Tetsuharu Kawakami

Tetsuharu Kawakami
Tetsuharu Kawakami
First basemen
Born: (1920-03-23)March 23, 1920 Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto, Japan
Died: October 28, 2013(2013-10-28) (aged 93) Inagi, Tokyo, Japan
Batted: Left Threw: Left
Japanese Baseball League (JBL) debut
Spring, 1938, for the Tokyo Kyojin
Last appearance
1958, for the Yomiuri Giants
JBL/Nippon Professional Baseball statistics
Batting average	.313
Hits	2,351
Home runs	181
Runs batted in	1,319
Runs	1,028
Stolen bases	220
Teams
As Player Tokyo Kyojin/Yomiuri Giants (1938–1958) As Manager Yomiuri Giants (1961–1974)
Career highlights and awards
11× Japan Series Champion (as a manager) (1961, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973) 3x Japanese Baseball League MVP (1941, 1951, 1955) 5x Central League batting champion 2x Central League home run crown 3x Central League RBI champ Hit for the cycle on July 25, 1954 Yomiuri Giants #16 retired
Member of the Japanese
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1965

Tetsuharu Kawakami (川上 哲治, Kawakami Tetsuharu, March 23, 1920 – October 28, 2013) was a Japanese baseball player and manager, known for his red bat, and his nickname dageki no kamisama (打撃の神様, "the God of Batting/Hitting").

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. He was the first player in Japanese pro baseball to achieve 2,000 hits and was named the league's MVP three times.^[1] As manager of the Yomiuri Giants from 1961 to 1974, he led the Giants to eleven championships, with nine of them being in consecutive years. He has the most Japan Series championships as a manager.

Kawakami was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1965.