Motoyasu Kuroki

Motoyasu Kuroki (黒木 基康)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 167 lb.

• School Nihon University
• High School Takanabe High School

• Born January 1, 1936 in Miyazaki Prefecture Japan
• Died July 6, 2014 in Kobe, Hyogo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Motoyasu Kuroki played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 7 years. His brother was NPB outfielder Hiroshige Kuroki.

Kuroki was signed by the Taiyo Whales in 1960, and he was named as their starting outfielder as a rookie. He hit .232/.271/.374 with a career-high 22 steals, and he was 7th in steals in the Central League (28 behind Toshio Naka). Kuroki fractured his clavicle on August 23, so he missed the 1960 Nippon Series. He slumped to .215/.273/.346 in 1961, and he hit .227/.253/.366 in 1962. After hitting .224/.264/.329 in 1963, he decided to imitate Sadaharu Oh's "flamingo batting sentence" due to batting coach Takashi Iwamoto's advice.

The Miyazaki native improved to .270/.328/.378 in 1964, then he had his career year in 1965. Kuroki hit .283/.326/.519 with a career-high 27 homers, ranking 3rd in homers (between Shinichi Eto and Takeshi Kuwata) and 8th in RBI (43 behind Oh). He was also selected into the 1965 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 0-for-4. However, Kuroki suffered from a knee injury in 1966, and his batting line fell to .206/.263/.354. His father passed away after this season, and Kuroki decided to retire.

Overall, Kuroki hit .238/.284/.388 with 445 hits and 63 homers in 7 seasons in the NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1965 NPB All Star Game