Mitsuru Honma

Mitsuru Honma (本間 満)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 172 lbs.

• School Komazawa University
• High School Komazawa University Iwamizawa High School

• Born August 25, 1972 in Rumoi, Hokkaido Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Mitsuru Honma played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 15 years.

Honma was drafted by the Daiei Hawks in the third round of the 1994 NPB draft, but he spent most of his first five seasons in the NPB Farm Leagues, and only played 72 games with the big club. When Chihiro Hamana injured in 2000, Honma got some chance as backup infielder, and he hit .261/.313/.322 in 245 at-bats. It was not good enough for him to stay with the big club, and he was demoted again. He spent the next two seasons in the ni-gun, and he only had 113 at-bats.

The Rumoi native was named the backup of Yusuke Torigoe in 2003, and he hit .227/.338/.269 in 88 games. He improved to .290/.332/.389 in 2004, so the Hawks named him as their main utility player after Tadahito Iguchi left the team. Honma caught the chance, hitting .262/.284/.386 in 102 games. He had his career year in 2006, and he was selected into the 2006 NPB All-Star Game. He was starting second baseman for the Pacific League in Game 1, but he was 0-for-2. Honma ended up hitting .244/.303/.305 in this season.

However, the Hawks tended to used young players like Yuichi Honda, so Honma's starting spot was taken. He hit .224/.269/.299 in 2007, but only played 61 games with a .230/.238/.340 batting line in 2008. After spent nearly the entire 2009 season in the NPB Farm Leagues, the Hawks released him. He joined the Ishikawa Million Stars of the Baseball Challenge League in 2010 and led the league with 51 RBI, but Honma still announced his retirement after this year.

Overall, Honma had hit .248/.297/.326 with 395 hits and 12 homers in 15 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 2006 NPB All Star Game