Some fun fallout from the Dragons series win over the Ham Bam. Not to be too cynical here, but there was something about the fact that Hillman was (presumably) flying over to the  U.S. during the week  of the Japan Series to interview for the K.C. Royals job that didn’t sit well here. Who knows, maybe he did a phone interview.

But some of his statements, like the following, as quoted in the Yomiuri Daily, just don’t quite digest as they maybe ought to.

“We’re disappointed we couldn’t bring it back to Sapporo Dome for them,” said Hillman, who now takes over as the next manager of the Kansas City Royals. “I personally appreciate all the support over the five years I’ve been here.”

It’s not as though one would really expect Hillman pass up a job in Kansas City (which by all accounts is something he desired…he might have had a shot at the Yankees job) to stay in Sapporo.

Here’s a nice send off piece for Hillman  from the Japan Times. Whatever minor controversies aside, Hillman did a terrific job in Japan and will be remembered for years to come as great (foreign) ambassador of Japanese baseball.

Perhaps the subject is best as addressed by Japanball.com, which credits Hillman’s willingness to look inside Japan, regardless of whatever difficulties he encountered along the way.

Hillman via translator:

”There were times when other coaching staff misunderstood what he meant, due in part to the language barrier, and he had some frustrating times. But he has built strong relationships with everyone in the organization over the past five years.”

On the other hand we have a version of spoiled Monday morning quarterback; that is, fans bitching that Dragons manager Hiromitsu Ochiai pulled starter Daisuke Yamai, who was pitching a perfect game. This article  in the Yomiuri gets into that a bit.