Takao Yato

Takao Yato (矢頭 高雄)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 162 lb.

• School Rikkyo University
• High School Tsuru High School

• Born June 25, 1934 in Otsuki, Yamanashi Japan
• Died March 9, 2003 in Tokyo Prefecture Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Takao Yato played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 11 years.

Yato was signed by the Daiei Unions in 1957, and he was named their starting center fielder as a rookie. He hit .248/.307/.381 with 9 homers in his rookie year. The Unions merged with the Mainichi Orions and became the Daimai Orions in 1958, and Yato improved to .285/.336/.414 with 10 steals. He ranked 8th in the Pacific League in batting, between Yoshinori Hirose and Shigeo Hasegawa). He was also selected into the 1958 NPB All-Star Games, and he was 1-for-4 with a single against Masaichi Kaneda. Yato slumped to .240/.276/.422 in 1959, and he hit .227/.259/.303 in 1960. Yato was 0-for-6 in the 1960 Nippon Series, and the Orions were swept by the Taiyo Whales.

The Yamanishi native batted .234/.271/.342 in 1961, then his batting line was .220/.261/.293 in 1962. The Orions moved him to third base to replace Takao Katsuragi in 1963, and he hit .253/.287/.366 in 138 games. He recorded a .266/.301/.327 batting line in 1964, and that was his last season as a starting outfielder. When Takenori Ikebe and Toru Mori shined in 1965, Yato hit .237/.292/.324 in 108 games in 1965 as a backup outfielder. He only got 116 at-bats with a .264/.277/.336 batting line in 1966, and he announced his retirement in 1967. He then coached the Orions from 1970 to 1976 and coached the Nippon Ham Fighters from 1977 to 1984. When Yoshinobu Uemura was fired in 1984, he managed two games in an interim role.

Overall, Yato hit .248/.288/.355 with 852 hits and 61 homers in 11 seasons in the NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1958 NPB All Star Game