was a Japanese baseball player and manager, known for his red bat, and his nickname . He was a professional player for 18 years, winning the batting title five times, two home run crowns, three RBI titles, and had six titles for the most hits in a season. He was the MVP of the 1953

Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, :File:2014_JS_logo.png is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series ...

. He was the first player in Japanese pro baseball to achieve 2,000 hits and was named the league's MVP three times. As manager of 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 ...

from 1961 to 1974, he led the Giants to nine consecutive championships. Kawakami 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 ...

in 1965.

Biography

Player

Born in

Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto is a city in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on February 11, 1942. the city has an estimated population of 30,752 and a population density of 144 per km2. The total area is 210.55 km2. It is famous for boat trips on the ri ...

, he played for Kumamoto Tech (Kumamoto) in the 1937 Summer Kōshien. Kumamoto advanced to the championship game, but lost. After the game, Kawakami grabbed a handful of dirt from the playing field of Kōshien Stadium and put it in his uniform pocket as a memento. This became known as the original scooping of "the dirt of Kōshien" (甲子園の土 Kōshien no tsuchi?). Since then, as a memento of their fleeting time on the hallowed grounds of Kōshien, players from the losing teams take home a pouch of the precious soil. Kawakami played for

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 ...

between 1938 and 1958 (though he missed the years 1943–1945 when he served in the Japanese military). Kawakami signed with the Giants as a pitcher/first baseman, and actually pitched in 39 games between 1938 and 1941, compiling 11 wins against 9 losses, with an excellent 2.61 ERA. He converted full-time to first base in 1942."Takuro Ishii Hits 2,000th,"
JapaneseBaseball.com (May 12, 2006). In 1951, he struck out only 6 times, which is the Japanese single-season tie record. In 1954, Kawakami hit the first cycle in Yomiuri Giants' franchise history.

Manager

As manager of the Giants from 1961 to 1974, he was known for his ruthless, tough-love style, but he led the Yomiuri Giants to nine consecutive championships.

Filmography

Tetsuharu Kawakami appeared in three films: * 人生選手 (1949) * 川上哲治物語　背番号１６ '' Kawakami Tetsuharu monogatari sebangō 16'' (1957) — a

bio-pic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudr ...

where he played himself * ＢＩＧ−１物語　王貞治 (1977) In addition, Kawakami is referred to by name in the baseball game scene from film director

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

's '' Stray Dog'' (1949); a.k.a. ''Nora Inu''.

References

External links

* Career statistics and player information fro
Baseball-Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kawakami, Tetsuharu 1920 births 2013 deaths Nippon Professional Baseball MVP Award winners Baseball people from Kumamoto Prefecture People from Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto People from Inagi, Tokyo Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Japanese baseball players Managers of baseball teams in Japan Yomiuri Giants players Yomiuri Giants managers