Katsuya Nomura, who died at 84, was involved in baseball throughout his life as a player, manager and commentator. His life left a significant mark on the history of Japanese professional baseball.
After graduating from a Kyoto Prefecture-run high school that had no exposure to the annual national high school baseball tournaments held at Koshien Stadium, Nomura tried out for the Nankai Hawks (currently Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) of the Pacific League and made the team in 1954. He became the starting catcher in his third season, and his career achievements include leading the league in home runs nine times and in RBIs seven times. He was also the first Triple Crown winner in Japanese professional baseball after the end of World War II.
In an interview when he hit his 600th home run, the second player in Japan to do so after Sadaharu Oh, Nomura described legends Oh and Shigeo Nagashima as sunflowers and compared himself to an evening primrose, saying, "An evening primrose is also blooming beautifully in an out-of-sight place."
At the time, Pacific League games were seldom broadcast on TV. It seems his determination to excel was driven by the lack of attention compared to Oh and Nagashima in the Central League.
It is noteworthy that he had a strong inquisitive mind that was without parallel. As a hitter, he analyzed the habits of opposing pitchers so he could anticipate what they would throw. As a catcher, he helped his pitchers use little motion to deliver pitches quickly to the plate to counter Yutaka Fukumoto, who regularly led the league in stolen bases.
At a young age, Nomura became a player-manager. Even after leaving the Nankai Hawks, he played for two other teams until the age of 45, with his motto being he would "only play catcher my whole career." His playing career ended in a very evening primrose Nomura-like way, finishing second all-time in many categories, including home runs and hits.
Managerial legacy
After he became a commentator, Nomura explained in an understandable manner why a pitcher threw each pitch. Many baseball fans must have felt the profoundness of baseball while hearing his explanations.
His time as a manager built spectacularly upon his playing career.
Based on the philosophy that even a weak team could win if it developed a strategy, Nomura implemented his "ID (import data) baseball" that attaches importance to data. He led the Yakult Swallows, which had been floundering near the bottom of the league, to three Japan Series championships.
Nomura also led the Hanshin Tigers and the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles. He gave players released from other teams an opportunity to play, reviving their careers. This skill of Nomura's was dubbed the "recycling factory."
"There are lucky wins, but no unlucky losses." As a manager, Nomura was fond of this proverb from the Edo period (1603-1867). The lesson is to learn from failure.
Many corporate leaders were attracted to Nomura because they found clues to corporate management in the baseball manager's way of thinking and talent for using human resources.
Today, there are six managers in Japanese professional baseball who have trained under Nomura. Of his many achievements, leaving so many capable people to the baseball world is also significant.
Masaichi Kaneda, the winningest pitcher in Japanese baseball with 400 victories, died last year. Baseball fans cannot help missing these legends. The hope is that there will be as many players as possible who will develop into idiosyncratic players like Nomura and Kaneda.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 13, 2020)
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
