Hillman Trey life and biography

Thomas Brad "Trey" Hillman (born January 4, 1963 in Amarillo, Texas) was the manager of the Kansas City Royals from 2008 to 2010. The Royals replaced him with Ned Yost on May 13, 2010.

Hillman is the former manager of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League. On September 8, 2007 he announced that he would resign at the end of the season in order to spend more time with his family. On October 19, Hillman was hired as the manager of the Kansas City Royals.

Hillman was invited to manage the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in 2003. His team won the Pacific League championship in 2006, and returned to defend their title in 2007. It was the first pennant for the franchise in 25 years when they won the championship in 2006, and the repeated success in 2007 was accomplished despite the loss of key players such as Michihiro Ogasawara and Hideki Okajima. His team also won the Japan Series and Asia Series in 2006. The team set a franchise-record 14-game winning streak during the 2007 season.

He is one of the more popular managers in Japanese baseball, and is beloved by fans in Hokkaidō. He has made appearances in several local television commercials.

Hillman has been criticized for being too cold and calculating in using players. Pitcher Satoru Kanemura spoke out against Hillman after he had been removed in a two out, bases loaded situation in a game on September 24, 2006. Kanemura was angered because he would have gotten his 10th win of the year if he had gotten through the inning, and the team reacted harshly, penalizing Kanemura with a large fine, and a suspension (which was later shortened). Kanemura apologized to Hillman afterwards and went on to win Game 4 of the Japan Series.

"Shinjirarenai!"

Following the example of Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine, he showed his appreciation towards fans by speaking in broken Japanese sentences. After the game in which Fighters won the pennant in 2006, he shouted "Shinjirarenai!", the Japanese phrase stands for "Unbelievable", to the fans gathered in Sapporo Dome. He repeated the phrase after winning the Nippon Series, and repeated again after winning the Asia Championship. Thus, like Boston Red Sox's "The Impossible Dream", Hillman's "Shinjirarenai" became the most popular term describing Fighters' success in 2006.

Leaving Japan

After the end of the 2006 season, Hillman was one of the final four candidates for the Texas Rangers' managerial position, but he eventually lost the job to Oakland Athletics third base coach Ron Washington. He was also a candidate for the San Diego Padres' managerial position around the same time, but the Padres elected to hire Bud Black instead. Following Joe Torre's departure from the New York Yankees, Hillman was considered to be a candidate to become the Yankees' next manager. On October 19, 2007, Hillman signed a multi-year contract to manage the Kansas City Royals. He is the first Major League Baseball manager to be hired based on his Japanese baseball record.

Kansas City Royals

Hillman was hired by the Kansas City Royals on October 19, 2007 as the team's manager. Under Hillman, the Royals started the season 3–0 with a series sweep over the heavily-favored Detroit Tigers. Through 15 games, the team was 9-6 compared to their 4-11 start from the previous season. By the end of the season, the Royals' 75–87 record was the team's best since 2003. Hillman returned for a second season with the Royals in 2009 but the team tallied a 65–97 record despite a promising start to the season. Hillman served on Joe Maddon's coaching staff for the 2009 MLB All-Star Game. Hillman was fired as manager of the Royals on May 13, 2010 and replaced by Royals' special adviser Ned Yost after the Royals posted a 12-23 record to begin the 2010 season.

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