC in 2006, stepped down as manager of the Softbank Hawks at the end of the 2008 season because of poor health.
Suzuki has put pressure on Japan's baseball officials by saying they need to speed up the process of selecting a manager so the team can start preparing for the tournament which starts on March 5 in Tokyo.
Katsuya Nomura, manager of the Rakuten Eagles, thinks the Seattle outfielder could be just the man to lead Japan's defense of the title at the 2009 WBC.
"Maybe we should just let Ichiro be a playing manager," Nomura was quoted to say on the Nikkansports Web site Friday.
The Suzuki suggestion is a possible answer to Japan's difficulty in finding a suitable person for the position.
Senichi Hoshino, who was the manager when Japan failed to win a medal at the Beijing Olympics, was considered a candidate but has said he doesn't want the job.
Sadaharu Oh, who guided Japan to the title at the inaugural WBC in 2006, stepped down as manager of the Softbank Hawks at the end of the 2008 season because of poor health.
Suzuki has put pressure on Japan's baseball officials by saying they need to speed up the process of selecting a manager so the team can start preparing for the tournament which starts on March 5 in Tokyo.
sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/10/24/wbc.ichiro.ap/index.html
Is it so hard to put a guy to be a team manager? I think Ichio is still too talented to to be a team manager.
