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Kanemura hit with playoff suspension for bashing Hillman
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TOKYO, Sept. 25 (20:33) Kyodo
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Nippon Ham Fighters right-hander Satoru Kanemura received a
suspension until the end of the playoffs and a 2 million yen fine
Monday for criticizing the decision of team manager Trey Hillman,
officials of the Pacific League club said.
Nippon Ham removed Kanemura from the active roster the same day,
following the 30-year-old's comments from the previous day in which
he said that he would ''never forgive'' Hillman for taking him off
the mound in the fifth inning with a chance to win his 10th decision
in the team's game against the Lotte Marines.
Nippon Ham had been leading the game 4-1 when Hillman gave the
order for Kanemura to leave the mound with two outs and the bases
loaded, and Lotte rallied off reliever Takehiko Oshimoto to tie the
score the same frame before winning the game on Benny Agbayani's
grand slam in the seventh.
Upset that he missed out on double-digit wins for the fifth
season in a row, Kanemura said after the game, ''I'll never forgive
him. He is a foreign manager, so he probably doesn't care about
individual stats. I don't even want to see his face.''
Kanemura later apologized to team chief supervisor Toshimasa
Shimada for the remark, but the Nippon Ham official was not convinced
with just a slap on the wrist.
''The punishment must be severe for an ace pitcher (like
Kanemura) whose job is to lead the pitching staff, when he criticizes
the team manager,'' Shimada said. ''I think that for him to make such
a comment about individual stats at this time (when the team is vying
for first place) is sad,'' Shimada added.
''As someone who should know better as a member of society, I
have done a shameful thing. ''I think this was a gracious act of
them, considering that they could have easily fired me. I sincerely
accept my punishment,'' Kanemura said.
The team will reconsider Kanemura's suspension if Nippon Ham
reaches next month's the Japan Series, officials said.
Hillman said that no one is immune to mistakes. ''I'm sure
Kanemura really wanted to win,'' Hillman said.
Nippon Ham, the Seibu Lions and Softbank Hawks have all booked
spots in the playoffs, but are battling for first place to win a bye
into the second stage. |
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