About Tetsuharu Kawakami
Tetsuharu Kawakami (川上 哲治, Kawakami Tetsuharu; March 23, 1920 – October 28, 2013) was a Japanese baseball player and manager, known for his red bat, and his nickname dageki no kamisama (打撃の神様, "the God of Batting/Hitting"). He was a professional player for 18 years, winning the batting title five times, two home run crowns, three RBI titles, and had six titles for the most hits in a season. He was the MVP of the 1953 Japan Series. He was the first player in Japanese pro baseball to achieve 2,000 hits and was named the league's MVP three times. As manager of the Yomiuri Giants from 1961 to 1974, he led the Giants to eleven championships, with nine of them being in consecutive years; his teams never lost a Japan Series with him as a manager. He has the most Japan Series championships as a manager. Kawakami was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1965. Kawakami signed with the Giants as a pitcher/first baseman, and actually pitched in 39 games between 1938 and 1941, compiling 11 wins against 9 losses, with an excellent 2.61 ERA.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.