Tetsuharu Kawakami

Japanese: 川上哲治 - かわかみてつはる

Born: March 23, 1920, Kumamoto
[Died] October 28, 2013. Tokyo, Inagi, professional baseball player and manager. While attending Kumamoto Prefectural Technical School, he participated in the National Junior High School Baseball Championship (→National High School Baseball Championship) three times in the spring and summer, and was the runner-up in 1934 and 1937. In 1938, he joined the Tokyo Giants (later the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants) as a pitcher, but switched to first basemanship. He played in the professional baseball world before and after the Pacific War, and in 1956 he became the first player in Japanese baseball to hit 2,000 hits. Until his retirement in 1958, he was the Most Valuable Player three times, the batting champion five times, the RBI champion three times, and the home run champion two times. In total, he played in 1,979 games over 18 years, with 2,351 hits, 181 home runs, 1,319 RBIs, and a batting average of .313. He was called the "God of Batting." He became manager of the Yomiuri Giants in 1961 and retired in 1974. During that time, he won the Central League championship 11 times and the Japan Series championship 11 times. Since 1965, he has led the team to nine consecutive victories in the Japan Series. After retiring, he became a commentator and also coached youth baseball. In 1965, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1992, he was selected as a Person of Cultural Merit and awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Fourth Class, with Rosette. (→ Professional Baseball)

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

[生]1920.3.23. 熊本
[没]2013.10.28. 東京，稲城
プロ野球選手，監督。熊本県立工業学校在学中に全国中等学校優勝野球大会（→全国高等学校野球選手権大会）に春夏 3回出場し，1934，1937年に準優勝を果たした。1938年東京巨人軍（のちの東京読売巨人軍〈読売ジャイアンツ〉）に投手として入団したが，一塁手に転向した。太平洋戦争を挟んで戦前・戦後のプロ野球界で活躍し，1956年に日本球界初の 2000本安打を達成した。1958年に現役を引退するまで最高殊勲選手 3回，首位打者 5回，打点王 3回，本塁打王 2回。通算 18年で 1979試合に出場，2351安打，181本塁打，1319打点，打率 3割1分3厘。「打撃の神様」と称された。1961年巨人軍監督に就任，1974年に退任した。その間，セントラルリーグのリーグ優勝 11回，日本一 11回。1965年以降日本シリーズ 9連覇の実績を上げた。引退後，解説者となるとともに，少年野球の指導にも携わった。1965年野球殿堂入り。1992年文化功労者に選ばれ，勲四等旭日小綬章を授与された。（→プロ野球）

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