Original article can be found here 元の記事はこちら
Former Hanshin Tiger and Daily Sports columnist Tomoaki Kanemoto (47) accepted an offer to become the club’s 33rd manager, according to an October 17th report.
Kanemoto replied to a request from Daily Sports in Hiroshima saying that he informed club president Nobuo Minami’s offer to become manager of the team starting next season.
Kanemoto hails from Hiroshima, and attended Koryo High School, Tohoku Fukushi University before joining the Hiroshima Carp in 1992 as its 4th round draft pick. After years of being a core player on the club, he joined the Hanshin Tigers in 2002 as a free agent, contributing to the team’s 2003 and 2005 league pennants.
After retiring in 2012, he took his expertise behind the backstop, doing color commentary primarily for Hanshin Tigers games. Club president Minami, among others in the front office, saw leadership qualities in Kanemoto and quickly included him on their list of candidates for the vacant managerial position.
The club negotiated with Kanemoto three times: on the 1st, 8th and 12th. Kanemoto remained non-committal in his responses to that point, but in a Daily Sports feature on the 13th, he put a time limit on himself by saying he would give his final answer on the weekend. On this day (17th), he held true to his word, announcing his answer to all.
STOKED!
STOKED!
Double stoked?