Tetsuharu Kawakami

Tetsuharu Kawakami (March 23, 1920 – October 28, 2013) was a Japanese baseball player and manager, known for his red bat and the nickname "the God of Batting." Born in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto, he played for Kumamoto Tech in the 1937 Summer Kōshien, where the team advanced to the championship game but lost; afterward Kawakami took a handful of dirt from the playing field and kept it in his uniform pocket as a memento.

Over an 18-year professional playing career, Kawakami won the batting title five times, took two home run crowns and three RBI titles, and led the league in hits six times. He was the first player in Japanese professional baseball to reach 2,000 hits and was named the league's Most Valuable Player three times. He was also the MVP of the 1953 Japan Series.

As manager of the Yomiuri Giants from 1961 to 1974, Kawakami led the team to eleven championships, nine of them in consecutive years. His teams never lost a Japan Series under his direction, and he holds the record for the most Japan Series championships as a manager.

Kawakami was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1965.