1
A few comments.
1) Zduriencik had no leverage, so the chance this was of his doing seems unlikely. I think this was a matter of honor and manners between Yamauchi and Johjima, consistent with GLMuskie above.
2) In a position like GM or manager, you do what it takes to win (including firing your friend like Wakamatsu just did with the 3rd base coach) or your replacement will do it for you. It's not for most of us, but most of us aren't cut out for responsibility of thousands of jobs, thousands of morgages, thousands of rent checks, and hundreds of private school tuitions.