Shigeo Nagashima, a true giant in Japanese baseball and one of the country’s most popular athletes, died of pneumonia at a Tokyo hospital on June 3. He was 89.
Nagashima’s prowess at the plate and dazzling plays in the field earned him several nicknames, including “Mr. Pro Yakyu (baseball).”
He was a key player for the Yomiuri Giants when the Tokyo-based team won nine straight Japan Series championships between 1965 and 1973.
Nagashima joined the Giants in 1958 after hitting eight home runs at Rikkyo University, a record for the six-university Tokyo Big6 Baseball League at the time.
He was named Rookie of the Year.
The third baseman also gained the nickname “Man on Fire” by impressing fans with his memorable plays.
Perhaps the most unforgettable one came in June 1959, when the slugger ended a game against the Giants’ main rival, the Hanshin Tigers, with a walk-off homer in the presence of Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako.
Nagashima and Sadaharu Oh, the Japanese home run king, heralded the golden years of the Giants, which were dubbed “the ON era” after their initials.
Also called “Mr. Giants,” Nagashima finished his 17-year, 2,186-game career in 1974, with 444 home runs, 1,522 RBIs and a .305 batting average.
“Our Giants will last forever,” Nagashima said when he retired. The words became one of the most well-known quotes of a Japanese ballplayer.
The team retired his number, 3, in his honor.
But Nagashima was not finished with the team.
In 1975, he was appointed as the Giants manager. However, the team finished at the bottom of the Central League that season.
The Giants twice won the Central League pennant under Nagashima, but he was effectively dismissed in 1980 without clinching a Japan Series title as a manager.
He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.
Nagashima returned as the Giants manager in 1993 and captured the Japan Series championship twice, in 1994 and 2000.
The Giants reached the 1996 Japan Series after erasing an 11.5-game deficit with the Hiroshima Carp to capture the Central League title.
During the run, Nagashima coined the phrase, “Make Drama,” to underscore the team’s determination. It won the buzzword of the year award.
When he retired as manager in 2001, the Giants named him a lifetime honorary manager.
In his combined 15 years as a manager, he gained a record of 1,034 wins, 889 losses and 59 draws.
He also served as manager of the national team.
Japan won a berth in the Athens Olympics in 2004 under his charge, but Nagashima suffered a stroke in March that year and was unable to join the team for the event.
Nagashima was presented the People’s Honor Award in 2013 with slugger Hideki Matsui, who starred for the Giants under Nagashima and later with the New York Yankees.
He also took part in the Opening Ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 as one of the torchbearers along with Oh and Matsui.
Nagashima was designated a Person of Cultural Merit in 2005 and awarded the Order of Culture in 2021. He received the Asahi Sports Prize in fiscal 2001.