Kazuo Matsui
Nakajima hit a team-high .306 with 13 home runs for the Lions' "nigun" team in . He played 44 games at the "ichigun" level, hitting his first career home run off then-Fukuoka Daiei Hawks Hayato Terahara on August 5 and recording his first career stolen base on August 12 against the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes. He finished the year with a .258 batting average, four homers and 11 RBI, and was given the uniform number 3 during the off-season as a testament to the organization's hopes that he would become the successor to former shortstop and franchise player Kazuo Matsui, who left for the New York Mets via free agency.