Career
He was famous for his steady batting and his defence at shortstop, and received the Best Nine Award of the NPB nine times, in 1955-60, 1962, 1964-65. This is the best record till now. He was often compared with the famous 12th century general, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, and they called Yoshida "Ushiwakamaru", Yoshitune's name as a child.
After retirement, he became the manager of the Hanshin Tigers three times, in 1975-77, 1985–87, 1997-98. The 1985 season was his best. His Hanshin Tigers won the Central League's championship for the first time since 1964, and broke the Seibu Lions in the Japan Series. This is the only time the Hanshin Tigers won the series. That year Yoshida was the winner of the Matsutaro Shoriki Award.
In 1989-95, Yoshida lived in Paris, and managed the French national baseball team, but his team failed to qualify for the Olympic Games twice; first for the 1992 Summer Olympics at Barcelona and again for the 1996 Summer Olympics at Atlanta. Since then, Yoshida has had a new nickname, "Monsieur". He was selected as a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.
Read more about this topic: Yoshio Yoshida
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“A black boxer’s career is the perfect metaphor for the career of a black male. Every day is like being in the gym, sparring with impersonal opponents as one faces the rudeness and hostility that a black male must confront in the United States, where he is the object of both fear and fascination.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)
“John Brown’s career for the last six weeks of his life was meteor-like, flashing through the darkness in which we live. I know of nothing so miraculous in our history.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Each of the professions means a prejudice. The necessity for a career forces every one to take sides. We live in the age of the overworked, and the under-educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)