Makoto Kaneko

Makoto Kaneko (金子 誠)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.

• High School Joso Gakuin High School

• Born November 8, 1975 in Abiko, Chiba Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Makoto Kaneko was a third-round draft pick of the Nippon Ham Fighters in the 1993 NPB draft. He debuted in Nippon Pro Baseball in 1995, going 2 for 6 with a double. His first hit came off Kazuyuki Ono.

By 1996, the 20-year-old had won the starting second base job for Nippon Ham, hitting .261/.307/.337 with a team-high 15 steals in 17 tries. He led the Pacific League in sacrifice hits (38) and was named the PL Rookie of the Year. Oddly, the Central League Rookie of the Year, Toshihisa Nishi, had gone to the same high school as Kaneko.

Kaneko batted .277/.338/.390 in 1997 with a career-high (through 2008) 12 home runs. He fielded .985 and led the circuit's second sackers in fielding percentage. He hit .263/.336/.332 in 1998 and fielded .986, leading the league's second basemen. He won a Gold Glove.

Makoto's batting line in 1999 was .274/.336/.351. He won another Gold Glove after fielding .988 and leading the league's second basemen. He was named to the Best Nine, beating out So Taguchi most notably.

In 2000, Kateko produced at only a .231/.281/.289 rate but he again led the league's second basemen in fielding percentage (.989). He hit .253/.311/.353 in 2001 and was thrown out in nine of 18 steal attempts, leading the PL in times gunned down. He led the league's second basemen in fielding once more, tying a record by leading five years in a row.

Kaneko batted .285/.324/.394 in 2002 while moving to shortstop. He made his first PL All-Star team. In 2003, Mak hit .244/.288/.330. He batted .256/.320/.334 in 2004 and was an All-Star again.

Kaneko played for Japan in the 2004 Olympics. He was 0 for 2 with a walk and two runs as a defensive backup on the infield behind 3B Norihiro Nakamura, SS Shinya Miyamoto and 1B Michihiro Ogasawara.

In 2005, Kaneko hit .240/.284/.351. He improved a bit in 2006, batting .254/.300/.382. He was 2 for 16 in the 2006 Japan Series as Nippon Ham won its first Japan Series title ever.

Kaneko was named team captain for 2007 and batted .243/.296/.327. He did hit .500 with 19 RBI with the bases loaded. In the 2007 Japan Series, he was 5 for 15 with a walk and a double. His 2 RBI were second on Nippon Ham, which got shut down by the Chunichi Dragons. His 775 OPS was second to Fernando Seguignol on the weak Fighters offensive.

Kaneko fell to .216/.267/.292 in 2008 at age 32.

He is married to sportscaster Seika Shiragi.

Sources

• Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland
• Defunct IBAF site
• Chinese Wiki Baseball