Shikato Yanagita

Shikato Yanagita (柳田 聖人)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 170 lbs.

• High School Nobeoka Kogyo High School

• Born May 28, 1969 in Nobeoka, Miyazaki Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shikato Yanagita played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 years.

Yanagita was drafted by the Nankai Hawks in the third round of the 1987 NPB draft, but he spent most of his first six seasons in the NPB Farm Leagues, and only played 28 games with the big club. He was also sent to the Salinas Spurs in 1990, and hit .270/.359/.333 with 2 homers there. He won a batting title in the Western League in 1993, and led the league in steals 1992. The Hawks then traded him to the Yakult Swallows for Hikaru Takano after the 1993 season. Yanagita still couldn't get many chances with the Swallows. He only played 53 games in 1994 and spent his entire 1995 season in the ni-gun. The Swallows traded him back to the Hawks with Ryo Kawano for Kazuya Tabata and Shinichi Sato after the 1995 season.

The Miyazaki native was still a backup infielder in 1996 as he only hit .216/.267/.243 in 61 games. When veteran Hiromi Matsunaga struggled in 1997, Yanagita replaced him and he hit .240/.305/.298 in 110 games. The Hawks lost another important infielder, Hiroki Kokubo, in 1998, and the utility player caught this opportunity. As the starting third baseman, Yanagita hit .251/.307/.284 in 124 games, and he even attended the 1998 NPB All-Star Game; he was 0-for-2 as a pinch-hitter.

Yanagita was moved back to a utility spot when Kokubo returned, and he hit .265/.304/.318 in 121 games in 1999. In the 1999 Nippon Series, he was 1-for-8, with a single against Shigeki Noguchi, and won his first Nippon Series title as the Hawks beat the Chunichi Dragons in 5 games. He struggled in 2000 as his batting line fell to .129/.202/.129, but he still appeared in 3 of 6 games of the 2000 Nippon Series as a pinch-hitter. The Hawks lost to the Yomiuri Giants this time. Yanagita spent the entire 2001 season in ni-gun, and he announced his retirement. After retiring, he was a coach for the Hawks in 2002, for the Tokushima Indigo Socks in 2005, Lotte Giants in 2006 and the Kagawa Olive Guyners in 2007.

Overall, Yanagita had hit .238/.292/.281 with 293 hits and 3 homers in 9 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1998 NPB All Star Game