Shigeru Mizuhara
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is a former
professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...
infielder and manager in Japan's
Japanese Baseball League The was a professional baseball league in Japan which operated from 1936 to 1949, before reorganizing in 1950 as Nippon Professional Baseball. The league's dominant team was Tokyo Kyojin (renamed the Yomiuri Giants in 1947), which won nine le ...
(JBL) and
Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...
(NPB). As a player his team won nine JBL championships; as a manager his teams won five
Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series between the winning cl ...
championships. Mizuhara was a star third baseman for
Keio University , abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally established as a school for Rangaku, Western studies in 1858 in Edo. It was granted university status in 1920, becomi ...
. Whiting, Robert. ''You Gotta Have Wa'' (Vintage Departures, 1989), p. 45. Mizuhara played his entire professional career for the Tokyo Giants/Tokyo Kyojin/Yomiuri Giants, from the Japanese Baseball League's beginnings in 1936 until 1950. Playing second base for Tokyo in 1942, Mizuhara was voted Most Valuable Player of the JBL. Mizuhara served in the Japanese military during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, eventually being captured by the Russians; while in the
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
camp, he introduced baseball to his captors. The JBL reorganized to Nippon Professional Baseball in 1950, and Mizhuara became
player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...
of the Giants (although he retired as a player after the season). As manager for the Giants from 1950 to 1960, the Toei Flyers from 1961 to 1967, and the
Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011 ...
from 1969 to 1971, Mizuhara compiled a record of 1586–1123, for a .585 winning percentage. As manager, he guided his teams to five
Japan Series The Japan Series ( , officially the Japan Championship Series, ), also the Nippon Series, is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a best-of-seven series between the winning cl ...
championships, four of those with Yomiuri and one with Toei. Mizuhara was elected to the
Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame The , commonly known outside of Japan as the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, is a hall of fame and museum in Tokyo dedicated to professional baseball, with a prominent focus on professional baseball in Japan. The Hall is intended to honor and co ...
in 1977.


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mizuhara, Shigeru 1909 births 1982 deaths Baseball people from Kagawa Prefecture category:Keio University alumni Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Japanese baseball players Yomiuri Giants players category:Nippon Professional Baseball MVP Award winners Managers of baseball teams in Japan category:Baseball player-managers Yomiuri Giants managers Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters managers Chunichi Dragons managers Japanese military personnel of World War II Japanese prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union