Side-arm closer Shingo Takatsu and seemingly ageless lefty Masahiro Yamamoto were announced as the newest members of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame on Friday.
Takatsu was named on 311 ballots cast by 10-year veterans of Japan's baseball media voting on candidates in the hall's players division. Yamamoto was named on 307, with 271 being the 75% threshold needed for election.
The two were joined by the late Shigeyoshi Matsumae, the founder of Tokai University who worked to popularize baseball in foreign countries, particularly Russia. He died in 1991.