Masataka Nashida
Masataka Nashida (梨田 昌孝)
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 10", Weight 173 lbs.
- High School Hamada High School
- Born August 4, 1953 in Hamada, Shimane Japan
Biographical Information[edit]
Masataka Nashida caught and managed in the Nippon Pro Baseball.
Nashida was drafted by the Kintetsu Buffaloes in the second round of the 1971 NPB draft. He spent the first two seasons of his career in the NPB Farm Leagues, and only played 69 games combined for the big club. In 1974, Nashida secured a starting catcher spot and recorded a .197/.224/.254 batting line. However, when Shuzo Arita shined in the next year, Nashida was used as his backup in 1975. He only played 231 games combined over the next four seasons.
The Shimane native finally took the starting catcher from Arita in 1979. He hit .272/.322/.471 with 19 homers, and won his first NPB Gold Glove and Best Nine awards. He also set the Pacific League record for highest season CS% with 53.6. He was selected into the 1979 NPB All-Star Game, but went 0-for-5. In the 1979 Nippon Series, he was 3-for-13, and blasted a 2-run homer off Yutaka Ono in Game 6, but the Hiroshima Carp still beat the Buffaloes in 7 games.
Nashida was still productive in 1980 and attended the 1980 NPB All-Star Game; he was 0-for-2 though. The talented catcher ended up hitting .292/.343/.500 with 15 homers, and won his second Best Nine and Gold Glove. He and the Buffaloes met the Carp again in the 1980 Nippon Series. Nashida collected 3 hits in Game 1, but then went 1-for-11 on the rest of the series. The Carp beat the Buffaloes in 7 games again. Nashida was still the main starter of the Buffaloes in 1981, and he batted .273/.327/.452 with 17 homers in this year. He won the Gold Glove and Best Nine for the third consecutive year, and also attended the 1981 NPB All-Star Game. He was 1-for-4 with a single in the 3 games. The Hamada native shared the starting catcher with Arita in 1982, and he hit .290/.340/.427 with 10 homers in 91 games.
In 1983 NPB All-Star Game 2, Nashida played well. After he went 1-for-2 in Game 1, Nashida collected a clutch RBI single off Mitsuo Sumi in the 8th inning and won the MVP. He ended up hitting .268/.341/.390 with 8 homers in this year. He extended his stable performance, hitting .249/.321/.390 and .247/.310/.391 respectively in the next two seasons. He was also selected into the 1985 NPB All-Star Games, and went 2-for-6 with a double in 3 games.
Although he still attended the 1986 NPB All-Star Game (he went 0-for-1), the veteran lost the starting spot in 1986. He only played 79 games in 1986, then recorded 129-at-bats combined in the next two seasons. Nashida announced his retirement after the 1988 season, and became a coach. Nashida was the battery coach for the Buffaloes from 1993 to 1995, then managed their minor league team from 1996 to 1999. Nashida became the 19th, and the last manager of the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 2000. The Buffaloes was only 58-75 in 2000, but Nashida then led them to win the Pacific League pennant in 2001; the Yakult Swallows beat them in 5 games. After staying in the A-Class for 2 seasons, the Buffaloes were merged with the Orix BlueWave, and Nashida left the team. Then he was hired to replace Trey Hillman as manager of the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2008, taking the reign after two straight Japan Series trips. He lasted four years and was replaced by Hideki Kuriyama, who led the team to a Japan Series in his first year. He later managed the Rakuten Golden Eagles from 2016-2018. He coached for Samurai Japan in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
Overall, Nashida had hit .254/.312/.399 with 874 hits and 113 homers in 17 seasons in NPB. He was 805-776-31 with 2 pennant as a manager.
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