Seiichi Hayashi

Seiichi Hayashi (林清一) also listed as Kiyomitsu Hayashi, 林清光

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 147 lb.
• School Ritsumeikan University
• High School Kyoei Shogyo High School
• Born October 31, 1915 in Nagoya, Aichi Japan
• Died May 23, 1990

BR register page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Seiichi Hayashi debuted in Nippon Professional Baseball in 1936 with the Tokyo Kyojin. He was 4 for 28 with four walks, a double, homer, four runs and four RBI in the spring season, the first for the Japanese Professional Baseball League. He hit .267/.333/.333 in the fall, good numbers in a pitcher-friendly league. He was 10th in the JPBL in average, tied Minoru Yamashita for 4th in doubles (6) and tied Jimmy Horio and Kenjiro Matsuki for 5th in steals (10).

After military service from 1937-1939, he returned to the Kyojin in 1940 but was rusty, batting .164/.249/.188, followed by 5-for-37 with four walks in 1941, .218/.283/.218 in 1942 and 4-for-19 with two walks in 1943. He did not play in '44 then the JPBL shut down for the remainder of the war.

In 1946, he produced at a .247/.343/.301 clip for the Kyojin (who also were going by the name Yomiuri Giants by this point). In his final season with Yomiuri, 1947, he was 7 for 41 with four walks and a double.

He batted .204/.288/.244 with two home runs and 67 RBI in 631 at-bats over 300 career games; he also walked 70 times and had only 67 strikeouts. Speed was perhaps his greatest offensive asset, as he swiped 24 career bases, including 10 in his rookie campaign.