The Nippon Professional Board of Directors voted to establish the Shigeo Nagashima Award.
The award will be presented annually to “a fielder who has made outstanding contributions and enhanced the value of professional baseball in Japan as a cultural public good by demonstrating outstanding performance in running, hitting and fielding in official games and postseason games of that year, and by captivating fans with his play on the field,” the NPB said in a press release.
Established by Nippon Professional Baseball, the Yomiuri Shimbun, and the Nippon Television Network Corporation, the award will be determined by a committee of former players and executives following the Japan Series starting in 2026, and will be presented by the NPB’s commissioner at the annual NPB Awards.
The winner will receive a commemorative menu, and the runner up will receive 3 million Yen.
The award is named for Shigeo Nagashima, who passed away June 3 at age 89.
With the Yomiuri Giants, Nagashima and Sadaharu Oh were nicknamed “the O-N Cannon” and won nine consecutive Japan Series from 1965-73. Nagashima played 2,186 games with a .305 career batting average and 2,471 hits, 444 home runs, and 1,522 RBIs, winning the Central League MVP five times.
Photo: Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, center, chats with former Yomiuri Giants manager Shigeo Nagashima, left, prior to Game Three of the Japan Series at Jingu Stadium in Tokyo Tuesday, Oct. 23. 2001. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
