Career
During a career that spanned four decades from 1954 to 1980, Nomura hit 657 home runs and led the Pacific League in homers eight straight seasons. (However, it should be taken into consideration that his home park, Osaka Stadium, measured only 276 feet until 1972 and 300 feet from 1972 onward down the lines, and 380 feet to straightaway center-tiny dimensions by today's standards.) He finished his career with 2901 hits.
In 1965, Nomura won the league's first Triple Crown. He was a player-manager between 1970 and 1977. He played for 26 years, the longest NPB playing career until Kimiyasu Kudo pitched in his 27th season in 2008.
Nomura steered the Yakult Swallows to four league titles in the 1990s, and won the Japan Series in 1993, 1995 and 1997.
After stepping down as the Yakult skipper, Nomura managed the Hanshin Tigers from 1999 to 2001 but resigned after Hanshin finished at the bottom of the Central League for three straight seasons. Additionally, Nomura's wife, Sachiyo, was in legal trouble in 2001 due to charges of tax evasion, which also contributed to his decision to relinquish his position.
Nomura was hired to manage the industrial league team, Shidax Baseball Club, in 2003. He led the team through the 2005 season. Nomura returned to the NPB as a manager for the 2006 season with the Rakuten Golden Eagles. In so doing, he became the oldest manager in the history of NPB.
On April 29, 2009 he reached the 1,500 wins mark in his managerial career, but he also holds the record for overall number of losses. He led the Eagles to their best-ever record of second place the regular season.
He retired at the end of the 2009 season and was replaced by American, and former Hiroshima manager, Marty Brown.
Read more about this topic: Katsuya Nomura
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