Shigeo Nagashima, who was known in Japan as “Mr Pro Baseball” and was one of the most famous people in the country during his playing days, has died.
He was 89.
His death was confirmed yesterday by the Yomiuri Giants, the team he helped make famous and managed.
Photo: EPA-EFE
His passing was also announced in special extra editions of newspapers that are handed out on street corners — a throwback to breaking news in an earlier time.
He was famous in a period before Japanese players like Ichiro Suzuki and Shohei Ohtani began to star in the MLB.
Ohtani posted three photographs of himself with Nagashima on social media before the Los Angeles Dodgers’ game on Monday night — including two that were clearly taken during the Dodgers’ visit to Tokyo in March last year for the first two games of the regular season.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“May your soul rest in peace,” Ohtani wrote.
Ohtani did not speak to reporters after he hit his major league-leading 23rd homer and later drove in the tying run during the Dodgers’ 4-3 loss to the New York Mets.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said that Nagashima “gave bright dreams and hopes to society.”
Photo: AP
Nagashima helped lead the Giants as they won nine straight Japan Series titles from 1965 through 1973.
His equally famous teammate was Sadaharu Oh, who hit 868 home runs in his career.
Their batting exploits captivated a Japanese public enjoying new economic prosperity out of the ruins of World War II, with families tuning in to watch games on black-and-white televisions.
Nagashima’s outsized personality and easy charisma made him a popular public figure and symbol of a confident new Japan.
He hit a dramatic walk-off home run to seal a win for the Giants in the first professional game ever attended by Japan’s emperor in 1959.
Oh also paid tribute, telling reporters that he was “really shocked” to learn of his former teammate’s death.
“I’m really disappointed that Mr Nagashima, who shines brightly in the history of Japanese baseball, has departed after a long bout with illness,” the 85-year-old Oh was quoted as saying by the Kyodo news agency. “He taught me a lot of things. I’m grateful to have been able to play with him.”
Nagashima played third base, finished with a .305 batting average, had 2,471 hits, 1,522 RBIs and 444 home runs.
He played for 17 seasons and retired in 1974, then returned to manage the Giants in 1975 through 1980. He was fired after the 1980 season when the Giants failed to win the Japan Series during his stint.
He returned to the dugout in 1993 and led the Giants to the Japan Series title in 1994 with Hideki Matsui, who later joined the New York Yankees. Nagashima also won the championship in 2000.
He was to set to manage Japan at the 2004 Athens Olympics, but had a stroke a few months before that left him partially paralyzed and unable to participate.
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