Mr.

Current Hanshin Tigers manager Katsuya Nomura coined the word "ID Yakyu" to emphasize the importance of playing baseball with intelligence by collecting data for each opposing players and different type of baseball situations.  The Yakult Swallows of the 1990's which Nomura managed epitomized this style of baseball.  It is true that Nomura was a smart player and manager, as were the Kawakami-kantoku lead Yomiuri Giants who won 9 straight Japan Championship during the 1960s and early '70s.  But there was one man who Nomura and the rest of Japan Pro-baseball feared the most because of his baseball intellect as well as his aggressive style of play.  His name was Daryl Spencer, one of Nomura's biggest rivals during his playing days.

Spencer is generally credited as the man who popularized ID-Yakyu in Japan, and was also one of the first legitimate major leaguers to play in Japan.  He played for the NY-SF Giants (1952-59), St. Louis Cardinals (1960-61), LA Dodgers (1961-63), and the Cincinnati Reds (1963) during which time he hit .244.  Between 1956-1961, he averaged 148 games, 525 ABs, .250 BA, and 15hrs/year.  Spencer came to Japan in 1964 and immediately made a consistent winner out of the Hankyu Braves who never won anything up to that point.

He played 7 years for the Braves, appeared in 731 games, had 2233 AB, hit 615 hits, 152HRs, and drove in 391 RBIs.  Spencer hit 36 HRs in his first year followed by a 38 HR season in 1965 in which he battled Nomura for the Triple Crown.

From 1967 to 1972, thanks to Spencer, the Hankyu Braves won 5 Pacific League pennants in 6 years.  Spencer transformed the Braves into a perennial contender and a Pacific League powerhouse famous for their cerebral brand of baseball.  He would study the opposing teams and players in great detail.

Spencer was a big man for a second baseman (6' 2") and everytime he was on base he came sliding into second base with his spikes high, which was never really done in Japan up to that point.  He was feared and respected by players and fans alike.  Braves manager Yukio Nishimoto respected Spencer so much that he assigned Spencer to be a player/coach which is unheard of as a "gaijin" back then.  He was even depicted as the brains behind the Braves in a popular Japanese "manga" animation "Kyojin no Hoshi" (Star of Giants) which was a must see program for boys who grew up in the 1960s and '70s.

As a Giants fan back then, I remember being terrified when Spencer came up to the plate.  Yomiuri Giants manager Kawakami knew that the key to defeating the Braves was to stop Spencer, and thats exactly what they did during the 5 Japan Series matchups between the two clubs.

Although the Braves never could defeat the Giants in Japan Series during Spencer's tenure, his legacy lived on after he retired, as the Braves became Japan Champions 3 years in a row, defeating the Carp (1975) and the hated Nagashima-kantoku lead Giants twice (1976, 77).  Braves players like Nagaike, Fukumoto, Katoh, Yamada, and Adachi were the beneficiary of Spencer's influence.  Spencer was the best suketto ever in the minds of many baseball fans who grew up in the 1960s and the early '70s.

Check out in 1972.  And check out his opinion on Nomura!!!