Former closer Kyuji Fujikawa is the top candidate to replace Hanshin Tigers manager Akinobu Okada after he steps down at the end of this season, Kyodo News reported Sunday, citing a team source.
The 66-year-old Okada returned as Hanshin skipper last season and led the team to its second Japan Series triumph, its first since he was one of their biggest stars in 1985.
Stories had been circulating since Thursday that Okada would retire at the end of the season, but the skipper refused to address the subject after the Tigers’ final regular season game. He finally told the players prior to practice on Sunday.
Fujikawa, who has never coached or managed, saved 243 games for the Tigers, tying him for fifth most in Japanese pro baseball. He also saved two games for the Chicago Cubs in 2013. He’s currently serving as a “special assistant” to the front office.
He was one member of the Tigers iconic “JFK” bullpen trio, along with Australian lefty Jeff Williams and right-hander Tomoyuki Kubota during the Okada’s first term as Tigers skipper from 2004 to 2008.
Okada won two league pennants, in 2005 and 2023, finished runner-up three times, including this season, third once and fourth once — in his 2004 debut after Senichi Hoshino stepped down over health concerns.
Second baseman Takumu Nakano, the team’s players rep, said, “He (Okada) has a remarkable sense for competition.”
