Baseball legend, ambassador, and one-time Hanshin Tigers manager Katsuya Nomura passed away on February 11 at the age of 84. The cause of death was listed as coronary artery disease.
Nomura was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan, and played for the Nankai Hawks (based in Osaka at the time) for much of his career before brief stints with the Lotte Orions and Seibu Lions. He finished second on the NPB all-time games played, hits, home runs, and RBI totals, all as a catcher. He won an incredible 19 Best Nine Awards, plus a Triple Crown in 1965.
His greatness as a player came close to being surpassed as a manager. In fact, for several years he was a player-manager. He led the Yakult Swallows to three Japan Series titles (1993, 1995, 1997) while also raising up arguably the best catcher of the Heisei Era, Atsuya Furuta. He then tried to revive the Hanshin Tigers in the middle of their Dark Ages era, and despite never finishing out of last place (1999-2001), he laid a new foundation for his successor, the late Senichi Hoshino, who brought the Tigers their first pennant in 18 years in 2003.
After a brief period of managing in industrial leagues and appearing on the Iron Chef, Nomura took over as manager of the Rakuten Eagles. Again, he was not able to bring them a title, but a few years later, Hoshino led the team to its lone Japan Series title.
Having played for 27 seasons (including 10 as player-manager) and managing for 16 more years after his playing days, Nomura had an influence on two entire generations of baseball players, coaches, and managers. He transformed the game by using data before any other teams even considered its potential, and continued to share his insights on various teams, players and managers right up until his sudden death on the 11th.
Current Hanshin manager Akihiro Yano, who played under Nomura for three seasons, had this to say: “I’m only able to be a manager now because of the things I learned from Mr. Nomura. He taught me that if I used my head, I would be able to keep up with everyone else, that I could beat any strong opponent by outthinking them. I will pass his wisdom on to our players.”
Closer Kyuji Fujikawa also commented: “I learned a lot about how to be a good person from him, and that before being a good baseball player, I needed to be a good member of society. I’m really saddened by his death. When I went to America, we talked on the phone and he gave me advice. His son Don was my agent, so I knew Mr. Nomura personally. I sometimes even got messages from him through his son Katsunori. There was even a time that I asked him what I should do with my life, and he and his wife both gave me advice. I’ll always remember that.
Outfielder Yoshio Itoi, whose grandfather was Mr. Nomura’s mentor in his university days, said, “This is really shocking. He was a legend in the rural town where I grew up. I last met him last year at Koshien, and he said, ‘Keep at it!'”
The baseball world is a poorer place from this day, as it lost a true ambassador and hero.