Katsumi Fujimoto

Katsumi Fujimoto (藤本 勝巳)

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

• High School Minabe High School

• Born August 8, 1937 in Hidaka-gun, Wakayama Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Katsumi Fujimoto played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Fujimoto was signed by the Osaka Tigers in 1956, but he spent the first two years of his career in the NPB Farm Leagues. Fujimoto became the everyday first baseman in 1958, and recorded a .225/.276/.399 batting line with 16 homers. The Wakayama native broke out in 1959, hitting .278/.343/.498 with career-high 24 homers, and won the Best Nine award at first. He was voted into the 1959 NPB All-Star Game as the starting 1st baseman, but he had a face injury because of getting hit by a Kiyoshi Oishi pitch and was unable to play. In the famous Emporer's Game, he hit a homer but Hanshin lost to the Yomiuri Giants in the first NPB game attended by a Japanese emporer. Fujimoto had a career year in 1960. He batted .252/.336/.467 with a league-leading 22 homers and 76 RBI. However, he lost the Best Nine to Kazuhiko Kondo due to his low average. Fujimoto improved to .300/.375/.419 with 7 homers in 1961, and won the Best Nine again. He was third in batting average, .053 behind Shigeo Nagashima. He extended his stable performance in the 1962 season, and recorded a .256/.323/.396 batting line with 15 homers. In the 1962 Nippon Series, he started in all 7 games, and recorded a 11-for-33 with 2 homers and 6RBI; the two dingers were a 3-run shot from Kakuro Tominaga in Game 2 and a 2-run homer from Osamu Kubota in Game 5.

Fujimoto struggled in 1963 with a .217/.314/.320 batting line, and he was moved from the regular starting lineup in this year. Goro Toi took the starting first baseman spot in 1964, and Fujimoto only played 83 games with a .282/.393/.435 batting line. He pinch-hit in Game 1, Game 6 and Game 7 in the 1964 Nippon Series, but didn't collect any hits. The Tigers beat the Nankai Hawks in that series, and Fujimoto collected his first Nippon Series Title. He was used as pinch-hitter mainly in 1965, and his batting line was .224/.288/.324. After only playing 66 and 51 games respectively in the next two years, Fujimoto announced his retirement after the 1967 season.

Overall, Fujimoto had hit .254/.327/.414 in 12 seasons in NPB.