Katsuo Hirata

Katsuo Hirata (平田 勝男)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 171 lb.

• School Meiji University
• High School Kaisei High School

• Born July 31, 1959 in Matsuura, Nagasaki Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Katsuo Hirata played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

The Hanshin Tigers and the Yokohama Taiyo Whales each drafted Hirata in the 2nd round of the 1981 NPB draft, and the Tigers won the lottery for his rights. Hirata debuted on April 7, 1982, and collected his first career hit off Hisao Niura on July 31. . He spent his rookie year primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues, and only played 23 games with a .235/.350/.235 batting line with the top team. Hirata took the starting shortstop spot from Akinobu Mayumi in 1983, and hit .250/.308/.318 with 2 homers.

The Nagasaki native recorded a .268/.313/.368 batting line in 1984, and won the first NPB Gold Glove award in his career. He was selected into the 1985 NPB All-Star Game, but went 0-for-3 in three games. He ended up hitting .261/.307/.361 with a career-high 7 homers, and won the Gold Glove again. In the 1985 Nippon Series, Hirata was 7-for-22 and collected 3 singles in Game 1. He also hit a triple in the 9th inning of Game 2 off Osamu Higashio, and won his only Nippon Series title. Hirata extended his reliable performance, hitting .267/.303/.346 in 1986, .261/.299/.318 in 1987 and won the Gold Glove in both years.

When talented prospect Yutaka Wada joined the team in 1988, Hirata was moved from the regular lineup, and played the backup to Wada in his late career. He hit .283/.326/.344 in the 1988 season, but declined to .137/.191/.186 in 1989. The veteran bounced back and recorded a .347/.385/.389 batting line in 72 at-bats in 1990. He only played 114 games combined from 1991 to 1994, and announced his retirement after the 1994 season. He was the defense coach for the Tigers from 1997 to 2001, from 2005 to 2006 and from 2015 to 2018. He was also the manager of the Tigers' minor team from 2007 to 2010, from 2013 to 2014 and from 2019 to 2022. The Tigers then named Hirata as their bench coach in 2023.

Overall, Hirata had hit .258/.302/.333 in 13 seasons in NPB.