Not sure what to think about the Yomiuri Giants choosing Yoshinobu Takahashi as the team's new manager. He is just 40 and did not even get a chance to retire as an active player before being selected to lead the club as its field boss in 2016.

The situation reminds me of the time 40 years ago when superstar third baseman Shigeo Nagashima slid right into the manager's chair immediately after ending his playing career at 38 following the 1974 season. If you go by the league standings in 1975, Nagashima's first year as skipper was a disaster; the Giants finished dead last in the Central League.

There was criticism Nagashima was not a good leader that first season because he had no experience coaching, he had always been on the field as a player and thus could not "study" the strategic moves by his manager Tetsuharu Kawakami, and he may have been "soft" with his players who had been his teammates just prior to his taking over the helm.