Fujio Yamaguchi

Fujio Yamaguchi (山口 富士雄)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 162 lb.
• School Rikkyo University
• High School Takamatsu Commercial High School

• Born July 16, 1942 in Takamatsu, Kagawa Japan

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Biographical Information

Fujio Yamaguchi was an infielder in Nippon Pro Baseball from 1963 to 1973, all with the Hankyu Braves of the Pacific League, except for spending half of his final season with the Taiyo Whales of the Central League. He was not a strong hitter, finishing with a batting average of .226 in 1230 games, with very little power. Hankyu was the big power in the Pacific League during that period, winning titles in 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971 and 1972 - but when they appeared in the Nippon Series, they lost to the Yomiuri Giants every time, as the Giants were in the midst of a historic streak of nine straight series wins.

The most famous incident of Yamaguchi's career came in Game 4 of the 1969 Japan Series against Yomiuri on October 30th. In the 4th inning, Hankyu attempted to turn a "strike 'em out-throw 'em out" double play on a botched hit-and-run play. Playing SS, he cut off the throw from C Koji Okamura and fired home in an attempt to nail Shozo Doi, trying to score from third base. Okamura tagged Doi on a close play, but umpire Isao Okada called the runner safe, angering the catcher, who punched the umpire, and immediately became the first player to be ejected from a Japan Series game as the Giants scored six times in the inning to run away with the game, 9-4. A photograph published in the next day's papers clearly showed that the umpire had made the right call, and the incident has remained famous in Japanese baseball annals. Hankyu went on to lose the series in six games. 1969 was by far Yamaguchi's best season, as he hit .282 in 124 games with 9 homers and 39 RBIs - all personal bests. In other career highlights, he hit a rare homer in Game 6 of the 1968 Japan Series, as a pinch-hitter off Giants hurler Tsuneo Horiuchi, in a 7-5 loss that ended the series on October 20th. He also finished tied with teammate Toshizo Sakamoto for the Pacific League lead in triples with 7 in 1967. He had pretty good speed, stealing as many as 20 bases in a season in 1965 and finishing in double figures on four other occasions.

While he could play all three infield positions equally well, he became Hankyu's starting shortstop in 1966, then moved to second base when Sakamoto took over at shortstop. He missed the 1967 Japan Series because of an injury. In the 1971 Japan Series, he lost his starting job to Jerry Adair after starting the first three games. He played once in the NPB All-Star Game, in 1967