Shigeki Wakabayashi

Shigeki Wakabayashi (若林 重喜)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9 1/2", Weight 170 lb.

• School Rissho University
• High School Saiki Kakujo High School

• Born December 24, 1966 in Saiki, Oita Japan

Olympics-Reference page

Biographical Information

Shigeki Wakabayashi played for the Japanese national team for five years, including an Olympic medal, and later coached for them.

Wakabayashi played for Nippon Oil in the industrial leagues after college (and would later be their coach). He won six Best Nine honors with them. In the 1990 Baseball World Cup, he hit .278/.409/.611 and fielded .900 as Japan's starter at third base. He played for Japan when they finished third in the 1990 Asian Games (baseball was not yet a medal sport in the Asian Games. He hit very well in the 1992 Olympics (.394/.447/.697, 7 R, 6 RBI in 9 G) while fielding .938 at the hot corner. He hit 5th in the Bronze Medal Game and went 2 for 3 with a walk, double and run in a 8-3 win over Team USA; among the pitchers he faced that day were Ron Villone and Darren Dreifort. He easily outperformed his counterpart from the US, Phil Nevin (0 for 4). He also did well in the 1994 Baseball World Cup, producing at a .320/.379/.520 clip with 5 runs and 4 RBI in 8 games, fielding .889 at 3B. In the Bronze Medal Game, he played DH and hit 5th, going 2 for 5 with a double in a 8-1 win over Nicaragua. He coached for Japan when they won the 2017 Asian Championship.