Kazuhiro Yamauchi, one of the best sluggers of the late 1950s and 1960s, has been elected to the Hall of Fame along with seven other notable contributors to Japanese baseball, baseball officials said Friday.
Yamauchi, former Kintetsu Buffaloes ace Keishi Suzuki, all-time stolen base leader Yutaka Fukumoto, and former Hanshin Tigers slugger and Toei Flyers manager Kenjiro Tamiya were inducted into the hall by the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum selection committee via balloting for their achievements in baseball.
The museum special awards committee also selected Fujio Nakazawa, Shiki Masaoka, Akihiro "Ike" Ikuhara and Lefty O'Doul for their off-field accomplishments, bringing to 144 the number of Japanese baseball Hall of Fame inductees.