11th Annual Golden Spirit Award: Michihiro Ogasawara
by Gen on Nov.17, 2009 @ 1:05 pm, under NPB
Michihiro Ogasawara was awarded with the 11th Annual Golden Spirit award on Monday. Ogasawara has been donating money to a social welfare organization in Ichikawa Prefecture since his days with the Nippon Ham Fighters. He has also been volunteering his free time by visiting children at various hospitals.
The Golden Spirit Award is essentially the Japanese version of the Roberto Clemente Award.
Here's a list of the previous 10 winners:
| Year | Player | Team |
| 1999 | Hideki Matsui | Yomiuri Giants |
| 2000 | Atsushi Kataoka | Nippon Ham Fighters |
| 2001 | Norihiro Nakamura | Kintetsu Buffaloes |
| 2002 | Tetsuya Iida | Yakult Swallows |
| 2003 | Kazuki Inoue | Chunichi Dragons |
| 2004 | Norihiro Akahoshi | Hanshin Tigers |
| 2005 | Bobby Valentine | Chiba Lotte Marines |
| 2006 | Tsuyoshi Wada | Softbank Hawks |
| 2007 | Daisuke Miura | Yokohama Bay Stars |
| 2008 | Hisashi Iwakuma | Rakuten Eagles |
