Named in honor of Sachio Kinugasa (1947– ), Japanese professional baseball player who was called the “Iron Man”. From 1970 to 1987, he played 2215 games without interruption — the world record until it was broken by Cal Ripken, Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles. Throughout his 22-year professional career for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp team he had 2543 hits, including 504 home runs. Kinugasa is now a television and newspaper commentator, as well as a guest professor at the Hiroshima prefectural university. (M 34626) _ _.