Card Of The Week July 9

Hall Of Fame pitcher and former Fukuoka Softbank Hawks manager Kimiyasu Kudoh was recently named to be the new manager for Samurai Japan, replacing the recently retired Hideki Kuriyama.  (Actually it's not clear from the linked article that he was named the new manager or named "a candidate" for the managerial job.)  I'm assuming that he'll be the manager for the next World Baseball Classic which is scheduled for the spring of 2026 and also the Premier 12 which is rumored to be happening in November of 2024.  He won five Nippon Series championships in his seven seasons managing the Hawks so hopefully he can continue that success.  Here's a card of him from his pitching days with the Giants - his 2005 BBM Giants card (#G020):