Shohei Ohtani leads tributes as Shigeo Nagashima, Japan’s ‘Mr Pro Baseball’, dies at 89
A popular public figure, he starred for Japan’s most popular team and helped cement baseball’s status as the country’s favourite sport
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani led the tributes to Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima following his death on Tuesday, aged 89.
Known in Japan as “Mr Pro Baseball”, Nagashima was one of the most famous people in the country during his playing days.
His death was confirmed Tuesday by the Yomiuri Giants, the team he helped make famous and eventually managed.
His death was also announced in special extra editions of newspapers handed out on street corners – a throwback to breaking news in an earlier time.
He was famous in a period before Japanese players such as Ohtani and Ichiro Suzuki 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.