Hiroshi Fujimoto (02)

Hiroshi Fujimoto (藤本 博史)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 209 lb.

• High School Tenri High School

• Born November 8, 1963 in Senboku-gun, Osaka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hiroshi Fujimoto has played and managed in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Fujimoto was drafted by the Nankai Hawks in the fourth round of the 1981 NPB draft. He was mainly placed in the NPB Farm Leagues in his first three seasons, and he only got 53 at-bats combined with the big club. Fujimoto hit .201/.303/.309 in 1988, and he improved to .253/.354/.468 with 13 homers in 1989. He slumped to .211/.295/.386 in 1990, and he hit for a cycle on July 7. He finally secured a starting spot with the big club in 1991, and he crushed 11 homers with a .266/.369/.453 batting line while serving as their main third baseman.

The Osaka native had his career year in 1992, and he blasted 20 homers with a .253/.379/.467 slash line. He was 6th in the Pacific League in OBP (between Hiromi Matsunaga and Hatsuhiko Tsuji) and 10th in homers (tied with Takayuki Murakami). Fujimoto then moved to first base and hit .239/.320/.373 in 1993, and his batting line was .243/.358/.387 in 1994, now starting at second. After hitting .264/.372/.399 (and returning to first base) in 1995, he struggled in 1996 as his batting line fell to .211/.304/.320. Thus, he lost his spot in 1997 (Shikato Yanagita taking over at 1B), and he only had 31 at-bats in that season. He was then traded to the Orix BlueWave, but he only went 8-for-46 with them, and he announced his retirement.

Fujimoto was named the batting coach for the Hawks from 2013 to 2014 and from 2017 to 2018, and he coached their minor league team from 2011 to 2012 and from 2015 to 2016. Fujimoto then managed in the minor league for three years, and he became the manager of the Hawks in 2022. He led the Hawks to the Climax Series twice, but they never won a title. In the 2023 PLCS Game 3, Fujimoto left his closer Roberto Osuna on the bench, and Yuki Tsumori allowed a game-tying 3-run shot to Yudai Fujioka and the Chiba Lotte Marines eliminated them. He was fired three hours after their loss, and Hiroki Kokubo succeeded him.

Overall, Fujimoto had hit .235/.337/.389 with 715 hits and 105 homers in 14 seasons in NPB.