y . ▁Crit ic ism ▁towards ▁Nag ash ima ▁greatly ▁increased , ▁and ▁the ▁team ' s ▁own ers ▁decided ▁to ▁fire ▁Nag ash ima ▁during ▁the ▁ 1 9 8 0 ▁season . ▁Nag ash ima ' s ▁immense ▁popular ity ▁made ▁it ▁difficult ▁for ▁fans ▁to ▁st om ach ▁the ▁firing , ▁and ▁some ▁fans ▁even ▁attempted ▁to ▁boy c ott ▁the ▁Y omi uri ▁newspaper ▁in ▁protest . ▁ ▁The ▁Gi ants ▁won ▁five ▁league ▁champion ships ▁and ▁two ▁championship ▁series ▁after ▁Nag ash ima ' s ▁departure , ▁but ▁many ▁people ▁felt ▁that ▁the ▁sport ' s ▁popular ity ▁in ▁Japan ▁was ▁f ading ▁away , ▁and ▁called ▁for ▁Nag ash ima ▁to ▁be ▁re inst ated ▁to ▁rev ive ▁Japanese ▁baseball . ▁Several ▁teams ▁sought ▁Nag ash ima ▁to ▁become ▁their ▁manager , ▁but ▁he ▁either ▁refused ▁or ▁ignored ▁their ▁calls . ▁Nag ash ima ▁returned ▁to ▁the ▁Y omi uri ▁Gi ants ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 2 , ▁when ▁Ts une o ▁Wat an abe ▁became ▁the ▁new ▁owner ▁of ▁the ▁team ▁( W atan abe ▁had ▁a ▁long - last ing ▁affili ation ▁with ▁Nag ash ima ). ▁In ▁the ▁ 1 9 9 2 ▁draft , ▁he ▁won ▁the ▁lot tery ▁to ▁sign ▁H ide ki ▁M ats ui , ▁who ▁would ▁become ▁the ▁new ▁star ▁of ▁the ▁Gi ants ▁during ▁Nag ash ima ' s ▁second ▁run ▁as ▁manager . ▁ ▁Nag ash ima ' s ▁Gi ants ▁won ▁champion ships ▁in ▁