The “biggest mystery” in the history of the Hanshin Tigers

Last year, the Hanshin Tigers became the first Japanese champion in 38 years. The praise for manager Akihiro Okada, who achieved the championship after returning to the team for the first time since 2008, is still going strong. This season, expectations are high for the team to win consecutive championships for the first time.

Okada will be the 35th manager of the Tigers since the team was founded in 1935. Meanwhile, rival Giants manager Shinnosuke Abe will be the 20th manager. This shows that the Tigers have not had long-lasting managers.

The Tigers manager has been criticized in many ways, with players saying, “It’s because the bench is stupid,” and the owner calling him a “scumbag.” Among the lineage of managers who have appeared and disappeared in the Tigers’ constellation, such as great managers, wise managers, and fighting generals, did you know that there is a manager whose existence has hardly been mentioned until now?

Ichiro Kishi was the eighth manager of the Tigers, taking over in 1955. Under his panel in the past managers’ corner of the Koshien History Museum, there is a short explanation:
　
“He was appointed manager without any prior professional baseball experience, which was unusual. The owner, Seizo Noda, was inspired by his book, “The Theory of Rebuilding the Tigers,” which he had written for him, and that’s what led to him being appointed manager. However, he resigned after only about six months, the shortest period in history.”

This grandfather, who had no experience in professional baseball and had lived as a farmer in the countryside until he was 60 years old, wrote a letter to the owner of the team, saying, “I can replace the old blood in the Tigers, which is currently at risk of developing arteriosclerosis, and rebuild them into a new, healthy team,” and he directly appealed to the team’s owner about his plan to “rebuild the Tigers.” He was actually selected as the Tigers’ manager.

Reading just this, it may seem like a Cinderella story that has made the dreams of millions of Tigers fans across the country come true.

Furthermore, if he had won the championship, he would have been remembered as a legendary manager, but the reality was not so sweet. The old man Kishi’s managerial career ended after only 33 games. He was rejected by the players, and he was chased away because he could not control the team.

Perhaps this is only natural.

At the time, the Tigers were a solitary group of fierce tigers and heroes, led by “Mr. Tigers” Tomio Fujimura. And then an old man with no connection to the world of professional baseball was appointed as the manager…