Shigeo Nagashima, known in Japan as ‘Mr. Pro Baseball,’ dies at 89

Shigeo Nagashima, who was known in Japan as “Mr. Pro Baseball” and was one of the most famous people in the country during his playing days in Nippon Professional Baseball, has died. He was 89.

His death was confirmed Tuesday by the Yomiuri Giants, the Central League team he helped make famous and eventually managed. His passing was also announced in special extra editions of newspapers that are handed out on street corners — a throwback to breaking news in an earlier time.

He was famous in a period before Japanese players like Ichiro Suzuki and Shohei Ohtani began to star in North American MLB.

Ohtani posted three photos of himself with Nagashima on social media before the Los Angeles Dodgers’ game on Monday night — including two that were clearly taken during the Dodgers’ visit to Tokyo last March for the first two games of the regular season.

“May your soul rest in peace,” Ohtani wrote.

Shigeo Nagashima was around baseball for so long that, as a manager, he was part of a home run contest in Japan featuring a 44-year-old Henry Aaron. (Photo by Takeo Tanuma /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

Ohtani didn’t speak to reporters after he hit his major league-leading 23rd homer and later drove in the tying run during the Dodgers’ 4-3 loss to the New York Mets.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Nagashima “gave bright dreams and hopes to the society.”

Nagashima helped lead the Giants as they won nine straight Japan Series titles — the counterpart to the World Series — from 1965 through 1973.

His equally famous teammate was Sadaharu Oh, who hit 868 home runs in his career.

Nagashima played third base, finished with a .305 batting average, had 2,471 hits, 1,522 RBIs and 444 home runs.

Shigeo Nagashima of the Yomiuri Giants, who was named MVP in the Japan Championship Series against the Nankai Hawks, at Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo in 1965. (Photo by STR/JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images)

He played for 17 seasons and retired in 1974, then returned to manage the Giants in 1975 through 1980. He was fired after the 1980 season when the Giants failed to win the Japan Series during his stint. He would be inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.

He returned to the dugout in 1993 and led the Giants to the Japan Series title in 1994 with Hideki Matsui, who eventually joined the New York Yankees. He also won the championship in 2000.

Nagashima was an ambassador for the game for decades – he would promote the sport alongside sluggers like Roger Maris and Henry Aaron in their respective eras, and continued to be seen in public alongside the likes of Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki into the 2000s, as well.

He was to set to manage Japan in the 2004 Athens Olympics, but had a stroke a few months before that left him partially paralyzed and unable to participate.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.