Munehiko Shimada

Munehiko Shimada (嶋田 宗彦)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 6", Weight 160 lb.

• High School Minoshima High School

• Born February 17, 1962 in Arita, Wakayama Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Munehiko Shimada played 8 seasons in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Shimada hit .409 in the two Koshien Tournaments of 1979 to help his school win each event. After high school, he played for Sumitomo Kinzoku in the industrial leagues. He was with Japan when they won Silver in the 1982 Amateur World Series, Bronze in the 1983 Asian Championship and again for the 1984 Olympics, when they beat a Team USA with Barry Larkin, Mark McGwire and Will Clark to take first place.

Shimada was a 4th-round draft pick of the Hanshin Tigers in the 1984 NPB draft. He played 30 games for them in 1985, hitting .250/.328/.367 as the backup to Katsuhiko Kido at catcher. He got one at-bat in the 1985 Japan Series, homering. Hanshin went on to win their only Japan Series (through 2009).

In 1986, Shimada saw his most action (207 AB, 91 G). He hit .256/.313/.391 with 6 homers that season. He fell to .199/.217/.315 in 69 games in 1987. He was 6 for 48 with 5 walks and a double in 1988 and 5 for 29 with 2 walks and a double in 1989 in Japanese Baseball.

Shimada hit only .150/.211/.240 in 47 games in 1990 then was 0 for 1 in 1991 to end his career. He hit .208/.261/.315 in 300 career NPB games, with 13 homers in 591 AB.

Shimada later coached.