Chihiro Hamana

Chihiro Hamana (浜名 千広)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 158 lb.

• School Tohoku Fukushi University
• High School Kokushikan High School

• Born November 11, 1969 in Toyonaka, Osaka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Chihiro Hamana has played in Nippon Pro Baseball and for the Japanese national team.

Hamana represented Japan in the 1990 Goodwill Games. The Fukuoka Daiei Hawks drafted him in the third round of the 1991 NPB draft. Hamana was named the Hawks' starting shortstop as a rookie, and he hit .239/.296/.331 with 5 homers. He was selected into the 1992 NPB All-Star Game; he started in Game 3 and was retired by Hiromi Makihara before Ralph Bryant pinch-hit for him. Hamana batted .228/.282/.324 in 1993, and led the Pacific league in triples with 9. He extended his stable performance, batting .260/.311/.353 and .276/.330/.325 respectively in the next two seasons. He also attended the 1995 NPB All-Star Game, and went 1-for-2.

1996 was Hamana's career year. He recorded a .254/.307/.338 batting line with 33 steals, and played all 130 games. He led the league in sacrifice files, and ranked 4th in swipes (25 behind Arihito Muramatsu). The Osaka native was selected into the All-Star Game again, but he went 0-for-4 in 3 games. When talented prospect Tadahito Iguchi joined the team in 1997, Hamana was moved to second base. He adapted into that position soon, and hit .241/.295/.319 with 18 steals in that season. Hamana batted .272/.363/.363 in 1998, then recorded a .226/.300/.294 batting line in 1999. He was 2-for-5 in the 1999 Nippon Series, and won his first Nippon Series title with the Hawks. However, Hamana suffered from chronic hernia and mainly stayed in the ni-gun since 2000. He only played 84 more games in the next season, then the Hawks traded him to the Yakult Swallows after the 2001 season. He played 39 and 20 games respectively for the Swallows over the next couple years, and the Swallows released him in 2003. The Chiba Lotte Marines picked him up, but Hamana only played 39 games for the Marines, then announced his retirement after the 2004 season.

Overall, Hamana had hit .245/.306/.324 with 112 steals in 13 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan