Tadashi Matsumoto

Tadashi Matsumoto (松本 匡史) (Blue Lightning)

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 171 lb.

• School Waseda University
• High School Hotoku Gakuen High School

• Born August 8, 1954 in Amagasaki, Hyogo Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Tadashi Matsumoto stole over 300 bases and made six All-Star teams in Japan.

Matsumoto represented Japan in the 1975 Asian Championship when he was a university student. He was a 5th-round pick of the Yomiuri Giants in the 1976 NPB draft and would spend his whole career with the Giants. He hit .351/.393/.614 in 61 plate appearances over 49 games as a rookie in 1977. On June 13 of that year, he entered as a 9th-inning pinch-runner for Kenji Awaguchi. After Yomiuri batted around, he came up to bat this inning and hit a grand slam off Shigeyuki Takahashi. He pinch-ran twice in the 1977 Japan Series and went 1-for-2 in steal attempts but did not score, take the field or bat; Yomiuri lost to the Hankyu Braves. He fell to .212/.217/.227 in a similar bench role in 1978. Matsumoto dislocated his shoulder in 1979 and had surgery; he sat out all season. He also would move from the infield to the outfield following the surgery.

Returning to action in 1980, the Ozaki native hit .278/.356/.318 with 21 steals in 30 tries over 71 games. In 1981, he played over 100 games, joining Roy White, Gary Thomasson and Awaguchi as regulars in the Yomiuri outfield. He hit .303/.339/.379 and went 33-for-46 in steal attempts. He made his first Central League All-Star team and won a Diamond Glove Award for his defense in the outfield. Had he qualified, he would have tied Yasushi Tao for 10th in the CL in average. He was 2 for 14 with a double, 3 walks and 3 stolen bases in the 1981 Japan Series as Yomiuri beat the Nippon Ham Fighters.

In 1982, Matsumoto batted .282/.346/.345 with 61 steals in 74 tries and 12 RBI. He made his second All-Star team, won his second Diamond Glove and stole the most bases of any CL player since fellow Yomiuri outfielder Isao Shibata 15 years earlier (it was not the highest total in Nippon Pro Baseball in this era as Yutaka Fukumoto had swiped as many as 106 in the Pacific League).

The Waseda alumnus improved his batting line to .294/.360/.375 with 75 runs and a career-high six home runs in 1983. He led the CL with 125 singles. He stole 76 bases while being caught 16 times, breaking Jiro Kanayama's 33-year-old CL record for swipes in a season. He wasn't the only CL player running a lot that year, as Yoshihiko Takahashi stole 70 bases. He was the only native Japanese starting in the Yomiuri outfield at this time as Reggie Smith and Hector Cruz manned the other spots. As of 2011, Matsumoto still held the record. He was an All-Star and Diamond Glove winner for the third time. He also made his only Best Nine as one of the top three flyhawks in the CL, joining Tao and Koji Yamamoto in being picked. He batted .267/.333/.300 in the 1983 Japan Series, stole 2 bases in 3 tries and scored 3 runs in 7 games as the Giants fell to the Seibu Lions.

Matsumoto fell to .259/.342/.343 with 45 steals (in 62 tries) and a CL-best 7 triples in 1984. His run of stolen base titles ended as Yutaka Takagi pilfered 56. He made the All-Star team but garnered no other honors. He hit .302/.368/.384 with a career-high 97 runs, 26 doubles and 54 walks in 1985 while going 32-for-44 in steal attempts. He was picked for his 5th straight All-Star team. He missed the top 10 in the CL in average by .002.

Tadashi hit .256/.325/.341 with 39 swipes (in 48 tries) and a league-leading 8 triples in 1986. His batting line in 1987 was .244/.289/.312 and his baserunning was worse (13 SB, 10 CS). He was 0 for 2 in the 1987 Japan Series, backing up Norihiro Komada, Warren Cromartie and [{Sadaaki Yoshimura]]. The Giants lost to the Lions as in 1983.

Overall, Matsumoto batted .278/.340/.355 with 342 steals (caught 103 times) and 29 home runs in 3,621 plate appearances over 1,016 NPB games. Through 2010, he ranked 19th in NPB history in steals (between Michinori Tsubouchi and Kaname Yashiki).

After his playing career ended, Matsumoto was a baseball commentator, had stints as a Giants coach, did some scouting and was a minor league manager for Yomiuri.

Source: japanbaseballdaily by Gary Garland