Yokohama manager Tatsuhiko Oya took a "kyuyo" on Monday, the eve of opening day for Japan pro baseball's interleague season, replaced by Tomio Tashiro, previously manager of the BayStars farm club, the Shonan Searex.
But, what is a kyuyo?
Well documented in Robert Whiting's 1977 book, "The Chrysanthemum and the Bat," a kyuyo is truly a Japanese concept, whereby a manager takes a rest with the theory being the team members are ashamed they played so poorly, their manager had to step aside.