List of Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles managers

The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles are a professional baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. The Eagles are members of the Pacific League (PL) in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). In baseball, the head coach of a team is called the manager, or more formally, the field manager. The duties of the team manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field.[1][2] Since their inaugural season in 2005, the Eagles have employed eight managers. Under the franchise's first manager, Yasushi Tao, the team finished last in the PL and was the first PL team in 40 years to lose over 90 games in a single season. Despite being signed to a three-year contract, Tao was dismissed after the Eagles' inaugural season.[3] He was replaced by Hall of Famer Katsuya Nomura for the next season. During his four-year managerial tenure, Nomura accumulated 256 wins and a .459 winning percentage. Despite leading the team to its first Climax Series appearance in 2009, Eagles' management decided not to renew Nomura's contract.[4] Instead, he was retained as an honorary manager through the 2012 season.[5]

Hajime Miki is the current manager of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.

Marty Brown, Nomura's successor, signed a two-year managerial contract, however he was fired after only one last-place season with the Eagles.[6] Instead, long-time manager Senichi Hoshino was hired and signed to a one-year, ¥150 million contract for the 2011 season.[7] After a fifth-place PL finish and the positive development of the team's younger players, team owner Hiroshi Mikitani requested that Hoshino stay on as manager for the next few seasons.[8] In the 2013 season, the Eagles' ninth, he went on to lead the team to its first PL pennant, first successful Climax Series run, and first Japan Series title.[9] The following season, however, Hoshino missed two months with the team because of back problems and the Eagles finished in last place. At season's end, he stepped down as manager despite ownership wanting him to return for a fifth season. Hoshino and Nomura's four-year managerial tenures remain the team's longest.[10]

Hiromoto Okubo, Rakuten's farm team manager, was named Hoshino's successor following his departure. He only lasted one season, however, as he resigned after the team again finished in last place.[11] The team turned to veteran manager Masataka Nashida to fill the managerial vacancy for the 2016 season. Nashida was the last person to manage the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes before they were dissolved and merged after the 2004 season and appeared to be a natural choice to manage the Eagles, the team created to fill the void left by that merger.[12] He was able to lead the team to its third playoff berth in 2017, however, the next season he resigned mid-season in July when the club dropped to 20 games below a .500 winning percentage.[13]

Coach Yosuke Hiraishi acted as team's interim manager for the remainder of the 2018 season and was promoted to full-time manager for the 2019 season. Hiraishi was the first former Eagles player to manage the team.[14] Despite leading the team to a Climax Series berth in 2019, Hiraishi's contract was not renewed. Eagles' general manager Kazuhisa Ishii was looking for someone capable of rebuilding the team. Hajime Miki, Rakuten's farm team manager, was hired to replace Hiraishi for the 2020 season. The previous season, Miki led the franchise's minor-league affiliate to the Eastern League championship title for the first time in its 15-year history.[15]

Table key
# A running total of the number of Eagles managers. Any manager who has two or more separate terms is only counted once.
GM Number of regular season games managed; may not equal sum of wins and losses due to tie games
W Number of regular season wins in games managed
L Number of regular season losses in games managed
T Number of regular season ties in games managed
Win% Winning percentage: number of wins divided by number of games managed that did not result in a tie
PA Postseason appearances: number of years this manager has led the franchise to the postseason
PW Postseason wins: number of wins this manager has accrued in the postseasonA
PL Postseason losses: number of losses this manager has accrued in the postseasonB
PT Postseason ties: number of ties this manager has accrued in the postseason
LC League Championships: number of League Championships, or pennants, achieved by the managerC
JS Japan Series: number of Japan Series won by the manager
† Elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame

^A This does not include the one-win advantage that league champions are automatically awarded in the second stage of the Climax Series.
^B This does not include the one-loss disadvantage first stage winners are automatically given in the second stage of the Climax Series.
^C The Pacific League pennant was awarded to the winner of a playoff series for the seasons of 1973 to 1982 and 2004 to 2006. After the Climax Series was created in 2007, the team with the best record during the regular season was named the league champion, not the winner of the Climax Series.[16]

Managers

Statistics current through the 2020 season

# Manager Seasons GM W L T Win% PA PW PL PT LC JS Ref
1 Yasushi Tao 200513638971.281——————[17]
2 Katsuya Nomura† 2006–200956825630210.4591330——[18]
3 Marty Brown 201014462793.440——————[19]
4 Senichi Hoshino† 2011–201457627927720.502184011[20]
5 Hiromoto Okubo 201514357833.407——————[21]
6 Masataka Nashida 2016–20183491601827.4681440——[22][13]
7 Yosuke Hiraishi 2018–20192231081096.4981120——[23][13]
8 Hajime Miki 202012055578.491——————[15]
9 Kazuhisa Ishii 2021–present———————————

References
General
  • 東北楽天ゴールデンイーグルス年度別成績 （2005-2019） [Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Results By Year (2005–2019)] (in Japanese). Nippon Professional Baseball. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  • "Hall of Famers List". The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
Specific
  1. "Manager: Definition | Dictionary.com". Dictionary.Reference.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 2006. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  2. Dickson, P. (2009). The Dickson Baseball Dictionary (Third ed.). W.W. Norton & Co. p. 530. ISBN 978-0-393-06681-4.
  3. "Golden Eagles throw in the Tao". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. September 27, 2005. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  4. "Eagles want to hire Brown: sources". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. October 24, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2009.
  5. "球団名誉監督に関して" [Regarding the honorary manager of the baseball team]. Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. December 12, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  6. "Eagles eye Hoshino: sources". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. October 6, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  7. "Hoshino makes return with Eagles". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. October 28, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  8. "Eagles want Hoshino for third year". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. August 8, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  9. Coskrey, Jason (November 3, 2013). "Eagles blank Giants in Game 7, capture first Japan Series title". The Japan Times. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  10. "Eagles manager Hoshino to step down at season's end". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. September 14, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  11. "Eagles skipper Okubo won't return for 2016 season". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. September 22, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  12. "New Eagles manager Nashida eager to lead PL club". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. October 8, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  13. "Eagles manager Masataka Nashida steps down". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. June 16, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  14. "Eagles promote interim manager Yosuke Hiraishi to manager". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. October 5, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  15. "Eagles promote farm team skipper Hajime Miki to manager". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. October 11, 2019. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  16. "CL to follow PL playoff model". The Japan Times. September 5, 2006. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  17. "Yasushi Tao Japanese Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  18. "Katsuya Nomura Japanese Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  19. "Marty Brown Minor & Japanese Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  20. "Senichi Hoshino Japanese Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  21. "Hiromoto Okubo Japanese & Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  22. "Masataka Nashida Japanese Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  23. "Yosuke Hiraishi Japanese Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
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