Hillman Looks Good

NHK ran a little piece on him the other night. They were positive about him, too, but they seemed to say how he was bringing his MLB ways with him. I don't know if I really agree with this, because:

1. He said ages ago that he had no intention of 'Major-izing' the NHFs; and


2. The media tends to say that about any gaijin, no matter what the sport and no matter what that person's stance is.

FWIW, they paid a lot of attention to his coaching the players to be more aggressive in their base running. Whether that is more an MLB trait than NPB, I'm not sure, but the story had a very positive feel to it, anyway.

I've been enjoying Nikkan Sports' write ups on Hillman-kantoku, too. They bring up some of the difficulties that he's got to face and show how he always puts a "looking forward" spin on them.

First, he lost pretty much all of his catchers with 1-gun experience just before the opening of camp. Then his only left-handed starter pulled something on the first or second day. It's almost as though Nikkan is giving Hillman-kantoku all the excuses he needs for failure - showing how cicumstances beyond his control conspired against him. But all the while, they've emphisized Hillman's looking at things positively.

Another big "special" Nikkan did on Hillman was how he went to Sapporo without rest after arriving in Japan and did an excellent public relations job along with sales promotion up there. The press was amazed at how naturally he could turn to the camera while discussing the team and give a pitch to buy tickets early.

There is that sometimes annoying amazement at things that sometimes should be taken for granted by the press. But all in all, they've been very positive with Hillman. I must say, I haven't seen the Fighters covered this well in Nikkan since, ..., well, ever. Even Ochiai didn't generate this much positive publicity.

I hope Mr. Hillman can succeed in Japan. The Pacific League needs more strength against the Central Money League.

The Ham is not a bad team. And they do not have Hirooka. I believe that the Ham have a better organization than Lotte [did in 1995 with hiring Valentine-kantoku].

Worst organizations to choose a foreign manager:

1. Giants (Watanabe hates foreign players and managers)
2. Hanshin (They chose Hoshino, period)
3. Hiroshima (Ancient baseball training practices, many players injured)

Best organizations to choose a foreign manager:

1. Blue Wave (Owner likes international idea)
2. Yakult (Team has many intelligent players)

Good luck Mr. Hillman! Except against the Lions.

[Some editing by: Admin on Feb 16, 2003 12:38 AM JST]