a day ago
Oh, Matsui, Other Japanese Baseball Stars, Honor Legendary Nagashima at Memorial Game Held at Tokyo Dome
Former Yomiuri Giants star players gathered for a memorial game to honor baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima at Tokyo Dome on Saturday.
The close friends and proteges who had built an era with the late Nagashima celebrated his timeless achievements which shone light on the baseball world. Messages from former players of other professional teams who had competed fiercely with Nagashima were also shared at the event organized by the Giants.
At the ceremonial first pitch, another legendary slugger, Sadaharu Oh, 85, and former manager Tatsunori Hara, 67, who also served as head coach under Nagashima during his tenure as Giants manager, took their places at the left-handed and right-handed batter's boxes.
Known as the O-N pair, Oh and Nagashima were the Giants' driving force during the team's so-called V9 period, when it won nine consecutive Central League and Japan Series titles.
Behind the plate was current Giants manager and former catcher Shinnosuke Abe, and Hara grinned while swinging at a ball pitched by Hideki Matsui, 51, a protege of Nagashima, who also played for the New York Yankees in the U.S. major league. Joined by former manager Yoshinobu Takahashi, 50; Tsuneo Horiuchi, 77; Kiyoshi Nakahata, 71; and Nagashima's second daughter, Mina Nagashima, 57, they all declared, 'Play ball!'
'I'm sure Mr. Nagashima is very pleased,' said Oh. 'I hope this kind of event will be held occasionally in the future so that we will all remember Mr. Nagashima and raise our spirits.'
Hara said: 'It was an honor to stand in the batter's box today. He was always giving his all and sparkling with his brilliant performance on the field.'
A video message from Masayuki Kakefu, 70, a former star player of rival team Hanshin Tigers, was also shown in between innings.
Kakefu recalled a phone call that he received from Nagashima when he was struggling as the No. 4 batter in the lineup. Nagashima told him, 'I want to hear the sound of your bat swing,' so Kakefu said he swung the bat in front of the phone.
''That's it, Kakefu. That's the way to do it,' he said. I will never forget the conversation I had with Mr. Nagashima about bat swing sounds,' Kakefu said in the video.
A season-high 42,403 spectators packed Tokyo Dome on Saturday. At the end of the fifth inning, the audience used orange and black towels distributed beforehand to form letters that spelled out, 'Mr. GIANTS' and 'NAGASHIMA SHIGEO,' expressing their respect and gratitude for the legend.
