Hiroshi Oshita
| Hiroshi Ohshita | |||
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Hiroshi Ohshita as a rookie in 1946
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| Outfielder | |||
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Born: December 15, 1922 Kobe, Japan |
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| Died: May 23, 1979 (aged 56) | |||
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| Professional debut | |||
| Japanese Baseball League: 1945, for the Senators | |||
| Japanese Baseball League: 1946, for the Toei Flyers | |||
| Pacific League: 1952, for the Nishitetsu Lions | |||
| Last Pacific League appearance | |||
| 1959, for the Nishitetsu Lions | |||
| Career statistics | |||
| Batting average | .303 | ||
| Runs batted in | 861 | ||
| Home runs | 201 | ||
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As player As coach
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| Member of the Japanese | |||
 Baseball Hall of Fame
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| Inducted | 1980 | ||
As player
As coach
Hiroshi Ohshita (大下 弘 Ōshita Hiroshi?, December 15, 1922 – May 23, 1979), also spelled Oshita, was a Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder who began his career after World War II. Known for his trademark blue bat, he hit a record 20 home runs in a season and was home run king and leading hitter three times for the Toei Flyers. Ohshita was also a heavy hitter with the Nishitetsu Lions of the Pacific League during the 1950s.
Ohshita was born in Sannomiya, Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture on December 15, 1922. His father died in war when he was a child; his family moved to Gaoshun, Taiwan, where he grew up. Ohshita graduated from Gaoshun Commercial High School, and was recruited by Tairiku Watanabe to attend Meiji University, a private university in Japan which was noted for its baseball program. Meiji University belongs to the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League, an intercollegiate league with five other schools: Waseda University, Keio University, Rikkyo University, Hosei University and the University of Tokyo; Ohshita played for the Meiji University baseball team. During World War II, he was a second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army and trained as a kamikaze pilot before the war's end on August 15, 1945.
Ohshita joined the Japanese Professional Baseball League in 1946, playing for the Senators and hitting a record 20 home runs. The following season (1947), the Senators changed their name to the Tokyo Flyers; Ohshita won the leading-hitter and home-run-king titles, and became a household name in Japan. Children admired him; his trademark was a blue-painted bat and his rival, Tetsuharu Kawakami of the Tokyo Giants, used a red-painted bat. Fans called him "blue-bat Ohshita" (ao batto no Ohshita), and Kawakami was known as "red-bat Kawakami" (aka batto no Kawakami). Ohshita was again leading hitter for the 1950 season, and repeated as leading hitter and home-run king for the 1951 season. His batting average of .383 for 1951 was a long-time Japanese record; he also holds the Japanese record of seven hits in seven at-bats in a single game.
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