Despite leading the Fighters to one of their best finishes in fifteen years, Ueda made headlines in 1996 for what happened off the field. As one of the old school work-hard and piss-blood managers, much of his energy over the years had been concentrated on baseball.

Thus it was big news when he asked for a leave of absence a month before the end of the season. His wife and daughter had become involved with the "Moonies," and Ueda needed time to sort out family matters.

Perhaps because of that incident, Ueda appears to be softening somewhat. Years before, he had been photographed kicking one of his error-prone catchers. In an era in which players like Randy Bass were criticized for putting family ahead of work, baseball was everything--nothing else mattered.

But in 1997, when Ueda's star foreign pitcher Kip Gross left a game early to be with his wife while she delivered their child, hardly a fuss was made. Older and more mellow, he's now seldom seen throwing tantrums on the field.

In two stints with the Hankyu Braves, Ueda proved a generally solid manager. His first five years (1974-78) were overwhelmingly successful, winning four pennants and three Japan Series titles. After taking two years off, he returned. But in the following ten seasons, he only led the Braves to one pennant.

Joining the last place Fighters in 1995, it took two seasons to turn them into a pennant contender. Unfortunately, his September 1996 departure hurt the Fighters' post-season chances.

As Gross later told Glen Young of the Daily Yomiuri, "When our skip left, the wind from everybody's sails just went out. He's really highly respected and really well liked among the team. But if I were him, I would have done the exact same thing. Family is first, and I respect him more since."