Japanese baseball legend Nagashima dies aged 89

Shigeo Nagashima, 89, a former baseball player and one of Japan’s most well-known sports figures, passed away.

According to a statement from his former team, the Yomiuri Giants, he passed away from pneumonia in a Tokyo hospital.

In addition to playing in 2, 186 games and allowing 444 home runs, Nagashima won nine straight titles with the team in the 1960s and 1970s under the nickname “Mr. Giants.”

At a time when Japan’s economy is expanding and its confidence is growing, his charm and ability earned him respect.

He “taught me a lot of things.” Sadaharu Oh, his former teammate, was quoted as saying, “I’m grateful to have been able to play with him.” Oh, 85, who still has the most home runs in the world, and who together, known as “O-N,” made a deadly pitching team.

Shohei Ohtani, who currently plays for the LA Dodgers and is one of Japan’s most well-known baseball players, shared photos of himself with Nagashima on his Instagram page.

In 1959, Nagashima, who also went by the name Mr. Pro Baseball, hit a famous home run at the first professional baseball game the Japanese emperor ever attended.

He retired in 1974 after a 17-year playing career, where he six-timed the Central League championship.

Nagashima also served as the Giants’ manager for 15 seasons, winning two Japan Series titles.

Yoshimasa Hayashi, the country’s top cabinet official, described Nagashima as “a sunny person.”