- Senichi Hoshino
Infobox NPB player
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name=Senichi Hoshino
position=Pitcher
team=Japan national baseball team
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bats=Right
throws=Right
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place=Okayama, Japan
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debutdate=April 13
debutyear=1969
debutteam=Chunichi Dragons
draftnumber=1
draftround=1
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draftyear=1968
draftteam=Chunichi Dragons
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teams=Chunichi Dragons 1969-1982nihongo|Senichi Hoshino|星野 仙一|Hoshino Sen'ichi|nickname:Washi ga Sodateta, Washisoda,January 22 ,1947 , is a formerJapan ese professional baseball player and manager.In 2003, he led the Tigers to their first
Central League pennant in 18 years before retiring for health reasons. Since 2007, He had managed the Japanese national team for the 2008Beijing Olympics .Childhood
Hoshino was born as the third of three children in
Kurashiki , Japan. His father died three months after he was born, and his mother raised him and his two sisters single handedly. He played baseball throughout his high school years, but was unable to advance to theKoshien baseball tournament. He enteredMeiji University , and became a starter from his first year. He marked 23 total wins in theTokyo Big6 Baseball League , including one no-hitter, but his team never won the league championship. Hoshino's reputation as a hot-headed leader began in his years atMeiji University , when he and other members of the baseball team banded together to break down a barricade set up around the school by a student protest group.Professional career
Hoshino was drafted in the first round by the
Chunichi Dragons in 1968, led by legendary managerShigeru Mizuhara . TheYomiuri Giants had promised Hoshino that he would be their first round draft pick, but the Giants broke their promise, drafting another player instead. This betrayal made Hoshino develop a profound hatred towards the Giants, and he has battled the Giants ever since, both as a pitcher and as a manager. Hoshino signed with the Dragons in 1969, and pitched both as a starter and reliever, quickly becoming the ace of the Dragons pitching staff. He led the league in saves in 1974, and won theSawamura Award . More importantly however, his team won the league championship, stopping theYomiuri Giants record of consecutive league championships at 9. He was known as the "Kyojin Killer" (Giants Killer) because he seemed to pitch unusually well against the Giants. His team won another league championship in 1982, and Hoshino retired after that year. His career record was 146-121, with 34 saves.Hoshino was an extremely popular figure during his career, not because of his skill as a pitcher, but because of his persona. Baseball fans were sick of seeing the
Yomiuri Giants win the championship year after year, and Hoshino's outspoken hatred of the Giants finally gave fans a player to root for that wasn't namedShigeo Nagashima orSadaharu Oh . Hoshino stayed with the Dragons for his entire career, and was very well respected by his teammates.Managerial career
Hoshino worked as a commentator for
NHK after retiring, and his popularity with both fans and players called him back to theChunichi Dragons as a manager in 1987. Hoshino made a number of big trades, and led the Dragons to a league championship in 1988. He stepped down in 1991, and returned to his job as a commentator and sports writer.The Dragons did poorly after Hoshino's departure, and he was once again called back to lead the team in 1996. Hoshino won his second league championship in 1999, but stepped down again after his team placed 5th in 2001.
In 2002, Hoshino was called to take over as manager of the miserable
Hanshin Tigers , who had been in last place for the last four years underKatsuya Nomura . He raised the team to fourth place in his first year, and made huge cuts during the off-season while recruitingfree agents likeTomoaki Kanemoto andHideki Irabu . The Tigers won the league championship in 2003; Hoshino's third championship as manager. However, he frequently fell ill during games in 2003, often leaving the head coach to manage the team while he sat quietly on the bench. He stepped down after the 2003 Japanese championship series due to health reasons, but is now the assistant senior director of theHanshin Tigers . In 2007, he became the manager of theJapan national baseball team , which won the Asian Baseball Championship (the qualifier for the Beijing Olympics) defeating the Philippines, Korea, and Taiwan. However, the "Hoshino Japan" finished with a 4-5 record in the 2008Beijing Olympics with no medals.Praise and Criticism
Hoshino remains a controversial manager because of the way he dealt with his players. Yelling at players happened almost daily, and he would often hit players if they disobeyed him. He was often seen venting his anger by hitting benches and lockers. Whenever there was a dispute on the field, he was the first to dash out of the dugout to participate in the argument or brawl that ensued. He fined players that stayed in the dugout during a brawl. He is a ruthless manager, and is not afraid to fire or trade players, even if they are young top draft picks.
On the other hand, he is surprisingly sympathetic, always giving players a second chance, and congratulating them if they are successful (but ruthless if they are not). He is known to send birthday presents to members of the team, including lesser known members like coaches and bullpen catchers. Though he yelled and fought his way through umpires and managers from other teams, he is known for always being courteous off the field.
Because of his career as a pitcher, Hoshino is excellent at determining when a pitcher needs to be taken off the mound. He frequently uses bunting and stealing to advance base runners, and is often criticized when he makes power-hitters bunt when there are runners in scoring position.
He is sometimes accused of overusing young pitchers, ending their careers prematurely. The Dragons were called "The Pitcher's Graveyard" by other teams when Hoshino was the team's manager.
Though Hoshino has criticized the
Yomiuri Giants for gathering star players with money, he himself has done the same thing with theHanshin Tigers and in his second championship run with theChunichi Dragons . The players he gathered during the 2002 off-season made huge contributions to the Tigers league championship won the next year. When he was manager of the Dragons, he gotLee Jong-beom andDong Yeol Sun to come to the Japanese leagues fromKorea with massive contracts.tatistics
Pitching
* 500 Games
* 146 Wins
* 121 Losses
* 34 Saves
* 3.60 ERAManagerial Career
* 1744 Games
* 920 Wins
* 791 Losses
* 33 Ties
* 3 League ChampionshipsExternal links
*
* [http://hoshino.ntciis.ne.jp/index.html Sen'ichi Hoshino's official website] (in Japanese)
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