The Pacific League's Orix Buffaloes announced on Sept. 25 manager Akinobu Okada will not return to run the club next season, and speculation about his replacement indicates Japanese baseball Hall of Famer and former Chunichi Dragons skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai is one of the candidates who might be appointed as the Buffs' new field boss.
Orix is scheduled to play its final game of the year on Monday, and Japanese teams usually do not delay in naming new managers, what with the amateur draft coming up in less than three weeks and a fall camp to be run.
In considering Ochiai, the Buffaloes — or another Japanese team that might be looking for a new man to run the team, for that matter — will have to weigh his proven success as a manager against a reputation as a media-unfriendly guy who did not appear to emit a positive image as a symbol of the Chunichi ballclub.