Katsura Yokomizo

Katsura Yokomizo (横溝 桂)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 6", Weight 150 lb.

• High School Okayama Higashi Shogyo High School

• Born October 1, 1935 in Soja, Okayama Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Katsura Yokomizo played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years.

Yokomizo was signed by the Hiroshima Carp in 1955 as a pitcher, and he spent his first four seasons primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues, only playing 34 games with the big club. The Carp turned him into an outfielder pretty quickly because of his shoulder injury; he never pitched in NPB. Yokomizo hit .193/.287/.237 in 1959, then he improved to .265/.335/.376 in 1960. However, he slumped to .218/.293/.301 in 1961, so he only had 133 at-bats in that season. Yokomizo bounced back and batted .256/.305/.394 in 1962, then his batting line was .266/.311/.332, .281/.336/.422 and .233/.298/.345 respectively in the next three seasons.

The Okayama native was selected into the 1966 NPB All-Star Games, and he pinch-hit for Yoshio Yoshida in the 5th inning of Game 1 to hit a single against Mitsuhiro Adachi; he was 0-for-2 in the next two games. Yokomizo ended up hitting .255/.310/.295 in 1966, then his batting line was .229/.306/.309 in 1967. He struggled in 1968 as his batting line falling to .210/.290/.263 1962, then he announced his retirement in 1969. He then coached the Carp from 1972 to 1973, for the Nankai Hawks from 1978 to 1980 and for the Hanshin Tigers from 1981 to 1983. He scouted for the Tigers from 1984 to 1996.

Overall, Yokomizo hit .243/.306/.332 with 623 hits and 37 homers in 14 seasons in the NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1966 NPB All Star Game