Meikyukai

The Meikyukai is sometimes called one of the Japanese baseball Halls of Fame but this designation is not technically correct as the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame is the lone such institution.

To be honored as part of the Meikyukai, a player has to reach the 2,000-hit plateau, 200 career victories or 250 saves in Nippon Pro Baseball and Major League Baseball. Occasionally, other players can be added who have not reached any of those levels - for instance, Yutaka Fukumoto was added when he reached 800 career steals (he later accumulated 2,000 hits). Some gaijin who have reached the level have not been added to the Meikyukai. Hiromitsu Ochiai is the only player to turn down membership (as he felt the guidelines were too arbitrary) while Yutaka Enatsu gave up his membership due to a drug scandal. Kihachi Enomoto does not participate in their events even though he qualifies.

Also, players must have been after the Taisho era (which ended 12/25/26), which has excluded Victor Starffin, Tetsuharu Kawakami, Takehiko Bessho, Jiro Noguchi, Tadashi Wakabayashi, Shigeru Sugishita, Hiroshi Nakao and Hideo Fujimoto.

Alex Ramirez was the first foreign player to make the Meikyukai, doing so in 2013. With expanded schedules, it has become much easier to gain entry, with three players joining in 2012 and four more in 2013. Alfonso Soriano got his 2,000th hit between NPB and MLB in 2013 and thus also qualified under the rules as he began his career in NPB, but did not immediately receive an invitation.

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