On the day of his induction into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, Tatsunori Hara gave praise to one of his former players, current Yokohama BayStars manager Alex Ramirez.

Ramirez, the only foreign-born player to join Japan's iconic 2,000-hit club, has called Hara, his skipper from 2008 to 2011, his biggest managing role model. Ramirez said Hara excelled at getting crucial runs late in games, a skill Ramirez has worked to perfect.

"I had heard something about that," Hara said just prior to his induction ceremony on Monday. "But I'll tell you what he (Ramirez) did last year, in the Climax Series, that was something beyond anything I could have done."