Current and Recently Retired Players

Ichiro Suzuki
(Orix Bluewave 1992-present)
Known simply as Ichiro, he is Japan's best current player and perhaps one of the best of all time.  He is rumored to become the first position player from Japan to play in the Majors.  Since becoming a full-time player in 1994, Ichiro has won the Pacific League batting title each year as well as three MVP awards.  He also holds the Japanese record for most hits in a season.

Kazuhiro Kiyohara
(Seibu Lions 1986-1996, Yomiuri Giants (1997-present)
Japan's premier power hitter during the late-1980s and early-1990s.  Kiyohara currently has over 384 lifetime homeruns and has been named to the Best Nine team three times.  After the 1996 season, he became a free agent and was signed by the Yomiuri Giants.

Hideki Matsui
(Yomiuri Giants 1993-present)
A high school superstar, "Godzilla" Matsui signed with Yomiuri Giants with much acclaim before the 1993 season.  After a disappointing first season, Matsui emerged as a star the following year as he hit .294 with 20 homeruns and helped the Giants win the Japan Series.  Matsui won the Central League MVP award in 1996 and has been named to Central League's Best Nine in each of the last four years.

Kazuhiro Sasaki
(Yokohama Bay Stars 1990-present)
Japan's premier closer.  Sasaki is Japan's all-time save leader and has led the Central League in each of the last four years.  In 1998, he led the Bay Stars to the Japan Series with 45 saves and an 0.64 ERA.  For this, he was awarded the MVP award.  Rumors suggest that he may come to the Majors in a year or two.

Atsuya Furuta
(Yakult Swallows 1990-present)
Since his 1990 rookie season, Furuta has been the premier catcher in Japan and may be one of the best catchers in the history of the game.  His strong defensive skills are combined with the ability to hit for both power and average.  Furuta led the league in batting average in 1991, total bases in 1992, and hits and runs in 1993.  He  was named the Central League MVP in 1993 and 1997, has been named to five Best Nine teams, and has won six Gold Gloves.  He has also led the Yakult Swallows to four Central League championships.

Hiromitsu Ochiai
(Lotte Orions 1979-1986, Chunichi Dragons 1987-1993, Yomiuri Giants 1994-1996, Nippon Ham Fighters 1997-1998)
Ochiai broke many of Japanese baseball's traditional training rules and became one of its greatest players.  A three time triple crown winner (1982, 1985 and 1986), Ochiai led his league in HRs 5 times, RBIs 5 times, and batting average 5 times.  He also was named to the Best Nine 9 times and MVP 2 times.  He retired after the 1998 season with 510 career homeruns (5th on Japan's all-time list), 1564 RBI (5th on Japan's all-time list), 2371 hits (9th on Japan's all-time list), and a .311 batting average (7th best in the history of Japanese baseball).

Tasunori Hara
(Yomiuri Giants 1981-1995)
The Giants "Golden Boy" during the 1980s.  Hara was named to the Best Nine team five times.  He retired after the 1995 season with 382 lifetime HRs and a .279 batting average.
 
 

Japanese Hall of Famers and Retired Stars

Sadaharu Oh
(Yomiuri Giants 1959-1980)
Probably the most famous Japanese player, Oh is the world's homerun leader with 868.  Oh was not a one dimensional player; he also won 5 batting titles, 13 RBI titles, 2 triple crowns and 9 gold gloves as well as 15 homerun titles.  This led to 9 MVP awards, being named to 18 Best Nine teams, and to his Giants winning 11 Japan Series and an additional 3 Central League titles.  Oh retired after the 1980 season and managed the Giants from 1984 through 1988.  He is now the manager of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks.

Shigeo Nagashima
(Yomiuri Giants 1958-1974)
Japan's most popular player, Nagashima is nicknamed "Mr. Giants".  A great clutch hitter as well as great fielder, Nagashima could hit for both power and average.  During his career, he won 2 homerun titles, 5 RBI titles, 6 batting average titles, 5 MVP awards, and was named to the Best Nine team for 17 straight years.  During his 17 seasons with the Giants, the team won the Central League championship 13 times and became Japan's champion 11 times.  Nagashima retired at the end of the 1974 season and managed the Giants from 1975 to 1980 and from 1993 until the present.  During this time, he has led the Giants to four Central League titles.

Isao Harimoto
(Toei Flyers 1959-1972, Nippon Ham 1973-1975, Yomiuri Giants 1976-1979, Lotte Orions 1980-1981)
The only Japanese player to reach 3000 hits, Harimoto played in the Pacific League for most of his career and as a result got far less attention than Oh and Nagashima.  In 1976, however, he came to the Giants and teamed up with Oh.  Together they led the Giants to two straight pennants.  During his career Harimoto won 4 batting titles, a MVP award, and was selected to the Best Nine 16 times.  He retired after the 1981 season with 3085 hits (1st on the all-time list), 504 HRs (6th on the all-time list), and 1676 RBI (4th of the all-time list).

Katsuya Nomura
(Nankai Hawks 1954-1977, Lotte Orions 1978, Seibu Lions 1979-1980)
Nomura is perhaps the greatest player in Pacific League's history. From his rookie season in 1954 until 1977, he caught nearly every game the Nankai Hawks played.  During this period, he won 9 HR titles, 7 RBI titles, a batting title, a triple crown, 5 MVP awards and was selected for the Pacific League Best Nine team 19 times.  He also helped the Hawks win 7 Pacific League championships.  In 1970, he became a player/manager for the Hawks, winning one championship before leaving the team after the 1977 season.  He retired as a player after the 1980 season with 657 HRs (2nd on the all-time list), 1988 RBI (2nd on the all-time list), and 2901 hits (2nd on the all-time list).  Since retiring as a player, Nomura has become one of Japan's greatest managers.  In 1990, he took the helm of the lowly Yakult Swallows and led them to 4 Central League titles in the past nine years.  Nomura currently manages the Hanshin Tigers.

Tesuharu Kawakami
(Yomiuri Giants 1938-1958)
Known as the "God of Batting", Kawakami was one of Japan's greatest stars in the 1940s and 1950s and became its greatest all-time manager.  As a player, he played first base for the Yomiuri Giants both before and after World War II.  He led the league in batting 5 times, in hits 6 times, in RBI 3 times, and HRs twice.  He was also a three time MVP and selected for the Best Nine team 10 times.  His .313 lifetime batting average ranks 5th on the all-time list.  As a manager, Kawakami led the Giants from 1961 to 1974.  During this 13 year period, the Giants won 11 Japan Series titles.

Masaichi Kaneda
(Kokutetsu Swallows 1950-1964, Yomiuri Giants 1965-1969)
Considered by many to be Japan's greatest pitcher, Kaneda holds numerous japanese records.  He is the all-time leader in wins with 400, strikeouts with 4490, complete games with 365, and innings pitched with 5526.2.  He led the Central League in wins three times, ERA twice, and strikeouts ten times.  Kaneda was also selected for the Best Nine team three times.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1988.

Kazuhisa Inao
(Nishitetsu Lions 1956-1969)
In the late-1950s, Inao amazed Japanese fans with his pitching exploits.  Inao's finest performance came in the 1958 Japan Series, when he won all four of the Lions' games.  By the end of his 14 year career, Inao had won the Rookie of the Year, two MVPs, and had been named to the Best Nine team five times.  He led the league in wins four times, Ks three times, and ERA five times. He also set the Pacific League records for lowest ERA (1.06 in 1956), wins (42 in 1961), and strikeouts (353 in 1961). Inao currently ranks eighth on the all-time list for wins, seventh for strikeouts, and third for ERA.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1993.

Takehiko Bessho
(Hawks 1942-1948; Yomiuri Giants 1949-1960)
Bessho was Japan's premier pitcher during the late-1940s and early-1950s.  He started his career with the Hawks in 1942 and quickly became the team's best pitcher.  In 1947, he won the Sawamura Award by winning 30 games, striking out 191 and posting a 1.86 ERA.  In 1949, he went to the Giants and helped them win nine Central League titles before retiring in 1960.  During his career, Bessho won two Sawamura Awards (1947 and 1955) and two MVP Awards (1952 and 1956) as well as leading the league in wins three times, and strikeouts and ERA once apiece.  Bessho ranks fifth on the all-time list for wins with 310, seventh for ERA with 2.18, and eighteenth for strikeouts with 1932.  After he retired, Bessho became a renown baseball commentator.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979 and died in 1999.

Victor Starffin
(Yomiuri Giants 1936-1944, Various Teams 1946-1948, Daiei Stars 1949-1953, Takahashi 1954, Tombo 1955)
The first gaijin elected to the Hall of Fame, Russian-born Starffin was one of the league's early star pitchers.  He was the Giants' best pitcher during the late-1930s and even participated in the Giants' U.S. tour.  In his best season, Starffin won 42 games (a Japan record) with an ERA of 1.73 in 458 1/3 innings.  During his career, he won a MVP award, led the league in wins three times, in strikeouts once, and in ERA twice.  He ranks sixth on the all-time leader list in wins with 303 and fifth in lifetime ERA with 2.09.  Starffin was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1964.

Fumio Fujimura
(Hanshin Tigers 1936-1958)
Perhaps the Tigers greatest all-time player, Fujimura was a perennial all-star thirdbaseman during the 1940s and 1950s.  His .300 lifetime batting average ranks 15th on the all-time list.  During his career, Fujimura won one MVP award, was named to six consecutive Best Nine teams, and led the league in homeruns twice, RBI five times, and batting average once.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1974.

Wally Yonamine
(Yomiuri Giants 1951-1960, Chunichi Dragons 1961-1962)
Hawaiian-born Yonamine was the Giants' lead-off hitter for most of the 1950s.  Yonamine led the league three times in both batting average and runs scored.  He won the MVP award in 1957 and was selected for the Best Nine team for seven straight years (1952-1958).  His .311 lifetime batting average ranks sixth on the all-time list.  Yonamine was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994.
 

Futoshi Nakanishi
A feared slugger, Nakanishi helped lead the Nishitetsu Lions to five Pacific League championships during his 18 year career (1952-1969).  During this time, he won five homerun, three RBI, and two batting titles, as well as Rookie of the Year (1952) and MVP (1956) awards.  He was also selected to the Best Nine team seven times.  A career .307 hitter, Nakanishi was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999.

Tadashi Sugiura
One of the most dominant pitchers of the late-1950s and early-1960s, Sugiura won 116 games in only four seasons (1958-1961).  He soon developed arm trouble, however, and only won 71 over the next nine.  In 1959, his finest season, Sugiura led the Pacific League with 38 wins, 336 strikeouts, an ERA of 1.40, and a .905 winning percentage.  He won the Pacific League Rookie of the year in 1958, and the MVP in 1959.  Sugiura was elected to the Japanese Hall of Fame in 1995.

Yoshio Yoshida
Standing about 5 feet 5 inches tall, shortstop Yoshio Yoshida was the spark plug of the Hanshin Tigers during the 1950s and 1960s.  Although only a .267 career hitter, he was selected to the Best Nine team nine times.  He also won two stolen base titles, and in 1985 managed the Tigers to their only Japan Series championship.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992.

Masaaki Koyama
Koyama was one of the most successful pitchers in Japanese baseball.  During his career (1953-1973) with the Tigers and Orions, he won over 20 games seven times and posted 320 career wins (third on the Japanese all-time list).  He also is third in career strikeouts with 3,159.  Koyama has not yet been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Kihachi Enomoto
A perennial all-star during the late-1950s and 1960s, Enomoto played from 1955 to 1971 with the Orions and one year (1972) with the Lions.  He won the 1955 Pacific League Rookie of the Year, as well as two batting titles, and was selected to the Best Nine Team nine times.  Despite his 2,314 career hits and .298 batting average, Enomoto is not currently in the Hall of Fame.

Kazuhiro Yamauchi
Yamauchi played with the Orions and Tigers between 1952 and 1970.  During this time, he collected 2,271 hits, 396 homeruns, and 1286 RBI.  He won one batting, four RBI, and two homerun titles; he won the 1960 Pacific League MVP award; and was selected to the Best Nine team ten times.  Like many deserving players, he still has not been elected to the Japanese Hall of Fame.

Shinichi Eto
A star slugger for the Chunichi Dragons from 1959 to 1969, and later for the Orions (1970-1971, 1976), Whales (1972-1974), and Lions (1975), Eto won batting titles in 1964, 1965, and 1971.  He also finished second (behind Sadaharu Oh) in homeruns during the 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1968 seasons.  He was selected to the Best Nine team five times.  He finished his career with 2,057 hits, 367 HRs and a .287 batting average.  Eto has not been elected to the Hall of Fame.