Shinichi Sato

Shinichi Sato (佐藤 真一)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.
• School Tokai University
• High School Tokai University Sapporo High School

• Born August 7, 1965 in Sapporo, Hokkaido Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shinichi Sato was an Olympic Bronze Medal winner who finished his Nippon Pro Baseball career at age 40.

Amateur Career

Sato had a skull fracture when a ball hit him and needed to have surgery. After college, he played in the industrial leagues and for the Japanese national team. He debuted for Japan in the 1989 Intercontinental Cup when they won the Silver Medal and then was with them when they tied for first in the 1989 Asian Championship. In the 1990 Baseball World Cup, he hit .556/.590/.889 with 3 triples and 14 RBI in 9 games to lead Japan's attack. In the field, he had 2 assists and no errors in left. He was second in the Cup in average (behind Cuban legend Orestes Kindelan), third in hits (20, trailing Lourdes Gourriel Sr. and Omar Linares) and 6th in RBI (behind Kindelan, Gourriel, Linares, Victor Mesa and Antonio Pacheco, all Cubans). He joined future major leaguer Rikkert Faneyte and Angel Morales as the All-Tournament outfielders. He was with Japan for a third-place finish in the 1990 Asian Games, before baseball was a medal sport in the Asian Games.

During the 1991 Intercontinental Cup, Sato again was an All-Tournament outfielder; this time, José Estrada and Carlos Manriquez were the other picks. Rotating between right and left field, he played 10 games and hit .448/.575/.966 with 9 walks, 5 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs and 13 runs, 3 runs shy of tourney leader Estrada. He led Japan's offense again, ranking third in the Cup in average (behind Yuichi Yomoda and Jung-Min Se) and tied for 4th in home runs (behind Jose Padilla, Luis Casanova and Se). In the Gold Medal game, he hit 3rd for Japan and had a solid game offensively (2 for 4, BB, SB) while making an error in the field. Japan lost a 5-4 battle to Cuba.

In the 1992 Olympics, Sato remained sharp as Japan's right fielder. He produced at a .323/.425/.710 rate with 7 walks, 3 home runs, 10 runs and 11 RBI in 9 games. He tied Akihiro Togo for the team lead in walks, was second to Koji Tokunaga in homers, RBI and OPS and tied Tokunaga for the most runs. He had two assists and no errors. For the Barcelona Games, he tied Kindelan, Mesa, Pacheco and Ming-Hsiung Liao for third in home runs, one shy of Linares and Tokunaga. In the Bronze Medal game, Shinichi went 0 for 4 with a walk, 2 strikeouts and a time caught stealing in a 8-3 win over Team USA.

Professional Career

The Daiei Hawks took Sato in the 4th round of the 1992 NPB draft. He struggled as a rookie in 1993, hitting .180/.234/.240 in 107 plate appearances as a backup outfielder. He was only 1 for 14 in 1994 and 1 for 4 in 1995.

Having failed to impress the Hawks in three years, he moved to the Yakult Swallows. He batted .194/.273/.306 in 139 plate appearances (61 games) as their #5 outfielder in 1996. In 1997, he was 9 for 40 with 3 walks, a double and two dingers. In the 1997 Japan Series, he was 1 for 2 with his hit being a game four homer. Yakult topped the Seibu Lions in five contests. Sato was 4 for 21 with a double, home run and 3 walks in 1998.

In 1999, the Hokkaido native joined Mitsuru Manaka, Satoshi Takahashi and Mark Smith as the regulars in the Swallows outfield. He had a 25-game hitting streak to set a Yakult record. He hit .341/.380/.537 with 13 home runs in 366 plate appearances and 113 games. Had he qualified, he would have finished second to Bobby Rose in the batting race.

Sato's production fell to .226/.286/.378 in 253 plate appearances and 70 games in 2000. He did not play for Yakult in 2001, then hit .227/.270/.323 in 237 plate appearances and 84 games in 2002. He was the Swallows' fourth outfielder, backing up Mitsuru Manaka in center field and Atsunori Inaba in right (Alex Ramirez rarely got a rest in left).

The veteran outfielder hit .277/.309/.388 in 2003, backing up Inaba in right field. He produced at a .323/.392/.343 clip in 134 plate appearances in 2004, backing up Inaba in right and Ramirez in left. He was 3 for 14 with a walk and a double in 2005, then retired.

In 1,558 plate appearances and 629 games in NPB, he hit .261/.307/.390 with 70 doubles, 36 home runs, 175 runs and 155 RBI.

After retiring as a Swallows player, he coached for the team.

Sources

• Japanbaseballdaily by Gary Garland
• Defunct IBAF site