Baseball: Former glove wizard Ibata in line to manage Japan

Hirokazu Ibata, a seven-time Golden Glove-winning shortstop who has never managed at the professional level, is now in line to become the manager of Japan’s senior national team, a source with knowledge of the matter said Sunday. The 48-year-old would replace Hideki Kuriyama, who managed Japan to the World Baseball Classic championship in March and left after his contract expired in May. Ibata, who played most of his career with the Central League’s Chunichi Dragons, wrapped up his playing days in 2015 after two seasons with the CL’s Yomiuri Giants. He was a member of Samurai Japan in the 2013…

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