Jack Ladra

Jack Donald Ladra

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 170 lb.

• School California State University, Fresno
• High School Honokaʻa High and Intermediate School

• Born April 11, 1933 in Hawaii USA

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Jack Ladra played in the minor leagues and the Nippon Pro Baseball. He is the uncle of Lenn Sakata.

Ladra hit .261/.380/.349 with 5 homers for the Quincy Gems in 1956, finishing 4th in the Three-I League with 81 walks. He crushed 15 homers with a .279/.383/.430 batting line for the Peoria Chiefs in 1957. He was 3rd in the Three-I in runs (95), 10th in homers, first with 30 steals, 8th with 81 walks, 1st in outfield putouts (289) and 3rd in outfield assists (15).

The Toei Flyers then signed him in 1958, and he hit .240/.310/.369 with 9 homers and 23 doubles. He was 9th in the Pacific League in doubles (tied with Seiji Sekiguchi) and 8th in RBI (between Masahiro Nakata and Kohei Sugiyama). Ladra was also selected into the 1958 NPB All-Star Games, and he was 0-for-3. His batting line was .243/.304/.375 in 1959 with 7 triples, and he tied Takao Katsuragi, Shoichi Busujima and Sugiyama for 3rd in triples.

The Hawaiian batted .245/.294/.358 in 1960, then he improved to .270/.299/.393 in 1961. Ladra recorded a .244/.299/.346 batting line in 1962, and he appeared in the 1962 Nippon Series. He was 4-for-25 in the series, and he won his only Nippon Series title as the Flyers beat the Hanshin Tigers in 7 games. Ladra slumped to .203/.239/.295 in 1964, then he bounced back with a league-leading 7 triples and a .250/.308/.395 batting line in 1965. He announced his retirement after the 1965 season.

Overall, Ladra hit .243/.296/.365 with 561 hits, 32 triples and 37 homers in 7 seasons in the NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1958 NPB All Star Game
• Nikkei West
• 1958 Baseball Guide