NAGOYA — The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters have hired a proven winner in Masataka Nashida to manage the team next year. That's good because the Trey Hillman era will be a tough act to follow.

News photoTrey Hillman had plenty to applaud during his final season as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' manager. The Texan led the team to its second straight Japan Series appearance. KYODO PHOTO

Hillman's five-year run in Japanese baseball came to an end Thursday night with the Fighters' 1-0 loss to the Chunichi Dragons in Game 5 of the Japan Series at Nagoya Dome.

The Nippon Ham skipper will manage the Kansas City Royals next season. But from the successful team he helped to build, the enthusiastic fan base that idolizes him and the sports bar that bears his name (Hillman's Hangout), Hillman's presence should be felt in Sapporo for years to come.

"I appreciate the support I received during my five years here," Hillman said. "This was very rewarding for me. I think after living in this country for the better part of the last five years and being in this society, I would like to think I'm a better person than I was five years ago. And I would like to think that I'm a better leader than I was five years ago."

When Hillman arrived in 2003, he took over a team that finished 61-76-3 the year before and played to small crowds in the middle of what he has referred to as "Giants Country" at Tokyo Dome. The team finished fifth in the Pacific League after a 62-74-4 record in Hillman's first season.

The Texan got things turned around quickly, leading the '04 Fighters to a third-place finish and a spot in the first Pacific League Climax Series with a 66-65-2 mark in their first season in Sapporo.

After falling back into fifth place the following year, Hillman had his breakthrough season in 2006 when he led the Fighters to the Japan Series title. Nippon Ham also won that season's Asia Series.

Though the Fighters fell short of the title, 2007 was likely one of Hillman's finest seasons as a manager.

With numerous pieces missing from the '06 title team, Hillman and the Fighters stumbled out of the gate. Hovering near the bottom of the league, the Fighters got hot near the start of interleague play and went on a 14-game winning streak.

Despite being last in nearly every offensive category, Hillman managed to lead the team to the PL title in the regular season. The Fighters then claimed their second consecutive PL Climax Series title with a win over the Chiba Lotte Marines in the postseason.

Hillman, as usual, downplayed his role in the team's success in recent years.

"First and foremost it's never been about me," Hillman said. "It's getting great pieces in here and making sure everybody is on the same page. It's been great vision and a lot of hard work from a lot of great people. The position I hold is not any more important than somebody's else position and job that doesn't get any recognition for it."

Hillman leaves Japan with a lot of positives to look back on, but also voiced his displeasure with some of the things he has said being misrepresented in the media, although he declined to go into specifics.

His annoyance likely stems from the speculation that surrounded his announcement to leave the team at the end of the season and his later hiring as Kansas City's manager.

"I know about everything that's been written, I know about everything that's been said," Hillman said. "And to me that's sad. It's very sad. That I won't miss. So from a standpoint of five years of being integrity-based and telling the truth and having things misrepresented to the public, I won't miss that a bit.

"But thankfully, mentally I'm strong enough, I've got too many overriding wonderful memories to allow that situation and those circumstances where flat-out lies have been printed, that the good memories override those things. The guys I just talked to in the clubhouse, they know where my heart is."

Hillman will move on to Major League Baseball next season, taking over a Royals team in a situation that closely resembles the state the Fighters were in when he arrived. He will be called upon to restore the once-rich history of a franchise that has not been to the playoffs since winning the 1985 World Series.

Hillman hopes to take some of the things he learned in Japan with him to Kansas City and had some advice for the foreign ballplayers in Japan.

Listen to the words he's shared with many players over the past five seasons:

"Regardless of what their results are on the field and regardless of what they take away statistically in making contributions to the teams they're playing for, if they open their minds up and respect what this culture and society respects and play the game the right way, I promise them that they'll leave this experience as better people."