YOKOHAMA -- When it's time to hang up his spikes, he wants to be known as Mr. Hiroshima.

News photo Carp Outfielder Shigenobu Shima strikes a "Godzilla" pose, guaranteed to strike fear into any pitcher facing him. Known as "Red Godzilla" because of shared traits with Hideki Matsui, Shima is beloved by his fans. YOSHIAKI MIURA PHOTO

Halfway there since birth, Mr. Shima -- Carp outfielder Shigenobu Shima -- will answer to "Red Godzilla" in the meantime.

Shima reaches out to Carp fans and his teammates, while saving his aggression for opposing pitchers, who see the powerful left-handed bat that earned him his nickname.

"When I step up to the plate, I try to think I am going to kill the pitcher, like a war," Shima said. "I don't have feelings such as like or dislike. . . . You have to have that kind of mind-set, otherwise you get busted."

He saves his love for the fans.

"I think fans are important, and I want to see them taken care of," Shima said. "I want to do more things to bring fans out to the stadium."

Shima does his share of catering to fans, on the field and off, whether it is hitting a game-winning home run or signing autographs.

After a breakout season in 2004 in which he hit 32 home runs, drove in 84 runs and led the Central League with a .337 batting average in 137 games -- not bad for a guy who played only two games the previous season, Shima drew comparisons to another productive left-handed hitter who wore No. 55 -- former Yomiuri Giants star Hideki Matsui, also known as "Godzilla."

Following his success in 2004, the Carp 's emerging star became known as "Red Godzilla."

"Yes, I like the name," Shima said. "One reason is that it is a name I didn't give myself. The fans gave it to me."

Shima is a recognizable face in Hiroshima, something that pleases him.

"I want to give kids dreams, and I want to inspire them to dream of being pro players," he said.

Shima has hit .208 over the last month, cooling his batting average to .272, but with 23 home runs and 66 RBIs and 3 1/2 weeks of season remaining, he is in good position to trump the 27 homers and 77 RBIs he posted in 2005.

A 12-year veteran, the 30-year-old Shima has played all over the field during his journey through the Carp organization. Originally a pitcher, he was an infielder, and since moving into the lineup, he has stayed in the outfield.

A promising pitching prospect several years ago, Shima wound up getting a hard dose of reality one day -- he had to find a way to be more useful to the team, because the injury-prone Shima wasn't going to make it as a pitcher.

"I used to hurt my elbow and shoulder all the time, and one of our coaches told me I should think about becoming a fielder and focusing on hitting," Shima said. "That was eight years ago. He said that if I stuck with pitching I didn't have much of a future left, so I became a fielder the very next day."

His final encounter as a pitcher was memorable at least. The final batter Shima faced from the mound was none other than Matsui.

"That is another connection we have," Shima said. "He was the last I faced, but I didn't strike him out. He hit me well.

"He went 2-for-2. I felt good because he broke his bat the first time, but he still made it into a single. He had a perfect hit the second time, though."

Shima checked out of the game that day, and years later, he had to take advantage of teammates' injuries to get back into the lineup.

Both outfielder Tomonori Maeda and backup Shigeru Morikasa got hurt before the 2004 season, which opened the door for Shima to maximize the benefits of the switch he had made six years before. With those guys playing ahead of him, Shima wasn't getting any serious playing time.

"We really had some great players in those days, and it was virtually impossible to break into the outfield," he said. "I had some luck honestly, but at the same time, it was my chance to show what I had been perfecting in the minors."

Shima's experience has been vital to the Carp this year as Marty Brown became the second foreign manager in team history (Joe Lutz managed Hiroshima for 15 games in 1975).

Despite language barriers, Shima said that communication has been the biggest key for the team while playing under its foreign manager.

"He is easy to talk to, which is much different from Japanese managers," Shima said. "I am in my 12th year, and it is the first time I can communicate with a manager like this."

The Carp are battling with the Giants for fourth place in the Central League, a step up from 2005's last-place finish. Brown said that Shima was an important liaison between him and his players early on.

"He is one of the guys who reached out," Brown said. "He's important to the franchise and to Hiroshima."

Shima works to keep his connection to fans in the offseason, sticking close to his home base and hosting a weekly radio show where he plays his favorite music, including the Backstreet Boys, Queen, Tube and Southern All-Stars.

"It's a one-hour show, and I am the D.J.," Shima said. "I love music."

Shima has no urge to follow Matsui across the Pacific, saying that he bloomed too late for such a thing to be possible, so he is focused on becoming a legend in Hiroshima.

Shima's tired of seeing Hiroshima Stadium empty when the Yokohama BayStars or Tokyo Yakult Swallows come to town, and he is pushing for ways to draw the kind of crowds the Carp do when the Giants or Hanshin Tigers visit.

"I think it could work if we had a one-coin day," he said. "Say, 500 yen for a ticket and 100 yen for a drink. Something like that would get more fans out."

He's also very interested in updating Hiroshima Stadium, one of the most hitter-friendly parks in Japan.

"I want to play at a good stadium," he said. "Ours is too old. We have been talking about it for two or three years, and it is going to be the city's big project. The fans have been raising money too, so we want one as soon as possible. We expect a new stadium in 2009."

And Shima doesn't want to go anywhere else in the meantime. He has been a Carp lifer, and he aims to keep it that way.

"We want to get fans excited to come to the stadium," he said. "That will get the players more excited. Then we can win, and if we win, they will keep coming back."

Kaz Nagatsuka contributed to this report.