TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima, a People’s Honor Award recipient who rose to stardom for his on-field exploits during the country’s era of rapid economic growth in the 1960s and 1970s, died Tuesday due to pneumonia, the Yomiuri Giants said. He was 89.
Nagashima, who was a key player on the Giants that won nine consecutive Central League and Japan Series titles from 1965 to 1973 and later managed the club, was a charismatic figure whose popularity transcended sports.