Susumu Nakane

Susumu Nakane (中根 之)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 132 lbs.

• School Meiji University
• High School Daiichi Shinko Commercial High School

• Born September 21, 1910 in Hyogo Prefecture Japan
• Died  ???

BR register page

Biographical Information

Susumu Nakane won the first batting title in NPB history.

Nakane was signed by the Nagoya team in 1936, and he hit .211/.302/.263 in the spring. The Hyogo native improved to .376/.458/.462 in the fall season, and won the first batting title ever in NPB history (the spring season was not yet official in some ways, including in terms of awards). He also led the league in slugging and hit-by-pitches. Nakane was one of the three players who won a batting title without hitting any homers (the other two were Toshiaki Okamura and Kozo Shoda). He jumped to the Eagles team and recorded a .308/.407/.416 batting line in spring in 1937, ranked 2nd in batting (.030 behind Kenjiro Matsuki) and 5th in hits (13 behind Matsuki).

The Meiji alumni hit .290/.450/.387 in fall, and had a .283/.377/.362 batting line in spring season in 1938. However, he slumped to .215/.298/.363 in fall, then decided to retire. Nakane coached the Mainichi Orions from 1952 to 1955, then became an umpire. He worked as an umpire until he ejected Jack Bloomfield in 1963. After ejecting the star outfielder, he received some death threats so he quit the job.

Overall, Nakane had hit .286/.385/.389 with 183 hits and 39 steals in 6 seasons in NPB.

Related Sites

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan