Hanshin Tigers manager Senichi Hoshino's stomach ulcer may be getting worse by the minute.
After dropping the first two games of the Japan Series to the Daiei Hawks, the Tigers skipper has all but avoided talk about the effect the announcement of his almost certain retirement due to health reasons may be having on a seemingly demoralized team.
After a 13-0 blowout in Game 2 on Sunday, the 56-year-old Hoshino is probably wishing he had held his tongue until after the fall classic, or at least made the news coincide with a Hanshin victory at the series for the first time in 18 years.
The Tigers, indeed, appear just a shell of the ferocious team which dominated during the regular season with a record of 87-51-2, 14.5 games ahead of the Chunichi Dragons.