Shiba Taguchi, Ryukyu Sports News Naha, Okinawa – March 31, 2020: “Well, is he crazy, or was he drinking?” one fan asked me at the start of spring training this year. ‘He’ is Shisa GM Morris Ragland. A rhetorical question, to be sure, but I answered him nevertheless, “I don’t know. Let’s see the product […]
5: December, 2019 I’m not sure where I ought to begin, so I’ll start with my most pressing concern at the moment; this massive hangover. I was invited to a party by the friend of a friend. Didn’t know many people there, but had a good time, I suppose. Work has been, well, a trial […]
Shiba Taguchi, Ryukyu Sports News Naha, Okinawa – November 23, 2019 – A little more than a week after revelations of collusion, backroom dealing, and worse rocked the League of the Rising Sun, Shisa GM Morris Ragland addressed the local media. The investigation into the actions of the clubs involved is ongoing, but the Shisa […]
4: November, 2019 The new GM made very few changes when he came to Naha. Mike Freund, the assistant GM, was one of the new hires. Freund comes from Iowa, one of those landlocked states with unspeakable cuisine nobody outside of America has ever heard of. Around the office, Freund is known as “Mister No”. […]
Shiba Taguchi, Ryukyu Sports News Naha, Okinawa – November 1, 2019 – In part one of our interview, back in March, we spoke with the new Shisa GM, Morris Ragland. Then, we spoke about the GM’s plans for the club. Now we print our follow up with him, which took place two weeks ago when Naha’s […]
3: October, 2019 I confess that I do not love baseball like some of the men I see who play the game. Maybe I’ve come to it too late in life. I certainly can’t imagine playing a game for a living. I like working alone in the office late on Sunday nights. I pretty […]
2: September, 2019 What’s so strange about Seigyoki Corporation, you ask? Security, and lots of it, for starters. And it’s same company wide, whether you’re working on the insides of a cruise missile or a new toilet seat (both of which we sell to the Pentagon). RFID fobs, photo ID badges “worn at all […]
1: August, 2019 My name is Kusonoki Konoye. Chances are that you’ve never heard of me. I work as a baseball operations assistant for the Naha Shisa, a professional baseball team. Until a few years ago I knew nothing of baseball. I’m not exactly what you’d call ‘athletic’. Back then I was a graduate student […]
Shiba Taguchi, Ryukyu Sports News Naha, Okinawa – March 30, 2018 – We already reported on the appointment of Shisa GM Morris Ragland. On Friday, I sat down with the Naha head man at his office overlooking Shisa Stadium to discuss the team owner, Shisa’s off-season, and Ragland’s plans and expectations for the 2018 season. This is part one of our exclusive […]
By Daisuke Wakabayashi, Naha Shisa Scouting Director May 19, 2018: Naha, Japan —When I woke up in my apartment below the grandstands of Shisa Stadium, I knew in my heart that today was the day. I exited my pad and walked down the hall past my control room, with its state-of-the-art monitoring system. I knew […]