Keijiro Yumioka

Keijiro Yumioka (弓岡 敬二郎)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 154 lb.

• High School Toyo University Himeji High School

• Born June 28, 1958 in Himeji, Hyogo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Keijiro Yumioka has played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Yumioka was drafted by the Seibu Lions in the third round of the 1977 NPB draft, but he refused to sign and joined the Nippon Steel Hirohata baseball team of the Japan Amateur Baseball Association. The Hankyu Braves drafted him again in the third round of the 1980 NPB draft. Kanamori debuted on April 6, 1981, and collected his first major league hit from Choji Murata on April 9. He secured the everyday shortstop spot because Yutaka Ohashi was injured. Yumioka batted .212/.246/.294 in his rookie year, then recorded a .211/.274/.263 batting line in 1982.

The Hyogo native broke out in 1983, as he batted .260/.303/.346 with a league-leading 41 sacrifice bunts and 35 steals. He reached a .300 batting average for the first time in his career in 1984, and beat Hiromichi Ishige to win both the Best Nine and NPB Gold Glove Award as a shortstop. In the 1984 NPB All-Star Game, Yumioka was 0-for-2 with a run scored. His batting was .304/.361/.402 in that season and he also got a career-high 49 sacrifice bunts. Yumioka set the NPB record for collected 4 sacrifice bunts in a game on June 9, 1985, and ended up batting .295/.341/.389 and led the league in sacrifice bunts for the third consecutive year with 46. He hit .254/.315/.341 and .246/.284/.325 respectively in the next two years, and won another Gold Glove Award in the 1987 season.

Yumioka struggled in 1988, only batted .222/.279/.273 in 216 at-bats. He couldn't find his batting back as his batting line fell to .111/.194/.185 in 1989. After only playing 106 games combined in the next two years, Yumioka announced his retirement after the 1991 season and became a coach. He was the defense coach for the Orix Blue Wave in the major from 2000 to 2002 and the same position for their minor team from 1995 to 1997 and from 2006 to 2010. He also managed the minor team from 1998 to 1999 and in 2013.

Overall, Yumioka had hit .257/.306/.340 in 11 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1984 NPB All-Star Game