Lee Seung-yeop, who became the head coach, to the players.
The Yomiuri Giants held a ceremony for the retirement of coach Tatsunori Hara and the inauguration of new coach Shinnosuke Abe at the Yomiuri Shimbun headquarters in Tokyo, Japan on the 6th (Korean time).
Yomiuri finished the season this year with 71 wins, 2 draws, 70 losses, and a winning percentage of 0.504. However, following last season, they remained in Class B (4th to 6th place) this year and failed to advance to the postseason stage, and on the 4th, coach Tatsunori Hara decided to step down from the baton. Although it was a voluntary resignation with one year left on his contract, it was actually a dismissal.
At the time, 'Tokyo Sports' said, "Owner Toshikazu Yamaguchi did not talk about the final year of Coach Hara's three-year contract for the 2024 season, leaving his future unclear." "Coach Hara received a strict order from owner Yamaguchi, but "We were not able to compete for the championship. As a result, we did not wait until the final game of the season and a storm came to Yomiuri."
Director Hara was like a ‘symbol’ of Yomiuri. Coach Hara, who played an active role as Yomiuri's 'one-club man' during his active years, participated in a total of 1,697 games until 1995 and achieved a record of 1,675 hits, 382 home runs, 1,093 RBIs, 931 runs, and a batting average of 0.279. Even after taking off his active uniform, he continued his path as a leader at Yomiuri. I walked.
Coach Hara began taking charge in 2002, and although he stepped down from his position as coach several times along the way, he led Yomiuri for a total of 17 years until the 2023 season. In 14 of his 17 years, he placed Yomiuri in the A class (1st to 3rd), and was a 'master' who led the team to a total of three Japan Series wins. He appeared in 2,407 games as head coach, recording 1,291 wins, 89 draws, 955 losses, and a winning percentage of 0.560 before stepping down from his position as head coach.
ith Coach Hara's dismissal, Shinnosuke Abe, a former colleague of Doosan Bears coach Lee Seung-yeop, was mentioned as a successor. Abe is already a familiar figure to domestic fans. Like Coach Hara, Abe is also a one-club man who only played for Yomiuri, and during his active career, he played in 2,282 games and recorded 2,132 hits, 406 home runs, 1,285 RBIs, 996 runs, a batting average of 0.284, and an OPS of 0.863.
During his active career, Abe played for the Japanese national team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC), and was selected as Best Nine a total of 9 times (2002, 2007-2014), and won 4 Golden Gloves. 2002, 2008, 2013, 2014), regular season MVP once (2012), batting king (2012), RBI king (2012), and on-base percentage king (2012). 'Legend'.
After ending his active career at the end of the 2019 season, Abe has received leadership training by serving as the second team commander, and last year and this year, he served as the Yomiuri first team head coach and battery coach. As a result, he will lead Yomiuri as Director Hara's successor for the next three years.
According to Japan's Sankei Sports, new coach Abe, who took over the baton from coach Hara, said, "I asked myself, 'Can I really take charge of Yomiuri?' As head coach, I suffered the humiliation of being ranked B for two years in a row. I am also responsible. “I had a strong desire to take over. But Director Hara smiled and said, ‘I’m glad your successor is Shinnosuke.’ I want to create a strong Yomiuri and a beloved Yomiuri,” he said.
He expressed his gratitude to Director Hara as they had worked together for a very long time. Coach Abe said, "He is the person who guided me when I took office as the second team coach. I learned about decisiveness, replacing pitchers, and using pinch hitters from Coach Hara," and explained why Coach Abe, who used number 10 during his active years, decided to wear number 83. He explained, “I combined Coach Hara’s number 8 during his active years with Coach Nagashima’s number 3 when I joined Yomiuri.”
As coach Hara had to step down from his position due to poor performance, he did not forget to send a message to the players. Coach Abe said, "I told the players, 'If we lose, it will be such a terrible season,'" and emphasized, "It is not easy for Yomiuri to lose. If I change and my teammates change, we can definitely win."
