Shigeya Iijima

Shigeya Iijima (飯島 滋弥)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 156 lb.
• School Keio University
• High School Chiba High School

• Born October 11, 1918 in Yoshida, Chiba Japan
• Died August 9, 1970

BR Register page

Biographical Information

OF/1B Shigeya Iijima played in Nippon Pro Baseball from 1946 to 1955, six of his tens seasons coming with the Daiei Stars of the Pacific League. He is best known for one incredible game on October 5, 1951 against the Hankyu Braves when he became the first player in NPB history to hit two grand slams in the same game - and for good measure added a three-run homer to also set a single-game record with 11 RBIs, as well as a record with 7 in one inning (the 7th inning).

He was already 27 when he made his top league debut. He had been a huge star in both high school, when he took part in six Koshien tournament, and in college at Keio University. He had not served in World War II due to poor eyesight and a knee injury, but instead worked in the aviation industry as professional baseball was on pause in Japan. He was a star right off the bat, hitting .312 with 12 homers and 57 RBIs in 103 games for the Tokyo Senators as a rookie in 1946. He was only the second rookie in NPB history to hit for a .300 average. However, his batting average fluctuated wildly over the years, dipping to .207 in 1948, but also reaching .322 and .336 with Daiei in 1950 and 1952. In 1951, the season in which he had his amazing game, he batted .294 in 85 games with 18 homers and 63 RBIs. Although not a big man at 5'8", wighing only 156 lb and wearing glasses, he topped 20 homers twice, with 25 in 1949, and 27 in 1950. He made the Pacific League Best Nine as an outfielder in 1950 and repeated the following two seasons. In 1952, he led the Pacific League in both batting average and walks (78), and was the unofficial on-base percentage champion (the statistic was not compiled at the time). He was also named MVP of the second NPB All-Star Game played that year, having also played in the game in 1951, the first year it was staged, and one more time in 1954.

He finished his career with a batting average of .282 in 953 games, with 115 homers. After his playing career, he became a broadcaster, then in 1967 became the hitting coach for the Toei Flyers, managed their ni-gun squad for a couple of seasons and was interim manager of the top team for part of the 1968 season when Hiroshi Oshita took a health break. Sadly, he died of stomach cancer shortly after that, in August of 1970; he was just 51. His death was a huge surprise, as only the day before, he had attended a game at Korakuen Stadium and no one had noticed anything unusual about his state of health.