A few months into his new gig as DeNA BayStars manager, Alex Ramirez revealed Wednesday that the job is not as easy as it looks.
“Every day is a learning experience,” Ramirez said before his team played the Nippon Ham Fighters at Fighters Stadium in Kamagaya, Chiba Prefecture. “There are things no one tells you.”
Such as?
“The first time I went out to exchange the lineup card, we were playing the Swallows, and Manaka-san (manager Mitsuru Manaka) said, ‘Rami-chan, you’re the home team. You have to hand me your lineup first.’ And then when we were finished, we stood there and he said, ‘You have to shake the umpires’ hands first because you’re home.’
“Nobody tells you these things. The first few times I went out to make player changes, my interpreter went with me. After a few times, he said, ‘You can do it by yourself now.’ So I thought, ‘Yes. It’s not that hard.’ But the first time when I go up to the umpire by myself, my brain freezes and we have to call my interpreter over.”
“Now I’m OK, just do my best in my Japanese.”
