News

The Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, a public interest incorporated foundation, has announced its inductees for 2020, and the late Renzo Ishii (former Waseda University Baseball head coach) was among those elected.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the legendary six-game match played between Waseda University and Keio University. The late Renzo Ishii (Waseda University Baseball head coach at that time) and the late Yukichi Maeda (Keio University Baseball head coach at that time) were elected for recognition by the foundation. At this legendary six-game match between Waseda and Keio, Waseda, led by then 28-year-old head coach Renzo Ishii, came back dramatically and captured the championship.

Recipient of International Citizen Award

In 2005, Ishii received the International Citizen Award from the Japan America Society of Southern California along with former University of Southern California baseball head coach, Rod Dedeaux. This was in recognition of his long-time efforts to establish and enrich the Japan-USA Collegiate Baseball Championship Series. This award is given to individuals and corporations who enhance the relationship between Japan and America, and previous recipients include former Los Angeles Dodgers manager, Tommy Lasorda; Takuma Sato, who became the first Japanese to win at the IndyCar Series; Shohei Otani of the Los Angeles Angels; and Marie Kondo, famous for her method of organizing.

Contributions in establishing Ike Ikuhara & Peter O’Malley Memorial Sports Management Class at Waseda University’s School of Sport Sciences

In 2003, at the time of Waseda’s establishment of its new School of Sport Sciences, Ishii was a go-between for then President Katsuhiko Shirai, then Dean Katsuo Yamazaki and Peter O’Malley, a former Los Angeles Dodgers owner, in establishing the Ike Ikuhara & Peter O’Malley Memorial Sport Management Class and Internship Program at the Los Angeles Dodgers, which was based on a generous monetary donation of $100,000 by Peter O’Malley. Ike Ikuhara was a player at Waseda when Ishii managed the team for the first time, and went to America at the age of 27. He joined the Los Angeles Dodgers, starting in an equipment assistant at its minor league club, and subsequently moving all the way up to assistant to the president in charge of international relations. With coach Ishii, who respected O’Malley, Ikuhara devoted his time to develop baseball internationally, and was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2002. This course was held by the following world-class lecturers. When Ike Ikuhara’s achievements were introduced at the beginning of each class, coach Ishii was always praised as a bridge between Japan and the USA in bringing about the establishment of the class.

Renzo Ishii passed away on September 27, 2015 at 83 years of age.

Lecturers of the Memorial Class (Titles as of time of lectures)

1. Peter O’Malley (Former Los Angeles Dodgers owner)
2. Tsunekazu Takeda (Chairman, Japan Olympic Committee)
3. Tommy Lasorda (Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager, Senior Vice President of Los Angeles Dodgers)
4. Saburo Kawabuchi (Chairman, Japan Football Association)
5. Tadao Koike (President, NPB Pacific League)
6. Atsuya Furuta (Manager and player, Yakult Swallows)
7. Masato Mizuno (President, Mizuno Corporation)
8. George H.W. Bush (41st President of the United States)
9. Colin Powell (Former Secretary of the United States)
10. Allan Selig (Commissioner, Major League Baseball)
11. Sadaharu Oh (First manager of Japanese national team for World Baseball Classic)
12. George W. Bush (43rd President of the United States)

Commemorative Plaque for the Ike Ikuhara & Peter O’Malley Memorial Sport Management Class