In June of 1997, two events captured headlines in Japan. The Chunichi Dragons created an international incident when their first baseman pushed American umpire Mike DiMuro and created an international incident.

Meanwhile, the nation became obsessed with the murder of a Kobe boy and the fact that the alleged killer was a fourteen year old student who was bullied and beaten in middle school. But rarely do such bullied children commit gruesome murders. More often they become dysfunctional adults or managers of the Chunichi Dragons.

Dragons manager Senichi Hoshino is well known for bullying players, umpires and opponents. Take former Yomiuri Giants outfielder Warren Cromartie's word for it. In his book Slugging it out in Japan, he describes Hoshino as "a cocky little ass who talked and acted like Billy Martin..."

On any of the many baseball blooper programs shown throughout the year, Hoshino can be seen in the dugout smashing bats and slapping players in the face. Often you'll see a Dragons player make an error and, walking off the field, nearly break into tears fearing what will happen when he returns to the dugout.

Cromartie describes an incident in his book which demonstrates Hoshino's "fighting" brand of baseball. In Japan, if a pitcher hits a batter, he will customarily tip his hat as if to say, "Sorry, it was an accident, please don't charge the mound and beat the hell out of me." Playing against the Dragons, Cromartie was hit in the back and the pitcher did not tip his hat. He gestured to remind the pitcher, but the man on the mound did nothing.

After slugging the Chunichi hurler, Cromartie found out the Dragons manager had ordered his entire pitching staff not to tip their hats. It was, Hoshino reasoned, a sign of weakness.

When not directly assaulting his own and other teams' players, Hoshino still gets involved with controversy. In June 1997, his first baseman Yasuaki Taiho argued with and pushed American umpire Mike DiMuro, prompting the visiting ump to resign and return to the U.S. Though it was little reported, Hoshino could be clearly seen running up behind Taiho and pushing him into the American.

A few days later, the Dragons skipper was reported complaining about DiMuro's calls, and questioning why Japan needed him in the first place. (DiMuro had been invited to Japan to help raise the standard and dignity of Japanese umpiring.)

Before his career as a manager, Hoshino was one of Chunichi's ace pitchers from 1969-82. In 1974, his best year, he won the Sawamura Award (Japan's Cy Young award) with a 15-9 record, 2.87 ERA, and 137 strikeouts in 180 innings. He also earned 15 saves, the only time in his career that he led the league in any category. In his fourteen season career, he compiled a 146-121 record, a 3.60 ERA, and 1225 strikeouts.

Hoshino's "fighting baseball" managerial style has had mixed results. Over six seasons (two separate stints) managing the Dragons, he's compiled a 479-367 record but only one pennant. Immeasurable, however, is the amount of damage he's done to the integrity of the game over the years, including his part in pushing DiMuro out of Japan.