Kanji Maruyama

Kanji Maruyama (丸山 完二)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 162 lb.

• School Rikkyo University
• High School Nishiwaki Kogyo High School

• Born January 5, 1940 in Nishiwaki, Hyogo Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Kanji Maruyama played 10 years for the Kokutetsu Swallows and its successors, then coached for the club.

Kanji hit .365 to lead the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League in the fall of 1960. Signed by Kokutetsu, he debuted in 1962 and batted just .210/.266/.264 in 126 games. In 1963, Maruyama hit .246/.286/.335 and stole 15 bases in 23 tries. The next season, he continued to improve, posting a .278/.303/.355 line, albeit in reduced playing time, appearing in 75 games in the outfield and a few more off of the bench.

In 1965, Kanji batted .245/.293/.315. He was caught in 9 of 13 attempts to steal, worse than his 4-for-12 performance on the basepaths in 1964. Playing regularly in the outfield and with some games at first in 1966, the 26-year-old hit .228/.288/.293 and was only 6 for 17 in steal attempts. He was hit by 8 pitches, putting him in a 3-way tie for the Central League lead.

Maruyama batted .245/.314/.349 in 1967 and .249/.325/.347 in 1968 to set his career high in OPS. His 51 runs and 38 walks were also career bests. The next season, he regressed, only managing a .204/.273/.328 line, though he did smack a career-high nine home runs.

In 1970, the veteran batted only .223/.280/.341 in 179 AB over 89 games. In his final season a year later, Kanji hit just 3 for 30 in 22 games.

Overall, in 1,032 games, Maruyama batted .234/.290/.317 and was caught in over half of his steal attempts (64 of 125).

After his playing career ended, Kanji became a coach with Yakult. He got into conflict with Charlie Manuel when Manuel came up to him and said "Hi, Kanji. How are you?" This was deemed a great lack of respect in Japanese baseball culture and Maruyama told Manuel's interpreter to have Charlie change his behavior, Manuel kept it up and Maruyama became angry at the Yakult slugger. Kanji gave in and eventually became friends with Charlie.

As of 2006, he was the director of player development for the club.

Sources: Japanbaseballdaily.com by Gary Garland, You Gotta Have Wa by Robert Whiting