Kenji Awaguchi

Kenji Awaguchi (淡口 憲治)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 167 lbs.

• High School Sanda Gakuen High School

• Born April 5, 1952 in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kenji Awaguchi played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 19 years.

Awaguchi was drafted by the Yomiuri Giants in the third round of the 1970 NPB draft, and he spent his first four seasons mainly in the NPB Farm Leagues, only playing 118 games with the big club. He hit .293/.366/.462 in 116 games in 1975, then he recorded a .298/.367/.477 batting line with 10 homers in 1976. Awaguchi was 3-for-13 in the 1976 Nippon Series with a homer against Takashi Yamaguchi in Game 6, and the Giants lost to the Hankyu Braves in 7 games. Since Masahiro Yanagida shined in 1977, Awaguchi lost his spot in the outfield and he only had a .245/.278/.364 batting line in 145 at-bats. He was 0-for-5 as a pinch-hitter in the 1977 Nippon Series, and the Braves beat the Giants again in 5 games.

The Nishinomiya native hit .300/.325/.464 in 1978, then his batting line was .259/.309/.380 in 1979. He crushed a career-high 14 homers with a .294/.332/.485 in 1980, and he hit .313/.369/.497 with 13 homers in 1981. Awaguchi was 1-for-8 in the 1981 Nippon Series with a 2-run double against Tomotaka Sugiyama in Game 4, and he won his first title as the Giants beat the Nippon Ham Fighters in 6 games. He blasted 13 dingers with a .266/.319/.448 batting line in 1982, and his batting line was .302/.368/.449 in 1983. Awaguchi was 1-for-9 in the 1982 Nippon Series, and the Seibu Lions beat the Giants in 7 games.

Since young outfielders like Sadaaki Yoshimura and Norihiro Komada broke out, Awaguchi lost the competition for a starting spot. He hit .283/.360/.399 in 1984, but he only played 69 games and his batting line fell to .208/.281/.273 in 1985. The Giants then traded him with Masaru Yamaoka to the Kintetsu Buffaloes for Shuzo Arita. Awaguchi recorded a .297/.353/.436 batting line in 1986 for the Buffaloes, but he slumped to .240/.304/.341 in 1987. He still struggled in 1988 as he only hit .218/.272/.343, then he had a .229/.291/.327 batting line in 1989. He was 3-for-14 in the 1989 Nippon Series, and the Buffaloes lost to the Giants in 7 games.

Awaguchi announced his retirement after the series, and he became a coach. He was the batting coach for the Giants from 1990 to 1996 and for their minor league team from 1997 to 2001. He then managed their minor league team from 2002 to 2005, and he was the batting coach of the Fighters from 2006 to 2007 and for the Yakult Swallows from 2008 to 2012.

Overall, Awaguchi hit .275/.334/.424 with 1,076 hits and 118 homers in 19 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio