Miracles (pt. 1)
The other night I witnessed, first hand, something miraculous. Chris Richard of the Durham Bulls hit 2 grand slams in the same game, the first player to accomplish the feat in the league since 1957.
In 1936, Tony Lazzeri became the first player to hit two grand slams in one game- not home runs, but grand slams- and only eleven players have done it since in the majors (including Fernando Tatis hitting two in the same inning). In the roughly 300,000 games played since the turn of the 20th Century, only 12 players have done it. In the roughly 50,000 games played in the history of professional baseball in Japan, only one man has done it. Shigeya Iijima.
After the war, Iijima joined the Senators, who would become the Flyers the following year. During the 1946 season, his rookie season, he finished the season seventh in batting with a .312 average and second in home runs with 12, 8 behind fellow rookie and teammate HOF'er Hiroshi Oshita. He also led the Senators in runs, hits, doubles and walks to give him a league leading .426 OBP. All this while splitting fielding duties between first and third base. The following two seasons, the bespectacled Iijima's performance slowly declined, and by the middle of the 1948 season he was only hitting .206 and splitting first base duties with five other players. The presence of three future Hall of Famers, compounded by his age (born in 1918, he had been a 28 year old rookie in '46 and was now looking to be an old 30) most likely led the Flyers to believe that his poor numbers were not going to ever rebound- he was expendable. The following season he found himself, along with Makoto Kozuru (another future HOF teammate from the Flyers in '48), on the Stars of Daiei- leading them to a third place finish, five and a half games ahead of the Flyers. The pair led the Stars in almost every category, and the 31 year old Iijima finished the season with a .548 slugging percentage and 25 home runs, as well as 67 walks, all within the top five in the league.
The following season, several teams were added and two leagues were formed, and Iijima and the Stars took up shop in the new Pacific League. Even with the dramatic rise in stats that resulted from the influx of new players and new stadiums, Iijima still placed third in the PL in home runs and slugging percentage, and won his first of three Best Nine awards for the outfield. With the departure of Kozuru to the Robins, Iijima became the power-center of the Stars, leading them in almost every offensive category (though it is important to point out that Victor Starrfin, while pitching 35 games for the Stars, filled in a number of times at first base, compiling 114 at bats with at .333 batting average, 18 rbi and a .468 slugging percentage). During that four year span ('49-'52) Iijima's slugging percentage never dipped below .500, and he was the premiere run producer for his team (though the Stars never placed higher than third).
His least productive year during that span was 1951, yet it was in October of that year that he hit his two grand slams (off of a fairly terrible Braves pitching staff that had only one pitcher [4-3] with a record over .500). How was it that Iijima came to perform such a feat- a very good hitter at the tail end of a "dead ball" era, though certainly not at the top of the power-hitting elite in the league? Was his performance that October a fluke, or the rest of his career just unlucky enough to fall at the wrong time? Why has no one else done this- and why Iijima? How much does chaos and randomness affect the performan, and legacy, of a player- how does it ensure his place in any "hall of fame"? More on this in part II of this post.

A .282 career hitter, his 115 home runs were enough to place him at 11 on the all time home run list when he retired in 1955. Though he did not play long enough to compile the stats one might associate with a Hall of Famer, he packed a lot of power into a career that essentially began when he was 30 because of the war. What was more impressive was his eye, as in his batting eye. For every strikeout in his career, he drew 1.52 walks- only Kawakami, the God of Batting, had a higher percentage, with a 1.92 walk to strikeout ratio. Here is a list of the top eleven home run hitters of all time at the end of the 1955 season, along with their walk to strikeout ratio:

Tetsuharu Kawakami 1.92
Shigeya Iijima 1.52
Fujio Fujimura 1.48
Karao Betto 1.25
Yoshiyuki Iwamoto 1.16
Tokuji Iida 1.06
Michio Nishizawa 1.04
Makoto Kozuru 1.02
Hiroshi Oshita 0.87
Noboru Aota 0.74
Satoru Sugiyama 0.47

Just for comparison, here are the ratios for Bonds, Ruth and Aaron, respectively: 1.66, 1.55, 1.01. Some may say that the role of a power hitter is not to walk, but to hit the ball hard- but the name of the game is scoring runs, and if a power hitter can also get on base, they are a double threat.

During Iijima's last season with the Stars, he hit only 10 home runs, but he was still in the top 25 hitters in the league, drove in 60 runs and made the all-star team. Despite being, by far, the best player on the Stars that year, he found himself the following year, 1955, on the best team in the league- the Hawks. He provided depth for the Hawks, who went on to almost beat the Giants that year in a thrilling seven game Japan Series, but hit a disappointing .180 in 73 games and retired at the end of the season.
In the next post, look for more miracles- an analysis of a group under-represented in the Hall of Fame, and how random luck and fate plays a role in their legacies.

The 1936 season, split into a tournament style competition in the Spring and a more conventional schedule in the Fall, kicked off professional baseball in Japan. Everything was new, and no player exceeded 150 at bats. The home run leader that Fall slugged 2, and the stolen base leader, Hisonori Karita, ended up with 16. Number four on that SB list, and in the top ten in batting and rbi, was Seiichi (or Kiyokazu) Hayashi, patrolling the outfield for the Kyojin in both the Spring and Fall seasons. In the Spring tournament he, along with Harayasu Nakajima, led the Giants with 1 home run, and in the Fall he led the new-born Giants in batting, rbi, stolen bases and hits. The Giants, the premiere team in 1936, a team that had already been playing professionally longer than any other team, won the first championship that year despite going 18-9 to the Tigers 24-6 due to their dominance in the tournaments played earlier in the season. One reason for that dominance was their ace, Eiji Sawamura, who outpitched everyone and went 13 and 2 in 15 games, winning almost twice as many games as his nearest competitor.
Unfortunately for both Hayashi and the Giants, he was drafted into the military in January of 1937 (according to Japan Baseball Daily), and would not return to a Giants uniform until 1940, after which he was never very affective and ultimately retired at the end of the 1947 season, another casualty of the long Pacific War.
During that mythic 1936 season, Hayashi patrolled the pre-Korakuen outfield with a sometime pitcher, sometime infielder, jack-of-all-trades named Hachiro Maekawa. While not providing pitching support to the Hall-of-Fame aces of the early Giants pitching staff, he filled gaps and supported every aspect of the team from 1936 through 1938. Though he played some in the industrial leagues, his true calling was in coaching young ballplayers. Born in Hyogo Prefecture, he returned to manage the Takigawa Middle School team, where, in the early 1940's, he taught the finer points of the game to a young Noboru Aota (below).


In 1946, with all of the weary soldiers returning from the war, Aota found himself on the Braves with an old friend and teacher in the bullpen- Maekawa. He pitched well, winning three and losing three while providing veteran leadership to a young pitching staff and easing young Aota back into the league that he would soon dominate.
The benefit Aota gained from not only learning the game early from a member of the original professional team in Japan, but also having the chance to then share the clubhouse and bench with that same teacher, cannot be measured. No doubt he received more intimate coaching and feedback than his teamates, and it is no wonder that he honed his skills so quickly and was back with the Giants within 2 years, setting records as a superstar.

Up Next: Miracles!

Must point out that Tomoaki Kanemoto is right now hitting .528 with 44 total bases in 41 plate appearances for a 1.222 slugging pct.! Go Tigers!

1948(pt.2)!-Triples-Doubles-

Kazuo Kasahara was robbed- not until the two league system formed in 1950 was an award given to the rookie of the year. Maybe it's fitting that Kasahara had his phenomenal 1948 season before the award existed- stats like those deserved a rookie of the decade award.
In right field for the Hawks in 1948, sharing the outfield with Toshio Kawanishi and Kazuo Horii, the rookie Kasahara became the first player in the history of professional baseball in Japan to hit 40 doubles. At the same time, he became the first player to score 100 runs in a season, no doubt aided by Hall of Famer Tokuji Iida's 92 rbi (though his 72 rbi placed him second on the Hawks, four ahead of manager/infielder/HOF star and 1948 MVP Tsuruoka). This combination of talent brought the Nankai team the first of several championships they would win over the next decade.

With Takahiso Bessho and Susumi Yumi on the mound, and fellow rookie Chisuke Kizuka already tearing up the basepaths, Kasahara and the Hawks won the second to last championship of the one-league system, edging out Aota, Kawasaki and the powerful Giants by 5 games. This was the beginning of a dynasty that would capture four of the first six Pacific League Championships.
A key factor in that dynasty would join the Hawks two years later, and win the 1951 Rookie of the Year while sharing first names with Kasahara (too bad they could not share the ROY award).

Sharing the infield duties up the middle with Chusuke Kizuka, as well as at the hot corner, Kazuo Kageyama (right) blazed into the Hawks line-up in the first year of the Pacific league and set the record for triples in a season (only to be broken the following season by Masayasu Kaneda- see below). While Kizuka was setting the mark for stolen bases in a season, Kageyama's triples helped the powerless Hawks (they were perennially at the bottom of the home run list) establish themselves as one of, if not the top team in the Pacific League. This combination of speed and golden gloves (the Hawks were at the bottom of the errors list each season as well) helped Kageyama, Kizuka, the veterans Tsuruoka, Kasahara and Iida, win and win- beating out the Lions, their nearest competitor in 1951, by 18 and a half games.
The Million Dollar Infield of Kageyama, Kizuka, Tsuruoka, Iida and Okamoto won the Best Nine (that is, a Hawk won the Best Nine for each infield position) in both 1951 and 1952, a feat that would not be accomplished again until the 1968 Giants, who also added catcher Masahiko Mori to the Best Nine trophy case - the Hawks would have accomplished it twice more, in 1953 and 1955, if not for the stellar play of Futushi Nakanishi at third base for the Lions.
In that 1951 season, Kageyama led the league in triples for the second season in a row (including becoming the first player after the war to hit three triples in a game, still a record tied with six others), while also leading in runs scored and coming in second in batting (behind Oshita, by an amazing .068!- .383 to .315). His 42 stolen bases ranked third (Kizuka was, once again, first), and his .403 on base percentage was second on the Hawks to fellow Kazuo, Kasahara's .418. That season, Kasahara (the other Kazuo, rookie of the 40's) also led the Hawks with a .507 slugging percentage, and provided the veteran leadership the Hawks needed- two years later, however, he was shipped off to the Unions.
Kazuo Kageyama, however, stayed with the Hawks until 1959 (when, after winning five of the first ten Pacific League pennants, the Hawks finally won their first Japan Series), but his productivity took a nose dive after the 1954 season. He led the league in triples almost every season until then, was the Pacific League's leader in triples for the 50's, and he is in the top 15 all time.

"The real trouble with war (modern war) is that it gives no one a chance to kill the right people." Ezra Pound said that in an epilogue to his tribute to Gaudier-Brzeska, the young sculptor who, days before being killed in an attack on Neuville St. Vaast, carved the Virgin Mary from the discarded butt of a rifle- an enthusiastic participant in the defense of France during the first World War- and at the same time a man of sensitive yet blinding artistic vision.
The image of Japanese ballplayers off to war is much like that of Gaudier-Brzeska, instead carving bats from the discarded rifles before charging out of the trench to their destiny. Even star players were thrust into glorious, yet terrifying roles that resulted in kamikaze missions and POW camps. The 1946 season, statistically at least, shows the weariness of that war- and the toll it took on all of the players who returned. Masayasu Kaneda, however, seems to have escaped that weariness. He came back with energy- in 1946 he not only led the league in batting, but set a new record for hits. A career Hanshin Tiger, and the popular captain of the team in the 50's, Kaneda played three lackluster seasons before the war, but returned to hit .347 while collecting 200 total bases for the first of 5 seasons. His true talent was in his combination of speed and power- a talent that led him to be the premier triples hitter in the 1950's.
The following season, in 1947, this talent, along with the blinding speed of Shosei Go and the power of the human locomotive, Fumio Fujimura, led the Tigers to their last championship for decades. Kaneda's 11 triples tied for the league lead, and his .311 average led the Tigers (who, as a team, led all teams in batting average by 25 points) and landed him second in batting in the league. He was also third in the league in runs scored, and carried a .419 slugging percentage.
1948- though he had a decent year (.280 average with 20 stolen bases and 75 runs scored), he was edged out of the limelight by the stars mentioned above- but he returned in 1949 to have his best season. That season he became one of only five players, along with Tokumitsu Harada in 1950, Yoshinori Hirose in 1965, Kenjiro Tamiya in 1956, and Kazuo Matsui in 2000, to hit at least 10 triples and 10 home runs while also stealing at least 20 bases and hitting 30 doubles (a 10, 10, 20, 30). (Yutaka Fukumoto came close in 1973 with 29 doubles, 10 triples, 13 home runs and 95 stolen bases, as did Toshio Naka several times in the 1960s, Shoichi Busujima in 1962, Shigeo Nagashima in 1960, Yasumitsu Toyoda in 1956, and Karao Betto in 1952.) This all around speed and power helped Kaneda score 108 runs and carry a .464 slugging percentage in that last year of the one league system.
After an off year in 1950, Kaneda had a career year in 1951- setting the all time mark for triples in a season (18), while hitting .322 and slugging .511. His 58 rbi and 81 runs scored kept up his eight year average of at least 50 rbi and 70 runs (1946-1953, though in two seasons he dipped one or two runs/rbis below average). Though the Tigers finished third, 20 games behind the powerful Giants, they were in close competition with the second place Dragons thanks to Kaneda's year. Along with Noboru Aota and Yoshiyuki Iwamoto, he was elected to the Best Nine- Outfield for the second of three times in his career.
By the end of his record setting season, he had accumulated 74 career triples (a total that would reach 103 by the time he retired in 1957), putting him one ahead of Shosei Go on the all time list, a position he would hold until 1970 when Shoichi Busujima (who had ended the 1969 season tied with Kaneda at 103, and who will be covered in a later post) surpassed him for the number one spot. Only Kaneda, Busujima and Hall of Famer Yutaka Fukumoto have over 100 lifetime triples- of those three Kaneda accomplished the feat in the fewest amount of at bats (5354ab to 7148 and 8745 ab, respectively). In addition, he hit more than 10 triples in a season six times, a feat no one has matched. And every season that he led the league in triples, he also led the league in doubles. His ability to consistently put himself into scoring position helped him to score 881 times, placing him at number three on the all time list when he retired in 1957- behind only Kawakami and Makoto Kozuru- as one of the premier run producers of the 1950's.

1948! (pt. 1)

The year 1948 was the first power year in Japanese professional baseball. It was the first season in which any players reached the 100run, 100rbi, 25 home run, 40 double plateaus, and it was also the season in which records would be set in almost every major hitting category only to be immediately broken the following two seasons. It was the first season that Noboru Aota was back on the team to which his spirit was tethered - the Giants- and he declared his jubilation with power.

The first real season after the war- the season opening less than three years after the final bombs dropped on Tokyo, after THE bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Most of the players in the league were former soldiers, and some of their former teammates were still in POW camps in Siberia and Northern China. Even the superstars, like Hiroshi Oshita, had been in line as Kamakazi pilots, prepared to give their lives for the Emperer. All of Japan was hungry and food was scarce- see the Kurosawa film “One Wonderful Sunday” to see the kids playing baseball in the middle of a dusty street, in a Tokyo that looks more like an old village than a bustling metropolis.

Between the two of them, Aota and Tetsuharu Kawakami (the "God of Hitting") hit 50 hr, more than any other team (besides the Tigers, who matched the pair with exactly 50) hit during the course of the first long (140game) season in the league's history. Records were set- Aota set the single season record for hits with 174, hr with 25, and missed by one to become one of the first three to break the 100 rbi plateau (the other two were Fujimura and teamate Kawakami). Kazuo Kasahara would become the first player to post 100 runs and 40 doubles in a season (more on him in pt. 2 of this post), and it was the first season since 1938 (aside from the war shortened '44 season) that at least one pitcher did not win 30 or more games).
It was not until he returned to the Giants that he was voted to the best 9 for outfielders, along with Kaoru Betto and Michinori Tsubouchi, with 19 stolen bases on top of 25 home runs and 99 rbi. and a .306 avg- the first of five times in his career. He led the Giants in AB, Hits, Runs, Total Bases and caught stealing.
He was second in the league in slugging with a .499 avg, trailing Kawakami by .023, and was second on the Giants in SB. Aota's 52 strike outs led the Giants, but trailed league leader Satoshi Sugiyama’s 86 by more than a few. This was just a warm up for his spectacular 1950 season in which his 134 rbi (still in the top 10 for rbi's in a season all-time) were matched by 29 stolen bases and a .332 avg.
But first- in 1948 Aota, his first season back with the Giants, came close to winning the triple crown, with a legue leading .306 average and 25 home runs, something not done since his teammate, Harayasu Nakajima (the Roger Connor of Japan, if you can swallow that type of analogy) had won it in 1938. No one would win a triple crown until 1965, though many came close: here is a list of players who led in two of the three TC categories (hr)(rbi)(avg) in a season between 1939-1964:

(C)=Central League, (P)=Pacific League

1939 Tetsuharu Kawakami (_)(75)(.338)
1941 Tetsuharu Kawakami (_)(57)(.310)
1947 Hiroshi Oshita (17)(_)(.315)
1948 Noboru Aota (25)(_)(.306)
1950(C) Makoto Kozuru (51)(161)(_)
1950(P) Karao Betto (43)(105)(_)
1951(C) Noboru Aota (32)(105)(_)

1951(P) Hiroshi Oshita (26)(_)(.383)

1952(C) Michiro Nishizawa (_)(98)(.353)

1953(C) Fumio Fujimura (27)(98)(_)

1953(P) Futoshi Nakanishi (36)(86)(_)

1955(C) Tetsuharu Kawakami (_)(79)(.338)

1955(P) Futoshi Nakanishi (35)(_)(.332)

1956(P) Futoshi Nakanishi (29)(95)(_)

1958(C) Shigeo Nagashima (29)(92)(_)

1958(P) Futoshi Nakanishi (23)(_)(.314)

1959(C) Toru Mori (31)(87)(_)

1960(C) Katsumi Fujimoto (22)(76)(_)

1960(P) Kazuhiro Yamauchi (32)(103)(_)

1961(C) Shigeo Nagashima (28)(_)(.358)

1962(C) Sadaharu Oh (38)(85)(_)

1962(P) Katsuya Nomura (44)(104)(_)

1963(C) Shigeo Nagashima (_)(112)(.341)

1963(P) Katsuya Nomura (52)(135)(_)

1964(C) Sadaharu Oh (55)(119)(_)

1964(P) Katsuya Nomura (41)(115)(_)

Though the list makes the feat seem easy, it is important to note that only four succeeded in leading the league in both Home Runs and Batting in the same season: Aota, Oshita (twice), Nakanishi and Nagashima.

Several players during this time led in two of the three catagories more than once, but only five of those players led in each category at least once:
Aota, Nakanishi and Nagashima, Kawakami and Fujimura- Oshita was never able to lead in rbi in a season. Only Kawakami accomplished it all in the one league system, and Aota was the only to cross over, leading the league in batting and home runs in the one league system, but leading in rbi in the two league system.

Gabriel Schechter recently wrote a great article for the HOF web site about career Triple Crown winners in MLB, highlighting the 9 players who led the league in each of the triple crown categories at least once in their career. So here is a list of all NPB players who led the league in each of the triple crown categories at least once (leaving out the triple crown winners: Nakajima, Oh, Nomura, Bass, Ochiai, and Wells):

Noboru Aota
Tetsuharu Kawakami
Futushi Nakanishi
Fujio Fujimura
Shigeo Nagashima
Koji Yamamoto
Kazuhiro Yamauchi
Nobohiko Matsunaka
Michihiro Ogasawara

In 1948, the Giants had a winning percentage over .600 but still lost out to the Hawks by 4 games. Though the Giants hit twice as many home runs as the Hawks that season, the Hawks stole almost 90 more bases than Yomiuri, and outpaced them in runs, hits, doubles and triples. Though future Giants star Takehiko Bessho won 26 games for the Hawks, their pitching did not compare to the Giants. Yomiuri had two 27 game winners- hall of famer Hiroshi Nakao, who posted a 1.84 era and 187 strike outs (leading the league), and Tokuji Kawasaki:

In 1948 Kawasaki posted a 2.32 era and 82 K's along with a 27-15 record. But it was his 12 shutouts in 25 complete games (still in the top 5 all time for a season), leading the Giants and the league, that belied his true talent. It was said that his shuuto was excellent (see Remembering Japanese Baseball for more), and he possessed a wide range of pitches that focused on style instead of overpowering hitters. Despite his ability to shut down opponents in complete game shutouts, when he did give up runs, he gave them up frequently, allowing over 20 home runs in both the 1949 and 1950 seasons.
He began his career before the war with the Hawks, showing potential but losing more games than he won (perhaps due to poor run support?). After the war he joined the Giants and excelled, winning 24, 27 and 19 games in three seasons. His 24 wins in 1947 came in 32 complete games, with a 2.14 era. Despite this stellar record, he was dealt to the Lions (formed the previous November to help populate the new Pacific League) in 1950.
Though he was an All Star in three seasons, he would not regain his 1948 form until the 1953 season. That season, Kawasaki would have faced several future hall of famers, all in the twilight of their careers- the best hitters in the league were all on his team. 1953 was his most prolific season, on a team that would rival the 49 Giants for greatness- though they were only at the early stages. Though the Lions finished in fourth, and under .500, the 1953 team was the germ that would become a contender: Futoshi Nakanishi, in his second year, led the league in home runs, just ahead of his teamate, rookie of the year Yasumitsu Toyoda, and trailed by Seiji Sekiguchi, a left fielder at the start of a great career (more on him in a later post). All three were following the lead of vetern star Hiroshi Oshita, who had been traded to the Lions two seasons before (immediatly after a season in which he set the single season record for batting, which would stand for almost 40 years). These stars would form the nucleus of a lineup that would drive one of the greatest teams in Japanese baseball history.
The addition of aces Sadaaki Nishimura, Kazuhisa Inao, and others would propel the Lions to greatness. Unfortunately, 1953 was Kawasaki's last season as the ace- soon he would be replaced by Inao and the aces of the future. However, his effectiveness as a reliever would help Nishitetsu to the Japan Series in '54, '56 and '57.
He pitched in two Japan Series with the Lions, proving far more effective in the 1954 series, picking up one win and posting a miniscule 0.60 era in 14 innings over 4 games, though the Lions eventually lost. Remarkably, he gave up 8 hits and 5 runs in only 2 innings work, posting a terrible 11.57 era in the Lions first Series victory in 1956. However, the miraculous pitching of rookie of the year Inao covered any poor performance by Kawasaki. His role in the 1957 series seems to have been strictly an advisory on, as he did not appear in any games.

For his career: when he retired in 1957 he was among the top 10 in wins, losses, k’s, shutouts and era. He is still in the top 25 in many of those categories.


Coming soon- 1948! pt. 2...

May have spoken too soon about the curse- read Deanna's blurb about what needs to be done....

A new post is coming soon-1948!-, but I thought I would share the news: The Curse of the Colonel has been lifted!