Haruyasu Nakajima (中島治康 June 28, 1909 – April 21, 1987) was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

. An outfielder with a strong throwing arm, he played an active part in the beginning of

professional baseball in Japan Professional baseball in Japan first started in the 1920s, but it was not until the was established in 1934 that the modern professional game had continued success. History Baseball was introduced to Japan in 1872 by Horace Wilson, and its first ...

. Nakajima attended

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

, where he starred in the

Tokyo Big6 Baseball League is an intercollegiate baseball league that features six prominent universities in the Tokyo area. Before the 1936 establishment of the Japanese Baseball League and subsequent growth (after 1950) of Nippon Professional Baseball, the Big6 League ...

. He began his professional career in 1936 with the

Japanese Baseball League was a professional baseball league in Japan which operated from 1936 to 1949, before reorganizing in 1950 as Nippon Professional Baseball. The league's dominant team was Tokyo Kyojin (renamed the Yomiuri Giants in 1947), which won nine league c ...

, as a charter member of the

Tokyo Kyojin The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

. An excellent curveball hitter who used all parts of the field, in 1938 he was the first in Japan to become a

triple crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

player, as he compiled a .361 batting average, with 10 home runs and 38 RBI for the fall season. In addition, he was named league MVP for that season.Johnson, Daniel E. (July 2006). ''Japanese Baseball: A Statistical Handbook'', p. 21. McFarland & Company. In 1941, Nakajima was named the Kyojin

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

and he led his team to the JBL championship. He was again the team's player-manager in 1946-1947, and in 1949, when he led them (now known as the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

) to another championship. During his time with the Kyojin/Giants. Nakajima led the league in homers twice, average once, and RBI four times. In 1950, with the reorganization of the JBL into

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

, Nakajima and a number of other veteran players were sent from the Giants to the

Taiyo Whales The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current ...

to compensate for that team's lack of players. Nakajima ended his career in 1951 as player-manager of the Whales, but they struggled to a 19–26 record under his leadership, and he was replaced before the end of the season. Nakajima was inducted into the

Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame The is a museum which includes a library, reference rooms and . It first opened in 1959 next door to Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. In 1988, the museum moved to a new site within the Tokyo Dome. The Hall of Fame and Museum was created as a ...

in 1963, just the third player inducted. He died April 21, 1987.

References

External links

Haruyasu Nakajima statistics
at Baseball-Reference.com 1909 births 1987 deaths Japanese baseball players Yomiuri Giants players Taiyō Whales players Baseball people from Nagano Prefecture Waseda University alumni Managers of baseball teams in Japan Yomiuri Giants managers Yokohama DeNA BayStars managers Baseball player-managers People from Matsumoto, Nagano Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inductees {{japan-baseball-outfielder-stub