Hideshi Miyake

Hideshi Miyake (三宅 秀史)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 154 lb.

• High School Nankai High School

• Born April 5, 1934 in Kurashiki, Okayama Japan
• Died March 3, 2021 in Mie Prefecture Japan

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Biographical Information

Infielder Hideshi Miyake played 15 seasons for the Hanshin Tigers/Osaka Tigers.

Miyake hit .224/.262/.345 in 26 games as a rookie in 1953 then .214/.283/.405 in 93 plate appearances over 58 games in 1954. At age 21, he batted .247/.283/.325 with 18 steals in 27 tries in 1955. He fell to .220/.266/.330 in 1956 with only 42 runs produced in 128 games, though he did go 18-for-22 in steal attempts.

Miyake improved significantly in 1957, hitting .267/.333/.398 with 22 swipes in 30 tries and 31 doubles, leading the Central League. He was 7th in the CL in batting average and made his first All-Star team. He also made the Best Nine as the top third baseman in the circuit, an honor that would soon be monopolized by Shigeo Nagashima from 1958 through 1974.

Hideshi batted .269/.329/.459 with 81 runs, a career-high 21 home runs and 35 steals (in 51 tries) in 1958. He again was an All-Star and just missed the top 10 in average. He did lead the CL with 107 strikeouts. He was one homer shy of league leader Nagashima and was 8 runs behind Nagashima for the lead.

In 1959, the Tigers infielder hit .268/.325/.453 with 26 doubles, 18 homers and 30 steals in 41 tries. He made his third straight All-Star team and again just missed the top 10 in average. He led the league in at-bats.

Miyake made his last All-Star squad in 1960, when he hit .271/.349/.435 with 29 doubles and 29 steals in 42 attempts. He placed 9th in the league in average, just ahead of a young Sadaharu Oh. He was two doubles behind CL leader Teruo Namiki.

Miyake hit .273/.344/.424 in 1961 with 15 home runs and 23 stolen bases in 26 attempts. He was 9th in the loop in average. He slumped to .232/.298/.370 in 1962. That year, he had a streak of 882 consecutive games played end, dating back to April 1956. The streak ended when he was hit in the eye by a pitch during a pregame practice. He had played every inning in 700 straight games. Through 2009, he ranked 10th all-time in Nippon Pro Baseball in terms of longest ironman streak.

Miyake played just 24 games while rehabbing in 1963, hitting only .188/.220/.333. He batted .185/.239/.354 in 35 games in 1964 and was 2 for 8 with a walk in the 1964 Japan Series. He had just 30 plate appearances in 32 games in 1965, going 2 for 28 with 2 walks, 4 steals and 5 runs.

Miyake was 4 for 24 with a double in 1966 and played one game the next year. Overall, he had hit .252/.313/.399 in 1,219 games for the Tigers with 100 home runs and 198 steals in 276 tries. He later was a coach for Hanshin.

Source: Japanbaseballdaily.com