Yoshio Yoshida (baseball)

Yoshio Yoshida (1933 to 2025) was a Japanese professional baseball shortstop and manager who spent his whole playing career with the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball. He was known for steady batting and strong defense, won the NPB Best Nine Award nine times between 1955 and 1965, and had his number 23 retired by the Tigers. Fans compared him with the twelfth century general Minamoto no Yoshitsune and gave him the nickname Ushiwakamaru. After retiring he managed the Tigers in three stints between 1975 and 1998, and his best season came in 1985, when the club won its first Japan Series championship by beating the Seibu Lions. From 1989 to 1995 he lived in Paris and managed the French national baseball team, which did not qualify for the 1992 or 1996 Olympic Games, and earned the nickname Monsieur. He entered the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992 and later worked as a radio and television commentator for Asahi Broadcasting.