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No Chunichi Players to Participate in WBC

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No Chunichi Players to Participate in WBC
I've seen the headline a couple times today; this story [Nikkan Sports - in Japanese] is pretty thorough. No Chunichi Dragons are going to participate in the WBC.

This is kind of surprising, given the emphasis all the stories out to date have placed on repeating as WBC champs. Ochiai is claiming it's not any kind of official team boycott, but rather it's up to each player what they want to do. That sounds like a load of b.s., and his overall tone sounds pretty bitter.

Was he, as a candidate for WBC manager, feeling slighted and is retaliating? The whole thing is just a little strange.

Thoughts?
Comments
Re: No Chunichi Players to Participate in WBC
[ Author: westbaystars | Posted: Nov 24, 2008 5:03 PM | YBS Fan ]

That doesn't look like the front page of the paper I got. Ah, it says that it's from the Nagoya's branch of Nikkan Sports.

Anyway, the reason that no Dragons are participating, according to the dead-tree Kanto version of Nikkan Sports, was because the four Dragons selected are all undergoing rehabilitation for various injuries and ailments suffered this past season and they all wish to focus on recovering completely for the 2009 season. Ochiai-kantoku telling the press that the players don't need to have a reason to withdraw from the WBC team is just sensationalist headlines meant to grab people's attention at the newsstand.

As for Ochiai-kantoku, yes, he was on the list of possible managers. However, he hotly refused the post, saying that he'd rather prepare his club for the 2009 season. He softened a bit after his rash refusal (probably at the request of the owner or the Commissioner's Office to show more support for the WBC effort). But, no, he's definitely not retaliating for not being selected to the post he showed clearly that he didn't want.
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