Kazunori Tanaka

Kazunori Tanaka (田中 一徳)

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 5", Weight 147 lb.

• High School PL Gakuen High School

• Born October 28, 1981 in Amagasaki, Hyogo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kazunori Tanaka played in Nippon Pro Baseball and in the minors.

Tanaka played for the Japanese team that won the 1998 Asian Junior Championship. The Yokohama BayStars made him a first-round pick of the 1999 NPB draft. He got his first hit in NPB off Taira Suzuki and was 4 for 24 with a walk, 10 whiffs, 5 runs and two caught-stealing with no steals. He hit .220/.350/.260 in 67 plate appearances over 68 games in 2001. He produced at a .256/.304/.291 in 198 plate appearances over 112 games as the backup to Tatsuhiko Kinjo in CF in 2002, with his first homer coming off Ryuji Yokoyama. He tied Kinjo, Hitoshi Taneda and Masahiro Kawai for 7th in the Central League in sacrifice hits (14).

In 2003, he hit only .196/.212/.216 in 54 plate appearances, backing up Hitoshi Tamura in RF. He was 6 for 30 with 2 walks and 13 runs in 63 games in 2004, primarily a defensive sub and pinch-runner. He had batted .229/.286/.257 with one homer, 58 runs and 13 RBI in 376 plate appearances and 341 games in NPB. He was only 15-for-29 in steal attempts.

Released by Yokohama after a couple more years in the minors, he went on to play in the US. He hit .251/.349/.310 for the 2007 York Revolution with 18 steals in 27 tries and excellent defense (.987 FLD%, 16 A in 108 G). He tied Peter Bergeron for third in the Atlantic League with 12 sacrifice hits. He batted .226/.347/.262 in 57 games for the 2008 Revolution to end his US career.