Kohei Shimamoto

Kohei Shimamoto (島本 講平)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 9", Weight 176 lb.

• High School Minoshima High School

• Born November 1, 1952 in Kainan, Wakayama Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Kohei Shimamoto played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 13 years.

Shimamoto led Minoshima High School to the Spring Koshien title in 1970. Toshihiko Yuguchi, Kazushi Saeki and him were called the "Big Three" of high school players, and the Nankai Hawks drafted him in the first round of the 1970 NPB draft. His first NPB hit and first homer was off Koji Ota. The high school star was voted into the 1971 NPB All-Star Game by the fans despite having 7 at-bats with the big club, and he was 0-for-2. Shimamoto only played 16 games combined for the Hawks in 4 years, then he was traded to the Kintetsu Buffaloes for Koichiro Sasaki.

The Wakayama native hit .283/.325/.478 in 40 games in 1975, then he was selected into the 1976 NPB All-Star Game; he was 1-for-3, with a single against Takenori Emoto. Shimamoto ended up hitting .212/.283/.306 in 1976, and he bounced back in 1977. Shimamoto crushed a career-high 12 homers with a .236/.284/.384 batting line, and he also attended the All-Star Games. He was 0-for-2 in the first two games, then he collected a RBI single against Takeshi Yasuda in Game 3. Shimamoto slumped to .199/.258/.371 in 1978, and he only played 21 games due to injuries in 1979.

As the 4th outfielder, Shimamoto played well in the 1980 season and his batting line was .351/.417/.526. He played 4 games as a backup outfielder in the 1980 Nippon Series, but he was 0-for-2 and the Hiroshima Carp beat the Buffaloes in 7 games. Shimamoto hit .270/.332/.438 in 1981, and he was used as a designated hitter and hit .264/.330/.421 in 1982. After hitting .224/.283/.286 in 75 games in 1983, Shimamoto lost his spot and he only got 24 appearances combined in the next two seasons. He then announced his retirement in 1985

Overall, Shimamoto hit .243/.302/.386 with 454 hits and 60 homers in 13 seasons in the NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1978 NPB All Star Game