Last year, we were treated, over and over, to all the things Shohei Ohtani did that no one had done in “The Majors” since Babe Ruth, which is true only if one considers Major League Baseball Inc. the sole brand of major league baseball.
I’m going to skip over the illogic of that for a moment, and bluntly assert that Japan’s best leagues, the Japan Baseball League (1936-1949) and its Central and Pacific leagues (since 1950), are major as well.
Starting from there, it’s high time we recognize more two-way major league stars from Japan, by selecting Shohei Ohtani Award winners from Japan’s past. Here they are, by decade a list of players who more than guys who were “good hitters for a pitcher” or position players “who could pitch a little.” These were players who were first-line players in the batter’s box, and on the mound, who could also field another position, and did so in the same season.
So here we go, decade by decade.
- 1936 to 1939: Masaru Kageura, Hanshin Tigers
- 1940 to 1949: Jiro Noguchi, (Tsubasa, Taiyo, Nishitetsu – 1940-1943), Hankyu Braves 1946-1949
From 1950 the field, once full of guys who did both, begins to thin out and we get Jiro Noguchi in his final season as a solid contributor in various roles, and an outfielder who appeared in 12 games as a rookie.
- 1950-1959: Jiro Noguchi, Hankyu Braves
- 1960-1969: Yozo Nagabuchi, Kintetsu Buffaloes
After Nagabuchi’s 1968 rookie season, we get a 42-year gap until 2013, when Ohtani opens his first two pro seasons in the outfield and with the DH eliminating the need for him to stand in the outfield in order to hit, enables him to lock up his eponymous award from 2010 to 2019.
There are, of course, other contenders around the world for the Award, particularly from the Negro Leagues’ Leon Day, “Bullet Joe” Rogan, Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe and Martin Dihigo, and they belong as well.
As I work toward a book I intend to write about Japanese baseball history, I’ve written a little about fiery slugging Tigers pitcher Masaru Kageura, the first Japanese winner.
And now, season by season, with WS totals for pitching, batting and fielding.
1930s
| Season | Player | P WS | B WS | F WS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 aut | Masaru Kageura, Tigers | 7.9 | 3.4 | 1.1 |
| 1937 spr | Masaru Kageura, Tigers | 11.0 | 10.7 | 1.1 |
| 1937 aut | Masaru Kageura, Tigers | 4.1 | 10.7 | 1.1 |
| 1938 spr | Fumio Fujimura, Tigers | 2.5 | 6.4 | 0.8 |
| 1938 aut | Shigeru Mizuhara, Giants | 7.7 | 3.4 | 0.3 |
| 1939 | Jiro Noguchi, Senators | 46.0 | 7.9 | 1.0 |
1940s
| Season | Player | P WS | B WS | F WS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Jiro Noguchi, Tsubasa | 42.0 | 10.1 | 0.9 |
| 1941 | Miyoshi Nakagawa, Kurowashi | 4.8 | 7.9 | 0.6 |
| 1942 | Jiro Noguchi, Taiyo | 58.8 | 3.4 | 0.9 |
| 1943 | Jiro Noguchi, Nishitetsu | 24.7 | 8.5 | 0.3 |
| 1944 | Hideo Fujimoto, Kyojin | 18.0 | 5.0 | 0.7 |
| 1946 | Fumio Fujimura, Tigers | 10.3 | 16.2 | 2.8 |
| 1947 | Hiroki Komatsubara, Giants | 3.1 | 11.5 | 3.0 |
| 1948 | Shibayoshi Morishita, Taiyo | 2.6 | 8.9 | 2.6 |
| 1949 | Jiro Noguchi, Braves | 12.1 | 6.4 | 1.9 |
Note: Team names changed A LOT in the 1940s. Jiro Noguchi played for two teams in his career, but his first underwent three name changes between 1939 and 1943. His Taiyo team (大洋) was not the same franchise as the Taiyo (大陽) of the 1948 winner, Shibayoshi Morishita or the later Taiyo franchise that began playing in 1950 and is currently DeNA.
After Japan went to war with the United States, all English names, and baseball terms, were replaced with Japanese names and words.
1950-2021
| Season | Player | P WS | B WS | F WS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Jiro Noguchi, Braves | 13.3 | 2.1 | 1.5 |
| 1951 | Tsuguhiro Hattori, Dragons | 1.8 | 3.9 | 2.5 |
| 1952 | Tsuguhiro Hattori, Dragons | 11.3 | 6.3 | 0.1 |
| 1954 | Jyuzo Sanada, Tigers | 5.5 | 3.4 | 0.4 |
| 1968 | Yozo Nagabuchi, Buffaloes | 1.7 | 5.4 | 2.4 |
| 2013 | Shohei Ohtani, Fighters | 2.7 | 2.7 | 1.2 |
| 2014 | Shohei Ohtani, Fighters | 12.6 | 7.4 | 0.2 |
| 2016 | Shohei Ohtani, Fighters | 13.7 | 17.2 | – |
| 2017 | Shohei Ohtani, Fighters | 2.0 | 8.7 | – |
| 2018 | Shohei Ohtani, Angels | 3.9 | 16.0 | – |
| 2021 | Shohei Ohtani, Angels | 11.8 | 25.9 | 0.0 |
