Tadashi Hatta

Tadashi Hatta (八田 正)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 156 lb.

• High School Naruto High School

• Born October 5, 1936 in Naruto, Tokushima Japan
• Died August 19, 2018 in Osaka, Osaka Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Middle infielder Tadashi Hatta played in Nippon Professional Baseball for 17 seasons.

Hatta was signed by the Daiei Stars in 1955, and he hit .211/.237/.244 in his rookie year. He recorded a .267/.308/.371 batting line in 1956, but his batting line fell to .215/.254/.304 in 1957. Daiei merged with the Mainichi Orions and became the Daimai Orions in 1958, and Hatta only played 46 games with a .264/.288/.355 batting line. Hatta got a starting spot in the outfield in 1959, and he stole 20 bases with a .278/.328/.368 batting line. He was 5th in steals in the Pacific League, between Kenjiro Tamiya and Carlton Hanta.

The Tokushima native hit .259/.321/.369 in 1960, and he was 1-for-9 in the 1960 Nippon Series; the Taiyo Whales swept the Orions. Hatta then had a .247/.278/.348 batting line in 1961, and he improved to .273/.322/.336 in 1962. After hitting .295/.347/.441 in 1963, Hatta slumped to .221/.292/.299 in 1964 but he bounced back soon. He hit .275/.322/.396 in 1965 with 20 steals, ranking 3rd in steals (18 behind Yoshinori Hirose) and 10th in batting (between Motoaki Horigome and Hachiro Yamamoto). Hatta recorded a .251/.286/.345 batting line in 1966, and he hit .283/.332/.372 in 1967.

Hatta played 82 games with a .280/.325/.360 batting line in 1968, and he announced that he would become a free agent after that season. The Hankyu Braves signed him, and he hit .282/.356/.359 in 1969. He was 1-for-4 in the 1969 Nippon Series, and the Yomiuri Giants beat the Braves in 6 games. Hatta's batting line was .280/.356/.409 in 1970, but he struggled in 1971 as he was 4-for-27. He announced his retirement after the 1971 season, and he coached the Braves in 1980.

Overall, Hatta hit .263/.310/.358 with 1,148 hits and 56 homers in 17 years in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan
• NPB.com Bio
• Article on death (in Japanese)