other major leaguer. Only Don Buford has since had a lower rate. Player and manager in Japan Opting to continue his playing career in Japan, Blasingame joined the Nankai Hawks in 1967. The Japanese referred to him by his nickname, "Blazer," because "Blasingame" was tough to pronounce and Blazer fit better in box scores. "It sounds snappy and even seems to evoke a spiritually stirring acoustic effect," said a publicity agent for the Hawks. "We ran over obstacle courses for a week and swung hammers and axes and ran up the side of a mountain,” Blasingame described spring training with Nankai. Playing second base for Nankai, he batted .268 with 61 runs scored, 128 hits, 18 doubles, six triples, five home runs, and 28 RBI, stealing five bases but getting caught nine times in 128 games (478 at bats). Next season, he played 134 games (513 at bats) with Nankai, batting .275 with 64 runs, 141 hits, 13 doubles, seven triples, four home runs, and 39 RBI, stealing three bases and getting caught five times. His final season with Nankai, he batted .279 with 46 runs scored, 102 hits, 10 doubles, one triple, six home runs, and 19 RBI in 104 games (365 at bats). Blasingame was surprised to find that the Japanese would actually shove umpires during games (without getting ejected), and he noted they were a lot more casual than Americans in the dugout, often eating food with chopsticks during the games. After he finished his career as a player, Blasingame was a coach for Nankai for the next eight seasons. In 1978, he was a coach for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Then, he became manager of the Hanshin Tigers in 1979. After he took over, Hanshin traded fan-favorite Koichi Tabuchi to the Seibu Lions for Akinobu Mayumi, Masashi Takenouchi, and Yoshiharu Wakana. Hanshin finished fourth in the Central Division, also losing their number one draft pick Suguru Egawa in a trade to the Yomiuri Giants, whom Egawa preferred to play for. However, the trade brought Hanshin Shigeru Kobayashi, who won 22 games that season. There was a rift between Blasingame and Hanshin's front office when Blasingame signed American Dave Hilton to play second base. Hilton slumped in his time with Hanshin, and the front office asked Blasingame to call up a prospect to replace him at the position while also supposedly negotiating to sign Bruce Boisclair to