Masafumi Nishi

Masafumi Nishi (西 正文)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 152 lb.

• High School Amagasaki Oda High School

• Born November 25, 1960 in Hyogo Prefecture Japan

Biographical Information

Masafumi Nishi was a member of the Japanese national team for almost a decade, appearing in the Olympics twice.

Nishi played for Osaka Gas from 1979-1993. He joined Japan for the 1985 Intercontinental Cup (winning Bronze), 1985 Asian Championship(Gold) and remained with them for the 1987 Intercontinental Cup and 1987 Asian Championship (Silver). In the 1988 Baseball World Cup, he was a utility infielder for Japan and hit .433/.486/.667. He just missed the event's top five in average. Primarily a shortstop, he lost All-Star honors at short to Matt Stairs. He sat out Japan's Bronze Medal game loss to Taiwan as Kenjiro Nomura was at short.

Masafumi was with Japan when they finished second in the 1988 Olympics. He played in the 1989 Intercontinental Cup and 1989 Asian Championship. He fell to .250/.276/.357 as one of Japan's lightest hitters in the 1990 Baseball World Cup and fielded error-free ball at second base. He was with Japan for a third-place finish in the 1990 Asian Games. Moving to third base in the 1991 Intercontinental Cup, the 30-year-old hit .250/.400/.375. He was 0 for 2 with an error in Japan's 5-4 Gold Medal game loss to Cuba.

Nishi hit .526/.571/.684 with 6 RBI in six games in the 1992 Olympics while backing up Koichi Oshima at second and Akihiro Togo at short; he fielded flawlessly. Had he qualified, he would have edged Víctor Mesa for the Barcelona Games lead in batting average. In Japan's Bronze Medal game win over Team USA, he singled off both Darren Dreifort and Billy Wallace after replacing Hirotami Kojima at DH.

Nishi was named the All-Star second baseman and best defensive player in the 1993 Asian Championship. After retiring as a player, he coached for Osaka Gas from 1993-1995. He managed Japan in the 2007 Asian Junior Championship and coached for them in the 2010 Asian Games, 2013 East Asian Games and 2014 Asian Games.

Sources

• Defunct IBAF site
• Chinese Wiki Baseball