Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
Encyclopedia
It first opened in 1959 next door to Korakuen Stadium
Korakuen Stadium
was a stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Completed in 1937, it was primarily used for baseball and was home to the Yomiuri Giants until 1988 when they moved next door, to the Tokyo Dome, which sits on the site of the Velodrome. The ballpark had a capacity of 50,000 people. In 1942 Korakuen Stadium played...
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. In 1988, the museum moved to a new site within the Tokyo Dome
Tokyo Dome
Tokyo Dome is a 55,000-seat baseball stadium located in Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo, Japan.The stadium opened for business on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of the Velodrome which was next door to the site of the predecessor ballpark, Kōrakuen Stadium...
.
The Hall of Fame and Museum was created as a means to contribute to the development of baseball in Japan through dedication of baseball greats—players, executives, and umpires
Umpire (baseball)
In baseball, the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, including beginning and ending the game, enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds, making judgment calls on plays, and handling the disciplinary actions. The term is often shortened to the colloquial form ump...
—as Hall of Famers. In addition, the facility houses many memorable baseball materials including various kinds of baseball literature.
Players inducted
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Shigeo Nagashima is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager.Nagashima was by far the most popular figure in Japanese baseball during his career. His contributions to the development of the sport in Japan are immeasurable.-Biography:... (1988) Yukio Nishimoto was a Japanese baseball player and manager. He played for the Mainichi Orions from 1950 to 1955. As a manager he won eight Pacific League pennants. However his clubs would never go on to win the Japan Series, earning him the nickname "Great Tragic Leader". Nishimoto was inducted into the Japanese... (1988) Masaichi Kaneda is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He is one of the best known pitchers in Japanese baseball history, and is the only Japanese pitcher to have won 400 games. He was inducted in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.... (1988) Katsuya Nomura was one of Nippon Professional Baseball's greatest players as a catcher and was also a long-time manager for the Yakult Swallows, the Hanshin Tigers, and the Rakuten Golden Eagles of NPB's Pacific League.-Career:... (1989) Isao Harimoto Isao Harimoto is a Korean former Nippon Professional Baseball player and holder of the record for most hits in the Japanese professional leagues. An ethnic Korean, his birth name is Jang Hun... (1990) Tatsuro Hirooka Tatsuro Hirooka is a retired Japanese professional baseball player and manager. He was awarded Central League rookie of the year award in 1954.-References:... (1992) Yoshio Yoshida was a Japanese professional baseball player with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. His number 23, is retired with the Hanshin Tigers... (1992) Kazuhisa Inao was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher. In 1957, he won 20 consecutive games. In 1958 Japan Series, he pitched six games and won 4 consecutive games after his team lost 3 games. He even made a home run in fifth game of Japan Series. He was the Pacific League's Most Valuable Player in 1957 and... (1993) |
Minoru Murayama was a professional baseball player for the Osaka Tigers in Nippon Professional Baseball. His number 11 is retired with the Tigers. A pitcher with Hanshin from 1959 to 1972, he recorded a career 2.09 ERA and 192 career complete games to go with 222 wins. Hall of Famer.-Early life:He was born on... (1993) Sadaharu Oh Sadaharu Oh, or Wang Chenchih , is a retired Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager. He batted and threw left-handed and primarily played first base. Oh, who was born in Sumida, Tokyo the son of a Taiwanese father and a Japanese mother, had originally signed with the powerhouse Yomiuri... (1994) Wally Kaname Yonamine Wallace Kaname "Wally" Yonamine , also known as Wally Yonamine, was a multi-sport American athlete who played in the All-America Football Conference and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.... (1994) Tadashi Sugiura was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball player with the Nankai Hawks. He debuted in the 1958 and went on to join the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame for his skills as a pitcher.-External links:... (1995) Motoshi Fujita was a former Japanese professional baseball player and manager.-External links:... (1996) Sachio Kinugasa Sachio Kinugasa is a former Japanese baseball player with Hiroshima Carp. He is nicknamed Tetsujin, meaning "Iron Man".... (1996) Takeshi Koba Takeshi Koba is now the manager of Tokyo International University's baseball team and was formerly a professional baseball player and manager in Japan.-Career as Player:... (1999) Tetsuya Yoneda Tetsuya Yoneda is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher with the Hankyu Braves in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He won 350 games and is a Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inductee.He was so tough that he was called Gasoline Tank.... (2000) Kazuhiro Yamauchi was a Japanese baseball player and manager. He played for the Mainichi Orions, the Hanshin Tigers and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp over the span of an 18 season-long career .... (2002) Yutaka Fukumoto Yutaka Fukumoto is a retired Japanese professional baseball player in Nippon Professional Baseball born in Osaka, Osaka.After a brief career at the company team of Matsushita, he was drafted seventh overall by the Hankyu Braves in 1968. In only his second season, he stole 75 bases, setting the... (2002) |
Noboru Akiyama was a Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher, originally from Okayama, Okayama. He played with the Taiyo Whales. He is a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.-External links:... (2004) Hiromitsu Kadota was a Japanese professional baseball player for the Nankai Hawks, Orix Braves and Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. Reputed for his slugging ability, he ate a lot and became a strong hitter, though he is suffered from diabetes mellitus even now. He hit 44 home runs at the age of 40 in 1988. He was retired after... (2006) Hisashi Yamada was a Japanese baseball submarine pitcher. He played with the Hankyu Braves in Nippon Professional Baseball from to .Yamada won the Pacific League MVP for three years in a row , and the Japan Series MVP in 1977. He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in .-External links:... (2006) Takao Kajimoto was a left-handed Japanese baseball pitcher for the Hankyu Braves from 1954 to 1973. He won 254 games and was a 12-time All-Star during his career. In 2007 he was elected to Meikyukai, one of the two Japanese baseball halls of fame.-Career:... (2007) Koji Yamamoto (baseball) is a former Japanese baseball player and manager of the Hiroshima Carp of Japan's Central League. A four-time home run king having played for Hiroshima Carp throughout his career, Yamamoto contributed to the team winning five league championships including its first-ever in 1975, and three titles... (2008) Tsuneo Horiuchi is a former professional baseball pitcher in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. In he was voted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. He stood as a candidate of the House of Councillors election, 2010 for the LDP but lost... (2008) Osamu Higashio Osamu Higashio is a former Japanese baseball player who played in the Japanese professional leagues from 1969-1988. He also was manager of the Seibu Lions from 1995-2001.-Professional career:... (2010) |
Others
- Matsutaro ShorikiMatsutaro Shorikiwas the father of Japanese professional baseball. Born in Daimon, Toyama, he was a media mogul, owned the Yomiuri Shimbun, one of Japan's major daily newspapers, and founded Japan's first commercial television station, Nippon Television Network Corporation...
(1959) - Hiroshi Hiraoka (1959)
- Yukio Aoi (1959)
- Shin Hashido (1959)
- Kiyoshi Oshikawa (1959)
- Jiro Kuji (1959)
- Eiji SawamuraEiji SawamuraEiji Sawamura was a Japanese professional baseball player...
(1959) - Iso Abe (1959)
- Masaru KageuraMasaru Kageurawas a Japanese baseball player from Matsuyama, Ehime. His team reached the final in the 1932 National High School Baseball Championship, but his team was defeated by Masao Yoshida in the final. He joined Tigers and he was a good rival for Eiji Sawamura in Giants. He was killed in the battle of the...
(1965) - Masaichi Nagata (1988)
- Masao YoshidaMasao Yoshidawas a Japanese amateur pitcher originally from Ichinomiya, Aichi. He had 23 wins at Spring and Summer Koshien. In the National High School Baseball Championship between 1931 and 1933, he won 14 consecutive games at Koshien Stadium and he became the only pitcher to win three consecutive...
(1992) - Lefty O'DoulLefty O'DoulFrancis Joseph "Lefty" O'Doul was an American Major League Baseball player who went on to become an extraordinarily successful manager in the minor leagues, and also a vital figure in the establishment of professional baseball in Japan.-Player:Born in San Francisco, California, O'Doul began his...
(2002) - Shiki Masaoka (2002)
- Horace WilsonHorace Wilson (professor)Horace Wilson was an American expatriate educator in late 19th century Empire of Japan. He is one of the persons credited with introducing the sport of baseball to Japan.-Biography:Wilson was born in Gorham, Maine...
(2003) - Sakae Suzuka (2003)
See also
- The MeikyukaiMeikyukaiis one of the two Japanese baseball halls of fame . The Meikyukai is a company ltd. for public benefit.It was founded on July 24, 1978, to honor players born during the Shōwa period...
("Association of Great Players" or "Golden Players Club") (also a Japanese baseball hall of fame) - Nisei Baseball Research ProjectNisei baseball research projectThe Nisei Baseball Research Project is a non-profit 501 organization documenting, preserving and exhibiting history of Japanese American baseball. It was founded by Kerry Yo Nakagawa, the author of Through a Diamond: 100 Years of Japanese American Baseball...
- Professional baseball in JapanProfessional baseball in JapanProfessional baseball in Japan first started in the 1920s, but it was not until the was established in 1934 that the modern professional game had continued success.-History:...