Choosing the 2012 Pacific League manager of the year is a no-brainer for me. It is Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters rookie skipper Hideki Kuriyama, who led his club to a pennant victory, a Climax Series sweep of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and into the Japan Series against the Yomiuri Giants.
The job done by Kuriyama this season is one of the best by a first-year bench boss I have ever seen in Japanese baseball. He took over a good team but one having to deal with the loss of ace pitcher Yu Darvish, who left for the Texas Rangers a year ago, and he got little help from Darvish's heir apparent as the Fighters' poster boy, second-year right-hander Yuki Saito, posted a 5-8 record while being limited to 19 games.
Also lost was American hurler Bobby Keppel, a 14-game winner for the Fighters last year when they were managed by Masataka Nashida. Keppel was sidelined after appearing in only two games and returned to the U.S. Add to that injury list slugging outfielder Terrmel Sledge who did not play during the second half of the season.