Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009

Kyodo News

Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara was named the recipient of the Matsutaro Shoriki Award on Thursday for his contributions to the development of Japanese baseball.

Job well done: Tatsunori Hara, manager of the Yomiuri Giants, was honored with the Shoriki Award on Thursday for his contributions to Japanese baseball this year. KYODO PHOTO

Receiving the accolade for the second time, Hara led Japan to its second consecutive World Baseball Classic title and Yomiuri to its third consecutive Central League pennant and first Japan Series crown in seven years.

Hara, who also won the Shoriki Award as the Giants manager when they took the Japan Series title in 2002, was unanimously chosen by the five-man selection committee.

"I am very grateful to receive this award just by being the manager for the WBC team and for the Giants. This was a long year. I would like to think that some of the hard work, struggles and efforts paid off," Hara said.

"I still have a lot to learn in terms of being a manager and as a person. I want to use this as a stepping stone to continue to reach greater heights."

Former Softbank Hawks manager Sadaharu Oh acted as chairman of the committee in the absence of former Giants manager Tetsuharu Kawakami, who decided to sit out due to his advanced age.

"If you were to hold an election throughout Japan now I'm sure the same thing would happen. That's how little divergence of opinion there was," said Oh.

New York Yankees designated hitter Hideki Matsui, who won MVP honors in the World Series, had also been mentioned by the committee but he was not chosen since the award is only reserved for the best in Japanese baseball.

Along with Oh, Shigeru Sugishita, Futoshi Nakanishi, Keiji Osawa and Masao Taguchi also sat on the selection committee.

The Yokohama BayStars, who are hoping to beef up their bullpen for next season, are considering acquiring the services of Chiba Lotte Marines right-hander Brian Sikorski, team sources said Thursday.

The 35-year-old Sikorski has reached a deadlock in talks with Lotte to remain with the team.

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