The 1986 Pacific League Most Valuable Player, Ishige was a seven-time Best Nine Award-winner, and a ten-time Gold Glove winner.
A 14-time All-Star, Ishige left a fabulous track record in 16 years as a shortstop and third baseman in the Pacific League.
While he only stole 11 bases (in 14 tries) in 1985, Ishige remained a potent offensive force, chipping in at a .280/.386/.508 clip with 96 runs, 27 homers and 88 walks.
That winter, he assumed chairmanship of the board of directors of the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association, replacing Hiromitsu Ochiai; two years later, Akinobu Okada would take the role.
In '91, the veteran still produced at a .269/.331/.424 rate and he hit .280/.333/.440 in the 1991 Japan Series, Seibu's seventh victory in his time with the club.
He hit .240/.286/.440 as Seibu took the 1992 Japan Series for their eighth Series win in his 12 seasons, marking it as the greatest Pacific League dynasty ever[citation needed] — other key contributors in the run had included Koji Akiyama, Kimiyasu Kudoh, Hisanobu Watanabe, Orestes Destrade, Kazuhiro Kiyohara, Taigen Kaku, Osamu Higashio, and Tetsuya Shiozaki.
[citation needed] Ishige continued to produce as the 36-year-old put up a .306/.389/.479 batting line in 1993, won his last Gold Glove and made his final Best Nine.
He hit .304/.385/.304 in the 1993 Japan Series as Seibu fell in 7 games to the Yakult Swallows to end their dynastic run.
Leaving Seibu after 14 All-Star seasons and 8 titles in 14 years, Ishige moved on to the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, where the 38-year-old hit .200/.260/.275 to signal that his glory days were definitely gone.
Destrade, on the other hand, described him as a timely player who drove in key runs,[citation needed] showing how different perceptions of "clutch play" can be) and 22nd in strikeouts (1,127).
The next year, they started poorly and Ishige lambasted high-strikeout sluggers Fernando Seguignol and Scott Sheldon.