Sukehiro Moroki

From BR Bullpen

Sukehiro Moroki (衆樹 資宏)

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 8", Weight 154 lb.

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Sukehiro Moroki has played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Moroki was on the Japanese national team in the 1955 Asian Championship as the country won its first title. The Mainichi Orions signed Moroki in 1957, and he was named their starting center fielder as a rookie before the 1957 season.[1] He hit .221/.279/.314 in his rookie year, then recorded a .212/.264/.317 batting line in 1958. When Kenjiro Tamiya joined the team in 1959, Moroki lost the starting spot, and only played 69 games with a .246/.305/.347 batting line. He transferred to the Hankyu Braves after the 1959 season.

Moroki soon became the cleanup hitter for the Braves in 1960. He was selected into the 1960 NPB All-Star Game, and collected a infield hit from Masaichi Kaneda in Game 2.[2] He ended up hitting .288/.341/.373 with 6 homers, and ranked 8th in batting average. The Kanagawa native extended his solid batting, hit .264/.314/.350 and .273/.334/.400 respectively in the next two years. Moroki become the first player to crush a home run on the first pitch of the opening game in 1962.[3] He completed his only 10-homer season with a .254/.299/.356 batting line. Moroki attended the 1964 NPB All-Star Game, but went 0-for-4.[4] He ended up batting .244/.303/.351 with 9 homers in the 1964 season. However, this was the last productive season for Moroki. He suffered from a knee injury, and only hit .154/.233/.231 in 1965, then had just 21 at-bats in 1966. He transferred to the Nankai Hawks in 1967, then announced his retirement after the 1967 season.

Overall, Moroki had hit .250/.304/.350 with 51 homers in 11 seasons in NPB.

Sources[edit]