Hideki Kuriyama was a television commentator for 10 years before becoming manager of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in 2012.

So perhaps it's only fitting the charismatic Kuriyama has an easy and affable rapport with the media, existing in the sweet spot between the tepid indifference of former Chunichi Dragons skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai and current Yokohama BayStars manager Kiyoshi Nakahata's carnival-barker loquaciousness.

Kuriyama knows how the game is played, but he still reportedly gave his former colleagues a light scolding after the spring camp press corps had a less than stellar grade for Shohei Otani after the two-way star's session on the mound on Saturday in Nago, Okinawa.