Osamu Abe

Osamu Abe (安部 理)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 160 lb.

• High School Tohoku High School

• Born December 19, 1962 in Shiroishi, Miyagi Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Osamu Abe played 15 seasons in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Abe was picked by the Seibu Lions in the fourth round of 1980 NPB draft. Farmed out to the San Jose Giants, he hit .271/.357/.362 in 1983, backing up Jack Daugherty at first. He made it to the big club in 1984, going 3 for 28 with three walks. He was just 2 for 26 with a walk in 1985 and was in the minors for all of 1986, hitting .303 with an Eastern League-high 13 home runs. Abe became a regular outfielder alongside George Vukovich and Koji Akiyama in 1987, hitting .271/.329/.424 in 83 games. He was 6 for 19 with two doubles and a walk in the 1987 Japan Series to help give Seibu the title.

Osamu batted .263/.329/.411 in a career-high 361 plate appearances over 107 games in 1988 then went 3 for 9 with three walks in the 1988 Japan Series, which Seibu won. On June 18, he hit the 100th grand slam in franchise history. Abe fell to .238/.312/.369 in a backup role in 1989 and .210/.315/.290 in 1990. He was 3 for 6 with four RBI while backing up Orestes Destrade at DH in the 1990 Japan Series, helping Seibu beat the Yomiuri Giants.

Abe's regular-season woes continued in 1991 as he hit .190/.329/.397. He was 2 for 7 with a double and 3 RBI in the 1991 Japan Series, as the Lions beat the Hiroshima Carp. Back to a semi-regular role in 1982 (220 AB, 84 G), Abe hit .245/.324/.418. He was 1 for 4 in the 1992 Japan Series, backing up Akiyama, Koji Otsuka and Ken Hirano in the outfield. Seibu beat the Yakult Swallows for the title.

Abe's batting line was .270/.342/.414 in 1993, then was 2 for 10 with four walks in the 1993 Japan Series as Seibu fell to Yakult while splitting time with Tetsuya Kakiuchi; Akiyama and Hirano held the other two outfield positions. The left fielder had his best OPS in 1994, batting .348/.387/.517 in 92 games. He was 0 for 9 with four whiffs in the 1994 Japan Series and Seibu fell to Yomiuri. Abe struggled big-time in 1995 (5 for 47, BB, 18 K, HR) and 1996 (0 for 7).

Released by Seibu, he signed on with the Kintetsu Buffaloes. He hit .301/.359/.399 in 1997 while playing 81 games, backing up Phil Clark at first base and pinch-hitting regularly. Abe batted .250/.313/.333 in 1998 while splitting first base with Clark and Yuji Yoshioka. He was just 2 for 21 in 1999.

Overall, Abe played 816 games in NPB, with a .258/.324/.392 cumulative line.

Abe coached for the Chinatrust Whales of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 2000, then ran a sporting goods store. He was hitting coach for the Rakuten Golden Eagles for the first several months of 2010.

Sources

• Chinese Wiki Baseball
• Japan Baseball Daily