Shohei Ohtani shares heartfelt tribute on Japan’s baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima’s death

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani paid a heartfelt tribute after the demise of one of Japan's most celebrated baseball players, Shigeo Nagashima. Japanese team Yomiuri Giants shared the news of Nagashima's death on Monday.

Shohei Ohtani shared pictures of his interaction with the Japanese legend from the Dodgers' trip to Tokyo for the series against the Chicago Cubs in March. Ohtani shared the pictures in an Instagram post, writing (translated to English):

"May your soul rest in peace."

Nicknamed "Mr. Giants," Nagashima played for the Giants for his entire baseball career, winning 11 Japan Series titles, nine in consecutive seasons. He won four Japan Series MVP titles in his 17-year stint as a player and later returned to manage the team in 1975.

Nagashima finished with a .305 batting average, 2,471 hits, 1,522 RBIs and 444 home runs. He won two Japan Series titles as a manager in his second stint with the team.

"He left so many brilliant records in the world of professional baseball for many years and gave bright dreams and hopes to society as a national star," Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi said.

Shohei Ohtani has become the face of Japanese baseball over the last decade and the two-way phenom's reputation continues to grow after three MVP titles in the MLB.

Dodgers fell to extra innings loss despite late Shohei Ohtani heroics against Mets

Shohei Ohtani's home run heroics were not enough to help the Dodgers to a win against the New York Mets in the series opener on Monday. The reigning National League MVP smashed an MLB-leading 23rd home run (tied by Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh) of the season to make it a 2-1 game in the seventh inning.

He drove in another run with a sacrifice fly to tie the score in the ninth inning, sending the game into extra innings. However, the Mets scored twice in the tenth and held onto a 4-3 win to hand the Dodgers a second consecutive loss.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

Know More

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash