Fujio Sumi

Fujio Sumi (角 富士夫)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 180 lb.

• High School Fukuoka Daiichi High School

• Born May 31, 1956 in Kasuya-gun, Fukuoka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Fujio Sumi played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Sumi was drafted by the Yakult Swallows in the second round of 1974 NPB draft. He debuted on July 23, 1976, and collected his first career hit off Hajime Kato on August 4. However, Sumi spent the first three years of his career in the NPB Farm Leagues, and only played 48 games in the Central League from 1975 to 1977. Sumi was selected into the 1978 NPB All-Star Game, but went 0-for-1 with a walk. He ended up hitting .273/.322/.401 with 7 homers in the 1978 season. In the 1978 Nippon Series, Sumi went 1-for-7 with a homer off Norietsu Saegusa, and won his first Nippon Series Title. Sumi was named the starting third baseman in the beginning of the 1979 season, but he suffered from injuries and only played 48 games in this season.

Sumi secured the starting third baseman spot in 1980, and recorded a .251/.303/.363 batting line. The Fukuoka native improved and hit .281/.342/.455 with a career-high 18 homers in 1981. He then extended his reliable performance, hitting .268/.327/.400 in 1982, and .252/.289/.392 in 1983. Sumi played all 130 games in 1984, and recorded a .267/.351/.380 line with 11 homers. He still hit .245/.304/.387 in 1985, but his .245 batting average was the lowest among the 35 players who reached the qualifications for the batting title. Sumi batted .282/.331/.415 in 1986. When MLB star Bob Horner joined the team in 1987, Sumi was forced to play backup to him. He only played 68 games with a .217/.257/.343 batting line. Although Horner came back to the Major League in the next year, the talented Kazushige Nagashima was promoted and took some at-bats from Sumi. He only had 230 plate appearance with a .230/.266/.354 batting line in the 1988 season, and hit .266/.317/.387 in 1989.

Sumi bounced back and hit .301/.348/.399 in 1990. This was the first time that his batting average was above .300, and he ranked 10th in Central League (.025 behind Jim Paciorek). He slumped to .235/.299/.351 in 1991, but won his only NPB Gold Glove Award as a third baseman. Sumi declined to .197/.280/.303 in 1992, and only played 15 games combined in the next two seasons. He then announced his retirement after the 1994 season, and became a coach. He was the defense coach for the Swallows' minor team in 1995, from 2002 to 2005 and from 2007 to 2009. He also served as batting coach for the same team from 1997 to 2001 and in 2006. He was promoted to the big club and worked as batting coach in 1996, but came back to the ni-gun in the next year.

Overall, Sumi had hit .262/.319/.392 with 128 home runs in 19 seasons in NPB.