Takeo Nagai

Date and Place of Birth:	1904 Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
Date and Place of Death:	April 1938 Kuolichi, Jiangsu province, China
Baseball Experience:	Japanese Professional League
Position:	Pitcher/Manager
Rank:	Corporal
Military Unit:	Imperial Japanese Army
Area Served:	China

Takeo Nagai was born in 1904 in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. He attended Keio University and was a star pitcher in the highly competitive Tokyo Big Six university league. In 1934, Nagai was selected to play for the Tokyo Big Six all-star team that played an all-star American team featuring Babe Ruth, Lou gehrig and Lefty Gomez, at Meiji Jingu Stadium.

Nagai later signed as a manager with the Dai Tokyo in the early years of the Japanese Pro League. He was also employed by the Kirin Brewery Company.

Nagai served as a corporal in the Army in 1938 and saw active service on the North China and Shandong fronts. He was killed in action in April 1938, while in battle with Chinese troops at Kuolichi in northern Jiangsu, on the Grand Canal.

Sources:

China Weekly Review, May 14, 1938
China Weekly Review, June 18, 1938

Thanks to David Straub for information on Nagai's death.

Date Added March 18, 2013 Updated December 4, 2013

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