The Only Living Boy in New York
When I learned last week that Shigeo Nagashima, “Mr. Pro Baseball” of Japan, had passed away at the age of 89, the first person I thought of was my friend and former colleague Jim Marshall.
Marshall, who recently celebrated his 94th birthday, played for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan against Nagashima. With some help from Sadaharu Oh, Nagashima led the Yomiuri Giants to an unprecedented 11 Japan Series during a 13-year span. When Marshall was in Japan from 1963-1965, he saw the Giants win it all twice, while either Nagashima or Oh took home league MVP honors. (Marshall was no slouch himself, slugging .472 during his time overseas and clobbering 78 homers.)
“Nagashima and Oh were the Tokyo Giants,” he says. “Nagashima was the golden boy.”
Marshall and his Japanese star counterparts were good friends, and he still expresses great fondness for them. “Every time they came to Chunichi to play, they took their hats off to say hello to Bev [Marshall’s wife],” he remembers fondly. As the first player ever to go directly from MLB to Japan’s NPB, Marshall’s journey required immense courage. Nagashima’s friendship made the American’s time in Japan — and beyond — happier.
Nagashima, a five-time league MVP, held down third base for the Giants from 1958-1974. He was a giant in the game, and a name that many more Americans would have been familiar with had he played in today’s era.
One year before departing for Japan, Marshall was on the Opening Day roster of the New York Mets. With Casey Stengel as his manager and teammates including Richie Ashburn, Roger Craig, and Don Zimmer, Marshall was an original Met.
Earlier this season, the club reached out to him. They wanted to honor him.
That story began on Friday, April 13, 1962, when the Mets took the field at the Polo Grounds. The starting first baseman on that day for the first home opener in franchise history was, of course, Jim Marshall. (He went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk in a losing effort.)
Some sixty-three years later, Marshall is the only living player from the ’62 Mets.
When the Mets traveled to Chase Field in early May to face the Diamondbacks — another franchise for which he was an original member, this time as a coach and scout — Marshall was honored and presented with a jersey. He laughed while admitting he wasn’t thrilled that the number on the back of the jersey represented his age. He then questioned my loyalties when I suggested he was due for a new number, having recently celebrated another trip around the sun.
Whenever Marshall and I speak, there’s some talk about the way the game used to be versus how it’s played now. But what industry isn’t different today than it was 70 years ago? That’s why the picture below cracks me up.
A different angle of the scene, this shot captures the folks in the seats just behind Marshall. Our society likes to give the kids a hard time for being on their phones too much. Well, where do you think they learn it?
I can only imagine that those fans taking in the pre-game festivities are googling “Jim Marshall” while they try to figure out if they should pay attention and take their own photos of the moment.
Father’s Day!
In need of a last-minute Father’s Day gift? WTP has you covered.
“Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter and Always Will” by outstanding baseball writer Scott Miller takes the reader into the clubhouse and into the manager’s office. One of the most exciting parts of the book centers around the three days that Dave Roberts granted Miller unfettered access to his game-day interactions and responsibilities.
You can find it wherever you buy books. A full review will be coming soon. In the meantime, do yourself — and your father — a favor and buy the book.
Jay Hook, the first Met to record a win, is also alive!