Shoji Kato

Shoji Kato (加藤 正二)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 165 lbs.

• School Chuo University
• High School Takamatsu High School

• Born March 3, 1914 in Kagawa Prefecture Japan
• Died July 17, 1958

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shoji Kato played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 4 years.

Kato was signed by the Nagoya club in 1939, and he hit .264/.358/.407 with 6 homers. After spending the next three years in the military, Kato returned and had a .231/.266/.330 batting line with 4 homers in 1943. The dingers tied for the Japanese Professional Baseball League lead with Akira Iwamoto and Seizo Furukawa, and it would be 80 years before three players shared the home run title again. He played all 35 games with a .238/.333/.325 batting line in 1944.

After the War, Kato recorded a .294/.391/.434 batting line in 1946, then slumped to .256/.314/.363 in 1947. He jumped to the Kyuei Flyers with Makoto Kozuru after the 1947 season, and he hit .249/.316/.344 with 4 homers. The Kagawa native improved to .301/.367/.490 with 14 homers in 1949, but he then struggled and his batting line was .266/.331/.402 in 1950. Kato was a player-coach starting in 1951, so he only played 60 and 49 games respectively in the next two seasons before he announced his retirement as a playerin 1953. He was the batting coach for the Daiei Stars in 1954, then coached Chuo University from 1955 to 1958.

Overall, Kato had hit .271/.341/.406 with 752 hits and 57 steals in 10 seasons in NPB.

Related Sites

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan