Hiroyuki Maehara

Hiroyuki Maehara (前原 博之)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 173 lbs.

• High School Gifu Shogyo High School

• Born May 16, 1967 in Kakamigahara, Gifu Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hiroyuki Maehara played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 years.

Maehara was drafted by the Chunichi Dragons in the fifth round of the 1985 NPB draft, but he spent most of his first six seasons in the NPB Farm Leagues, and only played 65 games with the big club. He was farmed out to the Salem Dodgers in 1988, but hit only .196/.286/.274 and fielded .941 as their main third baseman. He secured the starting third baseman spot for Chunichi in 1992, and recorded his career year. He hit .269/.343/.424 with 9 homers, but he committed 19 errors. Maehara was also selected into the 1992 NPB All-Star Games, and he hit a 2-run single against Yasuyuki Kawamoto in Game 3.

He hit .244/.299/.407 in 1993, then slumped to .206/.264/.307 in 1994. The Gifu native only played 69 games in 1995 due to his terrible defense, then the Dragons traded him with Masaji Shimizu to the Seibu Lions for Katsuyoshi Murata and Kazuaki Yamano. Maehara only played 12 games for the big club in 5 seasons with the Lions, and he announced his retirement after the 2000 season. He then coached the Mie Three Arrows of the Shikoku-Kyushu Island League in 2011, and coached the Dragons from 2012 to 2013.

Overall, Maehara had hit .237/.296/.365 with 222 hits and 21 homers in 9 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1992 NPB All Star Game