Shinji Nakazawa

Shinji Nakazawa (中沢 伸二)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 180 lb.

• High School Kofu Kogyo High School

• Born June 18, 1946 in Kofu, Yamanashi Japan

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Biographical Information

Shinji Nakazawa was a six-time All-Star catcher in 21 seasons in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Biographical Information

Nakazawa spent his entire career with the Hankyu Braves. He appeared in four games in 1965 and one in 1966 without batting either time. He was 1 for 10 in 1967, 8 for 40 with a double, homer and 3 walks in 1968, 3 for 25 with a walk and 12 strikeouts in 1969 and 3 for 14 with 4 walks and two doubles in 1970. He was 0 for 4 in 16 games in 1971, 3 for 23 with a double and four walks in 1972 and 6 for 20 with a homer and three walks in 1973. He was 0 for 1 in both the 1968 Japan Series and 1968 Japan Series, backing up Koji Okamura in two losses to the Yomiuri Giants. He then backed up Masayuki Tanemo after Okamura retired.

After nine years of very little playing time, Nakazawa became a regular in 1974 and hit .228/.305/.328. He made the Pacific League All-Star team for the first time. He hit .247/.337/.351 in 1975 and was an All-Star again. Splitting catching duties with Kenichiro Kawamura in the 1975 Japan Series, Nakazawa was 3 for 10 with a double, two home runs, 3 runs and 4 RBI in three games to lead Hankyu to its first Japan Series title, beating the Hiroshima Carp. He had Hankyu's only homer in their game six win to clinch their first title.

Shinji fell to .204/.291/.258 with one homer in 225 at-bats in 1976. He then matched his regular season power output in game one of the 1976 Japan Series with a dinger. He was 6 for 22 with a double, homer, 4 walks and 5 RBI in the Series, as Hankyu topped Yomiuri after falling five times to them from 1967-1972. #39 batted only .157/.210/.209 in 1977. He was 3 for 17 in the 1977 Japan Series, when Hankyu topped Yomiuri for its final title.

Nakazawa hit .239/.314/.343 in 1978 while making his third All-Star team. He also was named to the Best Nine as the PL's top catcher and won the Diamond Glove Award. In the 1978 Japan Series, the 32-year-old put on a strong effort, at .368/.400/.632, with 6 RBI in seven games but Hankyu lost to the Yakult Swallows. He was an All-Star for the fourth time in 1979, when he eked out a .221/.314/.348 line.

In 1980, Nakazawa batted .215/.299/.331 with 36 runs produced in 118 games. He hit .233/.280/.411 in 1981. At age 35/36 in 1982, he had a career year, with a line of .302/.399/.446 with 11 HR and 47 RBI in 404 plate appearances. He was 6th in the PL in average, behind Hiromitsu Ochiai, Hiromasa Arai, Shigeru Kurihashi, Steve Ontiveros and Yutaka Fukumoto. He made the All-Star team and the Best Nine.

The Kofu native made his last All-Star team in 1983, when he returned to more traditional statistics for himself at .212/.313/.261. Overall, he had gone 1 for 10 with a RBI in All-Star Games. Nakazawa fell under the Mendoza line for his final two years, .189/.262/.243 in 1984 and 5 for 36 with a double in 1985. He got into two games but did not bat in the 1984 Japan Series, backing up Hiromasa Fujita in a loss to Hiroshima.

Overall, Nakazawa had batted .225/.307/.324 with 61 HR in 3,350 plate appearances and 1,359 games in NPB. He produced 495 runs and stole only 11 bases in 36 tries.

After his playing career ended, Nakazawa was a coach for Hankyu and the Nippon Ham Fighters (1995-1998). He then became a minor league manager for the Orix BlueWave.

Source: Japanbaseballdaily.com