Wednesday February 15, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Lotte Marine fans rally around manager Valentine

Sports May. 23, 2009 - 06:16AM JST ( 8 )

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8 Comments

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pawatanMay. 23, 2009 - 08:39AM JST

They certainly can afford him. Wait until they don't have him and return to their revenue levels of pre-2004.

He'll just be in Yokohama next year anyway.
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jkoffmanMay. 23, 2009 - 09:03AM JST

Would be nice to see Rakuten and Lotte switch coaches.
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spudmanMay. 23, 2009 - 09:11AM JST

lotte is really good at screwing the fans. lets hope bottom up pressure works but BV in a perfect match for minor league Japan
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LFRAgainMay. 23, 2009 - 09:34AM JST

Screw Lotte and screw Ryuzo Setoyama. The ungrateful asshats that make up the Lotte front office deserve all the negatives that come from this decision. Unworthy fans? Unworthy management is more like it.

I hope the fans exert their influence as much as possible and accomplish something that's good for baseball, rather than what's good for the bruised ego of Setoyama.
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happamkiMay. 23, 2009 - 02:15PM JST

Bobby's an old school baseball guy, which transcends where he is. I'm sure he could coach in China or Holland and get a great response out of his team and relate to the fans. Either Lotte aren't much of a baseball organization or they're doing the 'typical' hammer the nail that sticks out. Lotte needs Bobby more than Bobby needs them. He's good for baseball in Japan. Hope he signs with another Japanese team. He's always welcome back in the MLB as well. ganbatte Bobby!
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happamkiMay. 23, 2009 - 02:18PM JST

By the way, this story made Sportscenter, where the announcers were stunned that 50,000 fans would sign a petition to keep a manager. There's a lot of crazy things happening in Japan right now, but this is definitely one of the good things.
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goingtoshoppingMay. 23, 2009 - 11:57PM JST

Hey, they didn't make itto the playoffs last year and probably won't this year either. I'm a Chiba fan, but in the US this guy would be fair game for the cut.

I agree with the first poster, though. Another team will scoop him up. He's been holding out for a call from the Majors, but they have washed their hands of the manager who snuck back into the dugout (in a disguise!) after being ejected from the game. No respect!
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tomicoMay. 25, 2009 - 01:51AM JST

From what I read here and at this site http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=10452 (Hope it's OK to link) It's seems all the Japanese higher ups want mindless drones to just do their jobs.

50,000 fans sign a petition to keep a manager, um this should tell you to keep him Mr. Setoyama. It's not often you come across something like this where there is this much loyalty especially for a manager of a baseball team.

Too bad the petition is not online (at least that I know of) or I can get to a game (by the time I get there for vacation the season will be over) I would like add my signature.

Best of luck to the Chiba Lotte Marines and of course Bobby V.