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Commissioner of Nippon Professional Baseball Yasuchika Negoro has filed a request to Softbank Hawks owner Masayoshi Son about Hawks manager Sadaharu Oh guiding Japan at the World Baseball Classic.
Son welcomed the invitation and responded favorably, describing it as an “honor” and said he wanted to discuss with Oh after end of the season.
“Of course, with the coach as the backbone, I would like the strongest players to give it their very best shot,” said Son. “If I only think about the club, then of course there are minuses but I would like to do my bit.”
NPB already submitted a written request asking Oh to manager the Japanese Team in WBC during mid-September, Oh responded positively.
For creating the best team to fight WBC, NPB also said it would abandon the regulation used at the Athens Olympic Games which stated no more than two players from each baseball club could represent Japan.
“Unless we can create the most powerful WBC team and win, there’s no point in it,” Negoro said. “The consensus of the 12 teams is that there is no other manager apart from Oh.”
Hawks manager Sadharu Oh eyed to lead Japan at World Baseball Classic
