Norihiro Akahoshi

Norihiro Akahoshi (赤星 憲広) (the Red Comet)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 145 lbs.
• School Asia University
• High School Obu High School
• Born April 10, 1976 in Kariya, Aichi Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Norihiro Akahoshi played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 seasons. He was called the Red Comet to praise his elite speed and reference his name (Akanoshi means red star in Japanese).

Akahoshi helped the Japanese national team win a Silver Medal in the 1999 Asian Championship. In the 2000 Olympics, he backed up Tomohiro Iizuka in center and was used as a pinch-runner. He was 0 for 2 and stole two bases in two tries. He did not appear in their loss to South Korea in the Bronze Medal Game. He was drafted by the Hanshin Tigers in the 4th round of the 2000 NPB draft. Due to his lack of power when turning pro, so the manager of the Tigers Katsuya Nomura commanded him to just hit grounders to third base and use his speed to get on base. Nomura even created a new training way for him - using rubber bands to fasten his hand to force him to hit grounders. Akanoshi debuted on March 30, 2001, and collected his first hit on the next day - a bunt infield hit to third base. He ended up hitting .292/.372/.338 with 39 steals; he led the Central League in steals. He was the first player to win NPB Rookie of the Year while leading the league in steals, and he also won his first NPB Gold Glove Award in the outfield.

The Asia University alumnus suffered a right calf injury and missed half of the 2002 season, but he still batted .252/.311/.300 and led the league with 26 steals. The Aichi native came back and had a .312/.378/.374 batting line with 61 steals in 2003, and won his second Gold Glove and first Best Nine award. He tied the NPB record with a 1.000 fielding percentage, and also broke the Tigers' record for most steals in a season. He was selected into the 2003 NPB All-Star Game, but went 0-for-3. The Tigers won the pennant, but Akahoshi injured his left elbow in the Game 1 of the 2003 Nippon Series and missed the rest of the series. He was 5th in voting for the 2003 Central League Most Valuable Player Award, between Makoto Imaoka and Alex Ramirez. He won Gold in the 2003 Asian Championship as Japan won a spot in the 2004 Olympics.

He was plunked on the face on April 15 the next season, which made him struggle in the first half of the 2004 season. He bounced back after the 2004 NPB All-Star Game and ended up hitting .300/.356/.356 with a career-high 64 steals. He led the league in swipes for the fourth consecutive year, ranked 6th in hits (18 behind Shigenobu Shima) and 3rd in runs (10 behind Toshihisa Nishi). The Aichi native extended his solid performance and attended the 2005 NPB All-Star Games. He batted leadoff in both games but went 1-for-7 with a steal. Akanoshi ended up hitting .316/.392/.376 with 60 steals in 2005, and won his 4th Gold Glove and 2nd Best Nine. He was the first player to led the league in steals for five consecutive seasons beginning in his rookie year, and also broke the Central League record by recording 689 at-bats in a season. He was 2-for-14 in the 2005 Nippon Series, and the Tigers were swept by the Chiba Lotte Marines. He was again 5th in the MVP voting, between Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi and Nori Aoki.

The Aichi native struggled in 2006, only hitting .269/.344/.302 with 35 steals. He still attended the 2006 NPB All-Star Game, but went 1-for-5. Nori Aoki passed him with 41 steals and ended his streak of leading the league, but he still won his 5th Gold Glove. Although he suffered from spinal disc herniation in 2007, Akanoshi still hit .300/.368/.335 with 24 steals in that season. He recovered and hit .317/.398/.347 with 41 steals in the next season. The Aichi native led the league in runs, and ranked 3rd in hits (13 behind Seiichi Uchikawa) and 2nd in steals (1 behind Kazuki Fukuchi). He broke the team record held by Yoshio Yoshida for most career steals on October 12, and also set the NPB record for 2,089 at-bats without hitting a home run. He also won his 6th, and the last Gold Glove award. Akahashi slumped to .263/.322/.296 with 32 steals in 2009 due to various injuries. On September 12, 2009, Akahoshi damaged his spine while diving to catch a fly by Uchikawa. He retired at age 33 after a doctor advised continuing to play would jeopardize his life.

Overall, Akanoshi had hit .295/365/.340 with 381 steals in 9 seasons in NPB. His 81.2% stolen base percentage ranked 3rd in NPB history among those who stole more than 300 bases.

Related Sites

• Stats at japanesebaseball.com
• NPB site
• 2005 Nippon Series
• 2003 NPB All-Star Game
• Wiki Japan