Den Yamada

Den Yamada (山田 伝)

• Bats Right, Throws Left
• Height 5' 4", Weight 123 lb.

• High School Elk Grove High School

• Born February 5, 1914 in Sacramento, CA USA
• Died May 12, 1987

BR register page

Biographical Information

Den Yamada played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Yamada was signed by the Hankyu club in 1937. He only hit .167/.310/.188 in his rookie year. In 1938, Yamada hit .237/.310/.303 in the spring season and .223/.315/.297 in the fall. He shined in the 1939 season, when he hit .257/.329/.308 with league-leading 30 steals. He recorded a .272/.355/.314 batting line and 13 stolen bases in 1940, and won the first Best Nine award of the Japanese Professional Baseball League as an outfielder. He was 5th in batting (.049 behind Kazuo Kito) and 5th in hits (21 behind Kito). Yamada extended his stable performance, as he batted .234/.362/.286 in 1941 and .250/.361/.300 in 1942. His .250 batting average in the 1942 season was 5th in the league, .037 behind Shosei Go.

1943 was Yamada's career year, he recorded a .272/.434/.330 batting line, and set the NPB record for most steals in a season with 56 (broken by Toshio Kawanishi 5 years later). He was 2nd in batting (.028 behind Go), 5th in hits (14 behind Go) and 2nd in OPS (.08 behind Go). Yamada still played well in 1944, hit .277/.411/.321 with a league-leading 30 walks in a shorten season. He led the league in runs with 25, ranked 7th in hits (10 behind Toshiaki Okamura) and 5th in swipes (3 behind Hiroshi Hagiwara). When the league restarted in 1946, Yamada hit .268/.357/.333 with 36 steals. He played two more seasons, and announced his retirement after batting .213/.275/.240 in 1948. After retiring, Yamada served as defense coach for the Hanshin Tigers from 1967 to 1971, 1973 and 1976. He was also their interpreter from 1964 to 1978.

Overall, Yamada had hit .251/.352/.301 with 231 steals in 11 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Japan Wiki