Taking Responsibility by Quitting, Taking Responsibility by Continuing

My three-day coverage of the Chunichi Dragons' spring training camp in Okinawa has come to an end. Over three days in Chatan, Yomitan, and Chatan, I logged a total of 42,000 steps. I walked a lot. And above all, I stood still for long periods waiting for the subjects of my interviews. Well done, me (laughs).

There is so much I want to write and convey. In today's note, I will write about farm team manager Eiji Ochiai. After repeatedly declining offers to become a Dragons coach, he was finally persuaded by manager Kazuyoshi Tatsunami to become head coach and pitching coach. However, Eiji's roles kept changing, and the team finished with a '6-6-6' record. He announced his resignation alongside manager Tatsunami, which I think is perfectly understandable. However, the newly appointed manager, Kazuki Inoue, did not give up. They used to visit each other's homes—or rather, Inoue would (uninvitedly) visit Ochiai's home and fill his stomach with the cooking of Ochiai's wife. Their car license plates were even based on their respective jersey numbers. There was no way manager Inoue was going to give up. Although it wouldn't be of any help, I also sent a LINE message to Eiji saying, 'Let's do this, please don't quit here.' As expected, the reply was, 'No, no, I couldn't possibly show my face...'. Eiji was planning to go to South Korea again. The Samsung Lions, whom he had coached in the past, were eagerly awaiting (a strange way to put it) Eiji's departure from the Dragons. He is the kind of talent people don't want to let go. But what finally stirred his heart to wear the Dragons uniform one more time were the words from former manager Tatsunami: 'Don't quit, please help Kazuki.' Yesterday, farm manager Ochiai told me, 'If Tatsu-san (Tatsunami) had said, "You decide," I would have quit. Because he said, "Don't quit," I thought I would try one more time.' 'I can no longer explain in words what kind of relationship we have, and I don't expect everyone to understand. But because he said "Don't quit," I didn't quit. This is my true feeling.' I cannot understand it, but this is the bond between the two.

Farm manager Ochiai is aiming to 'build a development system that remains unshaken regardless of who becomes manager.' It is about laying a track that leads to a consistent 'future of the Chunichi Dragons' without being swayed by the policies of the manager of the day. Until now, the Dragons seemed to place full trust in the manager, to put it nicely, or to leave everything to them, to put it bluntly. That won't do. To that end, he is strictly evaluating young players, clarifying who gets how many games and how many at-bats, and weeding them out. It is not about equality for everyone; he is demanding rigor from young players for the sake of the Dragons' future. For that purpose, he is also demanding close cooperation and status reports among the coaches.

Also, he is conscious of 'how to convey things.' He says, 'Today's players definitely have more information and higher processing power than in our playing days. Also, if you look at individual parts of their bodies, they are quite well-trained. However, to use an analogy, they are only focused on throwing punches cleanly during shadow boxing, and they haven't anticipated that the opponent will punch back. I feel like they are often at a loss, thinking, "What should I do?" when they get punched back.' Indeed, Ichiro has recently been sounding the alarm on data-heavy baseball. 'When Ichiro-san speaks out like that, the players actually listen. That was very effective,' says farm manager Ochiai. The data is there. How can that data be utilized, and how should it be conveyed to the players? That is one of the major themes for farm manager Ochiai.

But because farm manager Ochiai is full of humor, I am not worried. Yesterday, too, since there were ball marks all over Ukai's bat, he told him, 'Paint the area around it with a pen (the same color as the bat) so it looks like you're only hitting the sweet spot,' and Ukai burst into laughter. If there are gifts for farm manager Ochiai, he turns it into a game where everyone draws lots. He is so serious about it that a bell actually rings when someone wins. 'I thought Neo and Kanemaru would win. Those two were sought after by multiple teams. I wanted them to win the lottery and make people say, "As expected, they're different."' he said.

In a book by CBC Television announcer Keiichi Wakasa, it was written, 'The first person to speak to me at the reporting site when I didn't know my right from my left was Eiji Ochiai.' It was the same for me. In my second year at the company, the first star player at the time to call me by my name was player Ochiai. I was happy. He is that kind of thoughtful man.

There is more I want to write, but let's leave it at this for today. It has become long.

There is a way to take responsibility by quitting. But there is also a way to take responsibility by continuing and bringing things into a good shape. I am truly happy that farm manager Ochiai chose the latter. For the future of the Dragons, Eiji-san, I am counting on you.