50 years have passed since the Giants are forever immortal…
This year marks 50 years since Shigeo Nagashima retired, saying, “The Giants will never die.” I was a high school student, and I remember watching Nagashima run around Korakuen Stadium in tears on TV, which was broadcast live even though it was a weekday evening.
If we assume that the age at which baseball can be understood is 10 years old, most people who know about Shigeo Nagashima’s playing days are over 60 years old. Those who lived in the same era as the unparalleled great athlete known as Mr. Mister are now in the minority.
Perhaps because of this, the saying that “Shigeo Nagashima is a person who remains in “memories” rather than “records” has become widespread. I feel quite resistant to this. Compared to the superstars who came after Nagashima, such as Sadaharu Oh, Hiromitsu Ochiai, Ichiro, and Shohei Otani, it is no more than an afterthought to say that Shigeo Nagashima is “memories rather than records.”
For baseball fans who lived during his time, Shigeo Nagashima was a man who would remain in the records. I would like to introduce this in detail.
He has been a “record man” since his days at Sixth University.
During his time at Sakura First High School, one of Chiba prefecture’s leading preparatory schools, Nagashima was an unknown player, never participating in Koshien. However, in his third year at the Minami Kanto Tournament, Nagashima attracted attention when he hit a home run over the back screen. After going through the selection process, he entered Rikkyo University and began participating in official games from his first year.
Below are Nagashima’s results during his time at Tokyo Six Universities. The numbers in parentheses are the league rankings in terms of batting average.
〈1 year〉
Spring: 11 attempts, 17 hits, 3 hits, 0 runs, 2 points, 0 steals. .176
Autumn: 11 attempts, 19 hits, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 points, 0 steals. .158
Spring: 11 attempts, 47 hits, 8 hits, 0 runs, 1 point, 0 steal. .170 (25)
Autumn: 11 attempts, 35 hits, 12 hits, 1 run, 12 points, 0 steals. .343 (3)
Spring: 14 attempts, 48 hits, 22 hits, 2 runs, 7 points and 4 steals. .458 (1)
Autumn: 15 attempts, 59 hits, 17 hits, 3 runs, 8 points, 7 steals. .288 (7)
Spring: 12 attempts, 40 hits, 9 hits, 1 run, 4 points, 6 steals. .225 (22)
Autumn: 11 attempts, 39 hits, 13 hits, 1 run, 4 points, 5 steals. .333 (1)
