Top 10 Facts About Akira Ohgi

Top 10 Facts About Akira Ohgi

Bunt High school baseball in Japan in 2007- Photo by DX Broadrec- Wikimedia Commons

Akira Ohgi was a Japanese baseball player who went on to become a coach and manager. He was very successful as a manager- one of the most successful and influential managers that Japan ever had! He was born in 1935 and had a career spanning over fourteen years. He was raised by his mother after his dad’s death in World War II and grew up in Japan.

The below top 10 facts about Akira Ohgi give detail about his life and career.

1. Baseball Was All Akira Ohgi Knew

Akira Ohgi- photo from Baseball Magazine,Inc- Wikimedia Commons

Akira Ohgi started shining right from high school where he was a baseball star on his school team, which went all the way to the Koshien Tournament. This was such a big deal in High School Baseball. Straight after High school, Ohgi’s career commenced in 1954 playing for the Nishitetsu Lions.

2. Akira Ohgi Was A Japanese ‘Hall of Famer’

Inside the Japanese baseball hall of fame- Photo by Edomura no Tokuzo – Wikimedia Commons

The Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame contributes to the development of baseball in Japan through the dedication of baseball greats (these are the players, executives, and umpires) in the Hall of Fame. Among his many accolades, Akira Ohgi was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004. This has ascertained that he is quite easily remembered in the books of history.

3. Akira Ohgi Posted Great Statistics

Iwate Prefectural Baseball Stadium Scoreboard 2012- Photo by GENMEI Japan- Wikimedia Commons

Throughout his career, Akira Ohgi continued to be a top performer in his craft, which helped him stay on top of the game. Over the duration of his career, Ohgi batted .229/.293/.342. He rarely posted OBPS over .300. 1955 was a good year for Akira Ohgi- he hot15homers and topped 20 steals twice! In baseball this performance was pristine.

4. Akira Ohgi Was Famous For His Glove Work

Baseball glove- Photo by Kingofears- Wikimedia Commons

Ohgi is listed as having played Second Baseman and Shortstop positions. He however was overall really good at glove work rather than the offensive. His manager, Osamu Mihara converted him from pitcher to the second baseman. Akira Ohgi additionally had power and speed, attributes that help him excel.

5. Akira Ohgi Was All Things Baseball

When he retired, Akira Ohgi coached the Lions for a year. He moved on as the Kintetsu Buffaloes coach for about sixteen years and later its manager in 1988. When he retired from Kintetsu in 1992, he commentated for the game during the 1993 season. Essentially, Akira Ohgi made a whole successful career off of Baseball.

6. Akira Ohgi Had Management And Coaching Prowess

Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes at play- Photo by Fujiidera- Wikimedia Commons

Akira Ohgi was hailed in the baseball fraternity for his working formula as a coach. He had what the baseball circles called the ‘Ohgi magic’, something similar to the ‘Midas touch’.

Before he joined the Kintetsu Buffaloes as coach, the team was not doing very well. He however managed to turn their performance around. During his time at the Blue Wave, the team won a Nippon series win which was the only such title that the team won. Furthermore, his exit at Orix saw the teams’ steady decline!

7. Akira Ohgi Worked That Ohgi Magic on Hideo Nomo

Japanese Baseball mostly had coaches and management do the same things in the same way, albeit without sometimes achieving the desired results. Akira Ohgi’s approach was however, different. His approach was ‘player- led’; his players did what worked best according to them, and not according to coach.

Hideo Nomo was one of Ohgi’s success stories- Nomo was the decision-maker during his workouts. He decided what he would do. Nomo under Akira Ohgi’s direction went on to become a great pitcher nicknamed ‘the Tornado’ for his unique windup delivery.

8. Akira Ohgi Was Fired!

While not uncommon for coaches and managers to get fired from teams, one would think that Akira Ohgi’s track record absolved him from this. He got fired from Orix, which may however not have been the best move because the club ended up finishing last in the subsequent four seasons! When he was re-hired after Orix went through a club merger, the team performed much better than it had in previous seasons.

9. Akira Ohgi Recouped Ichiro Suzuki’s Career

Ichiro representing Japan in the World Baseball Classic in 2006- Photo by Mori Chan – Wikimedia Commons

Ichiro Suzuki is yet another Baseball great. He was a professional baseball outfielder. He, unfortunately, had his manager discourage him due to his batting style which was rather unorthodox. When Akira Ohgi took over as his manager, he right away leveraged Suzuki’s strengths- he had him on the lead off spot where he immediately thrived. He had a single-season record 210 hits. As of 2019, Ichiro had more hits than any other Japanese professional payer.

10. Akira Ohgi Was Conferred A Matsutaro Shoriki Award

The Matsutaro Shoriki Award honors persons that greatly contribute to the development of professional baseball. The awardee bags 5 million yen and a gold medal! Akira Ohgi was the recipient of this award in 1996. His impact was felt throughout the baseball fraternity.

Akira Ohgi was a great manager, highly regarded by his players. He was still actively working when he made the decision to retire due to his failing health. He died in 2005 from respiratory-related complications.

Like many baseball greats, Akira Ohgi’s card is available for sale online. His career came full circle.