Yoshihiro Nakata

Yoshihiro Nakata (中田 昌宏)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 171 lb.

• School Keio University
• High School Naruo High School

• Born February 22, 1935 in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Japan
• Died November 16, 2009 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yoshihiro Nakata has played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Nakata was on the Japanese national team in the 1955 Asian Championship as the country won its first title. The Hankyu Braves signed Nakata in 1957, and he was named their starting outfielder as a rookie before the 1957 season. Nakata hit .231/.313/.341 with 6 homers in his rookie year, then improved to .225/.257/.367 with 12 homers in 1958. He also led the league in strikeouts with 108 in 1958. Nakata was selected into the 1959 NPB All-Star Game, but went 0-fo-4. He ended up batting .254/.318/.455 with 23 home runs in 1959, and led the league in sacrifice flies. He was third in homers (2 behind Kazuhiro Yamauchi), fourth in RBI (20 behind Takao Katsuragi) and 6th in walks (37 behind Yasumitsu Toyoda). Nakata slumped to .218/.290/.395 with 14 homers in the next year.

1961 was Nakata's career year. He blasted a career-high 29 dingers with a .238/.310/.472 batting line, and his teammates only hit 36 homers combined. He tied for the league lead in homers with Katsuya Nomura, becoming the first Braves player to led the league in homers. However, he also broke the NPB record by being struck out 121 times in a season (broke by Koji Akiyama in 1988 with 132). The slugger declined to .234/.294/.401 with 12 homers in 1962, but he bounced back soon and crushed 22 homers with a .231/.289/.399 batting line in 1963. He became the fourth player to hit two homers in a inning, doing so on May 31, 1964, but only collected 11 homers with a .221/.292/.349 batting line in this season. The Hyogo native kept up his pace, hit .222/.298/.385 and .245/.294/.403 respectively in the next two years.

Nakata recorded a career-high .282 batting average in 1967, and finally led the Braves to their first Pacific League Championship. In the 1967 Nippon Series, Nakata was only 1-for-7, and the Braves were beaten by the dynastic Yomiuri Giants.<ref> 1967 Nippon Series Nakata only hit .208/.283/.250 in 1968, and he announced his retirement after the 1968 season. He then coached the Braves from 1969 to 1988.

Overall, Nakata had hit .235/.297/.397 with 154 homers in 12 seasons in NPB.