Makoto Kozuru

Makoto Kozuru (小鶴 誠)
(The Japanese DiMaggio)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 156 lb.
• High School Iizuka Shogyo High School

• Born December 17, 1922 in Iizuka, Fukuoka Japan
• Died June 2, 2003 in Toshima, Tokyo Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Makoto Kozuru played 15 years and crushed more than 200 homers in the Nippon Pro Baseball.

Kozuru was not impressive when he was signed by the Nagoya. He used a fake name "Makoto Iizuka" because he played for the Nippon Steel Yahata in the Industrial League but they didn't allowed him turning pro. Kozuru only hit .216/.303/.305 and .207/.280/.293 in 1942 and 1943. The World War II interrupted his career , as he served in the Navy during the war and missed the next two seasons.

After the War, Kozuru improved and hitting .273/.362/.447 in 1946, but then slumped to .211/.315/.355 in 1947. He left the Chubu Nippon Dragons (Nagoya changed its name after War) and joined the Kyuei Flyers. He played well with the Flyers, recorded a .305/.382/.483 with 16 homers in 1948. He ranked 2nd in batting (.001 behind Noboru Aota) and 3rd in homers (9 behind Aota and Tetsuharu Kawakami) in the Japanese Professional Baseball League.

Kozuru had his first great season in 1949, hitting .361/.445/.589. He won his first JPBL batting title and made his first Best Nine, as an outfielder. He was 3rd in hits (6 behind Fumio Fujimura), 10th in homers (22 behind Fujimura) and 9th in RBI (50 behind Fujimura). Kozuru learned a new batting style from manager Kyouichi Nitta. He called it the "Golf batting style" because it emphasized rotating hip.

A year later Kozuru had his greatest season - he became the first 50-homer man in Nippon Pro Baseball history; for the Shochiku Robins he hit .355/.450/.729. He led the Central League in slugging, total bases (376), runs (143) and RBI (161); the latter three marks still stand as NPB records. He was named to his second Best Nine in the outfield and also won his only CL MVP award. He lost the batting title to Fumia Fujimara (.362). The Robins played in the first Japan Series that year but Kozuru let them down, going just 4 for 23 with no homers as they lost 4 of 6 games to the Mainichi Orions.

The Fukuoka native suffered from spinal disc herniation after the historic season, and slumped to .261/.351/509 in 1951. He still blasted 24 homers, ranked 3rd in homers (8 behind Aota) and 4th in RBI (20 behind Aota). He only had a .284/.359/.451 with 17 homers in 1952. When the Shochiku merged with the Taiyo Whales, Kozuru refused to go to the Taiyo and transferred to the Hiroshima Carp with his teammates Jiro Kanayama and Isao Mimura. He was selected into the 1953 NPB All-Star Game, but only went 2-for-8. He ended up hitting .283/.372/.443 with 14 homers and a career-high 33 steals, ranked 3rd in steals (25 behind Kanayama), 6th in hits (24 behind Kawakami) and 5th in RBI (24 behind Fujimura).

Kozuru batted .297/.362/.465 with 15 homers in 1954, ranked 6th in homers (16 behind Aota), 9th in hits (37 behind Wally Yonamine) and 7th in RBI (19 behind Satoru Sugiyama). He then had a .285/.344/.457 with 18 homers in 1955, ranked 6th in batting (.053 behind Kawakami), 5th in homers (13 behind Yukihiko Machida), 4th in hits (6 behind Kawakami) and 3rd in RBI (12 behind Kawakami).

The "Japanese DiMaggio" was selected into the All-Star Game for the third and the last time in the next summer; he was 0-for-2. He recorded a .259/.334/.364 batting line with 11 homers in 1956, and ranked 7th in homers (14 behind Aota). He slumped to .256/.304/.349 in 1957, then announced his retorement after hitting .247/.313/.408 in 1958. He was the batting coach of the Kokutetsu Swallows from 1964 to 1965, and served as batting coach for the Hanshin Tigers in 1968. Kozuru was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.

Overall, Kozuru had hit .280/.359/.456 with 230 homers and 1,717 hits in 15 years in NPB.

Source

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio