“Daughter assault → arrest in the act → non-prosecution decision”: Japanese baseball manager shows signs of returning after about 5 months, “Personnel department role considered likely”

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Abe Shinnosuke (47), former manager of the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), who was arrested in the act on suspicion of assaulting his daughter at home and forced to resign in disgrace, is expected to return to the club after about five months.

On the 12th, Japanese media outlet “Nikkan Sports” reported that the Yomiuri club had requested Abe’s return, with a position in the personnel department, which oversees player roster composition and overall team strength within the front office, considered likely.

The controversy surrounding former manager Abe’s resignation dates back five months. On the evening of May 25 last year, as he entered his third year as head coach, an argument broke out between his two daughters at the dining table in his home on a day off with no game. Former manager Abe, who stepped in to mediate, got into a verbal altercation with his eldest daughter and, unable to suppress a momentary surge of emotion, grabbed her by the collar and pushed her down.

The situation escalated uncontrollably when the shocked eldest daughter reported the incident to a child counseling center. Police, upon receiving contact from the counseling center, rushed to the home, where former manager Abe was arrested in the act in the living room while his family watched, with handcuffs placed on both his hands.

Just before being taken into custody, he left a text message to a club executive stating that “he must step down as manager.” After undergoing overnight questioning and being released, he immediately visited club owner Yamaguchi Toshiichi the next day to convey his intention to resign voluntarily. At a press conference, he shed tears, saying he had “disgraced the name of Yomiuri’s long-standing tradition of managers.” Subsequently, the Prosecution Service issued a final non-prosecution decision on June 15, about three weeks after the incident, but by then he had already lost both his managerial position and his reputation.

Since his resignation, former manager Abe has declared abstinence from alcohol and undergone counseling with an anger management expert while spending time in self-reflection. In an interview with a media outlet last September, he revealed, “My eldest daughter told me that ‘I don’t necessarily have to quit,’ but I promised to completely stop drinking,” adding, “I am reading books on anger management and seeking expert advice as I confront my own weaknesses.”

He stated that he watched Yomiuri games via broadcast at home and felt self-reproach seeing the young players he had developed performing vigorously. Regarding the fact that approximately 130,000 fans launched a petition campaign for his return shortly after his resignation, he said, “It is an undeniable fact that I have betrayed the fans, and I feel nothing but remorse,” adding, “I still owe a great debt to Yomiuri, where I served for over 20 years. I will live with the thought that I must repay that kindness someday.”

Yomiuri played through the postseason under interim manager Hishigami Hideki. However, after losing two consecutive games to the Yokohama DeNA BayStars and concluding the season, the club is exploring former manager Abe’s return while seeking a new partnership. Although the non-prosecution decision has alleviated legal risks, attention from within and outside Japanese baseball is focused on this move toward his return just five months after the unsavory incident of his arrest in the act.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original