Director Hara, who led the company for 17 years, steps down…successor Abe takes over as next head coach

 Yomiuri Giants coach Tatsunori Hara (65) takes over the baton. 

‘Sports Hochi’, a Yomiuri agency, reported on the 4th that Coach Hara will retire after the season and that head coach Shinnosuke Abe (44) is likely to be the next head coach. Coach Hara resigned from his position after failing to complete the three-year term of his third contract due to poor performance. It appears that the Hara era, which led Yomiuri for 17 years, has come to an end. 토토사이트

Yomiuri fell to last place with 4 wins and 9 losses in the opening 13 games, and at one point increased the win-loss surplus to 5, but failed to rise and was pushed out of the championship race throughout the season. Coach Hara attempted to win the championship this year, but was far behind his rival Hanshin with 6 wins, 1 draw and 18 losses, and Hiroshima with 8 wins and 17 losses. 

Coach Hara played as Yomiuri’s starting third baseman for 15 years and was selected early on as the successor to Manager Shigeo Nagashima. He has served as Yomiuri coach three times in 17 years since taking his first baton in 2002. He has achieved nine league championships and one Japan Series championship. During Lee Seung-yeop’s Yomiuri days, he was unconventionally used at number 4. 

Head coach Abe, who is mentioned as a successor, played as Yomiuri’s main catcher and was appointed as the second team manager in 2020. Starting in the 2022 season, he moved up to the first team and assisted coach Hara as the head operation and defense coach. He served as both head coach and battery coach this year. The prevailing view was that he would take the helm after Director Hara.