In the spring of the year before last, at a stadium, I was referred by an independent league executive to a well-rounded elderly man. It was Hideji Kato who was active in Hankyu Braves.
As a Nankai fan, I really hated the strong blow of Hide Kato in his heyday. Hide Kato, who transferred to Nankai in his last years, was unable to catch the fastball of a young pitcher and shot a foul that failed to hit the left wing seat of Osaka Stadium. When I told Mr. Kato such a story, he was laughed at, “You are also a considerable age.”
A few years ago, at the reception desk of the Giants Spring Camp in Miyazaki, I saw a 70-year-old tall gentleman being stopped asking, “Who is it?” It was Masanori Murakami, also known as Massy, the first major leaguer in Japan. I didn’t know the young staff, but the reporters around me issued a pass with a kiss, “Mr. Murakami.” Massy smiled and put on a G-mark camping cap, saying, “Get a hat!”
A few years ago, I wrote about the history of “Takahashi Unions” in a magazine, but I received a phone call before the end of school. It was from Unions OB Shinya Sasaki.
“Okay, you wrote that Takahashi Unions merged with Daiei Stars, but that’s not the case. Unions broke up at the Okayama stadium on March 6, 1957. I’m not sure about this. When!”
Hideji Kato, Masanori Murakami, and Shinya Sasaki are all baseball players who have longed to see and hear their names on TV and newspapers since they were children. If you get close to it, you will still be thrilled even after a good year. And all three are people who have made a vivid history in “History of Nippon Professional Baseball”. Unfortunately, none of them have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The player who hit 2000 hits also lost the entry qualification
Besides that, many players in the history of professional baseball have lost their entry qualifications for player awards without being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Among the players with more than 2000 hits, Masahiro Doi, Isao Shibata, Kenichi Yazawa, Eiji Kato, Michiyo Arito, Taira Fujita, Hiromasa Arai, and Yasunori Oshima, who entered the demon register last year, are one of them.
Yutaka Enatsu is the only pitcher with 200 wins or more, but among the players who played an active part as the ace of each team with less than 200 wins, the pitchers who made the era such as Masayuki Dobashi, Mitsuhiro Adachi, Yoshinori Sato, Hiromu Matsuoka are not inducted into the Hall of Fame. ..
Furthermore, Masanori Murakami mentioned above was the first major leaguer from Japan and a pioneer who embodied the difference between Japanese and American baseball long before Hideo Nomo. Shinya Sasaki spread the appeal of professional baseball nationwide as the main caster of an innovative sports news program called “Professional Baseball News.”
Not just baseball players.
