Orix Buffaloes manager Norifumi Nishimura announced after Thursday’s 6-4 loss to the Seibu Lions that he is stepping down.

The loss left the Buffaloes 12 games out of first place in this year’s 120 game season with a 16-33-4 record.

I haven’t seen a transcript of his resignation announcement yet but it might have gone something like this:

“If only I had ordered more sacrifices, perhaps we wouldn’t be in this predicament. We did our best last year, but leading the league with 101 sacrifice bunts was not enough to escape finishing last,” Nishimura said.

“We tried to redouble our efforts this year. We even bunted as often as we could while trailing in the late innings on the road, but the wins still didn’t come.”

“We lead both leagues now with 47 and that’s quite an achievement for a team in a DH league with no interleague games this year, but for this team to win a championship, I think we need to find a way to bunt in every conceivable situation. That we failed to do this is my responsibility.”

“To win in Japan, you need to pressure your opponent with sacrifice hits. But somehow there are just never enough outs for us in a game to sacrifice as much as we should.”