For teams outside the postseason, this is the time of year when anyone within shouting distance of a microphone begins to implore fans to look to next year, when things, in theory, will be better.
Exhortations of "we'll get 'em next year" and the like are easy to go to because there's always a few more kilometers of road to kick the can down while trying to convince fans to buy season tickets for the next season — front-row seats to the revival! — because aside from actually winning, few things sell tickets like hope.
So on the surface, it wasn't surprising to hear Yokohama BayStars manager Kiyoshi Nakahata hit the talking points during a speech on the field following the team's final home game of the season last week. What was different, was the conviction he spoke with.