Hiroyuki Oze

Hiroyuki Oze (小瀬 浩之)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 160 lb.

• School Kinki University
• High School Jinsei Gakuen High School

• Born September 2, 1985 in Daito, Osaka Japan
• Died February 5, 2010 in Miyakojima, Okinawa Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Hiroyuki Oze played two seasons in Nippon Pro Baseball as an outfielder.

Oze's mother died while he was a freshman in college; he considered quitting baseball but remained active. He was a third-round draft pick of the Orix Buffaloes in the 2007 NPB draft. In 2008, he hit .262/.342/.346 in 58 games as a backup outfielder. His first hit came on July 15, an infield hit off Hiroyuki Kobayashi. In a similar role in 2009, he played 78 games and improved his batting average while keeping his OPS relatively steady, with a batting line of .303/.335/.359. Both seasons, he was 7-for-10 in steal attempts.

In February 2010, Oze died of an apparent suicide by jumping off the roof of the team's hotel during spring training.

Source: Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland