Masuho Maeda

Masuho Maeda (前田 益穂)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 170 lb.

• High School Kumamoto Technical High School

• Born May 24, 1939 in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Masuho Maeda played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 17 years.

Maeda was signed by the Chunichi Dragons in 1958, and he spent his first season in the NPB Farm Leagues. He was named their starting shortstop in 1959, and he hit .238/.286/.328 in 121 games. After having a .222/.277/.280 batting line in 99 games in 1960, the Dragons moved him to third base when Hiroji Okajima joined the team in 1961. His batting line was .251/.326/.376 that season. Maeda hit for a cycle on September 16, 1962, and he ended up hitting .284/.323/.434 with 13 dingers and a league-leading 6 sacrifice flies in 1962. He was 6th in the Central League in batting (between Shigeo Nagashima and Morimichi Takagi), 6th in hits (between Sadaharu Oh and Toshio Naka), 10th in homers and 5th in RBI (63, between Toru Mori and Shinichi Eto).

The Kumamoto native slumped to .229/.318/.290 in 1963, then the Dragons traded him to the Lotte Orions for Takao Katsuragi. Maeda improved to .236/.296/.357 in 1964, and he was 5th in the Pacific League in RBI (72, tied with Isao Harimoto). He improved his hitting again as he was at .260/.293/.405 with 12 homers in 1965, and he was also selected into the 1965 NPB All-Star Games; he was 0-for-7. Maeda attended the All-Star Games again in the next summer, and he was 1-for-7, with a single against Gene Bacque in Game 1. He ended up hitting .250/.314/.385 with 13 homers in 1966, and he was 10th in runs (54, between Shuzo Aono and Tony Roig).

Maeda was selected into the 1967 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 0-for-2. His batting line was .252/.315/.385 with a career-high 22 steals in 1967, and he ranked 4th in steals (tied with Mamoru Miyoshi) and 9th in doubles (tied with Yasuhiro Kunisada and Koshiro Ito). He hit .246/.306/.414 in 1968, then he was used as an infield utility man as Hiroyuki Yamazaki joined the team in 1969 and his batting line was .247/.332/.385. Maeda bounced back in 1970, hitting .313/.387/.489 in 98 games with 7 homers. Had he qualified, he would tied Art López for 5th in batting. In the 1970 Nippon Series, Maeda was 3-for-4 in Game 2, but he was 0-for-7 in the rest of the series and the Yomiuri Giants beat them in 5 games.

As a backup infielder, Maeda hit .224/.273/.332, .239/.307/.390 and .243/.340/.331 in the next three seasons. He played 77 games with a .281/.354/.337 batting line in 1974, and he crushed a 3-run homer against Yukitsura Matsumoto in 1974 Nippon Series Game 4. The Orions beat the Dragons in 6 games, and he won his first Nippon Series title. Maeda slumped to .115/.148/.231 in 1975 and he announced his retirement. He then coached the Orions from 1974 to 1981, the Dragons from 1982 to 1984 and for the Taiyo Whales from 1985 to 1988. After coaching the Nippon Ham Fighters from 1989 to 1991, he was named the manager of the Jungo Bears of the CPBL in 1995. He led the Bears to a a 13-23 record and he was fired.

Overall, Maeda hit .249/.310/.372 with 1,205 hits, 106 steals and 117 homers in 17 seasons in the NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1967 NPB All Star Game
• Taiwan Baseball Wiki