Sapporo – Nippon Ham Fighters supervisor Hideki Kuriyama, who orchestrated Shohei Ohtani’s growth as a two-way star and gained probably the most video games in franchise historical past, introduced Saturday that he’ll step down on the finish of the season.
Kuriyama, 60, steered the Fighters to his first Pacific League pennant in his 2012 managing debut, and gained the league and Japan Sequence in 2016, when Ohtani was voted PL MVP in his fourth professional season.
In April, Kuriyama gained his 632nd recreation, surpassing former skipper Keiji Osawa for probably the most wins in franchise historical past. This season, nonetheless, the Fighters have been mired in final place and on Friday had been eradicated from playoff competition for the third straight 12 months.
The membership allowed ace pitcher Kohei Arihara to maneuver to the foremost leagues over the winter after which gave away troubled cleanup hitter Sho Nakata after he was suspended for assaulting a teammate throughout the summer time.
An unheralded former outfielder throughout his enjoying profession, Kuriyama grew to become a media analyst and college professor after leaving the sport and was named Fighters supervisor forward of the 2012 season regardless of his lack of managing expertise.
His tenure with the Sapporo-based membership was marked by his willingness to innovate. Along with shepherding Ohtani’s growth as a two-way participant, Kuriyama was the primary Japanese supervisor to embrace radical, analytics-driven infield shifts.
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