Shoji Arakawa

Shoji Arakawa (荒川 昇治)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 150 lb.

• High School Hachiman Shogyo High School

• Born April 15, 1924 in Shiga Prefecture Japan
• Died January 28, 1997

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shoji Arakawa played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Arakawa was signed by the Taiyo Robins in 1947, and soon became their starting second baseman. He hit .229/.333/.285 with a dinger in his rookie year. Arakawa was used as an infield utility man in 1949 and 1950, batting .262/.367/.329 and .243/.303/.298 respectively. He also caught some games, and completed a walk-off stealing-home as a catcher on October 5, 1948.

When Hiroshi Tsuji transferred to the Hiroshima Carp in 1950, the Robins decided to move Arakawa to the catcher spot. The Shiga native then had a career year, as he recorded a .268/.373/.366 batting line with 25 steals and a league-leading 12 triples. He also won the first Best Nine award of the league as a catcher. Arakawa was selected into the 1951 NPB All-Star Game, but went 0-for-4. He ended up hitting a career-best (in terms of average) .276/.365/.367 line with 15 steals. Arakawa set the NPB record for most stolen bases as a catcher with 32 in 1952, and recorded a .241/.350/.303 batting line. In 1953, Arakawa failed in the contest with Haruo Medoki for the starting catcher spot. He played as backup for Medoki in 1953 and 1954, and only had 389 at-bats combined in two years. He transferred to the Mainichi Orions in 1955, and announced his retirement after that season.

Overall, Arakawa had hit .251/.346/.320 with 122 swipes in 9 seasons in NPB.