Takashi Yoshida (01)

Takashi Yoshida (吉田 孝司)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 173 lbs.

• High School Shinko Tachibana High School

• Born June 23, 1946 in Kobe, Hyogo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Takashi Yoshida played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 19 years.

Yoshida was signed by the Yomiuri Giants in 1965, but he spent most of his first four seasons in the NPB Farm Leagues, and only played 17 games combined in the Central League. He also spent 1966 with the Los Angeles Dodgers' Florida Instructional League team. He was named the main backup catcher for legendary Masaaki Mori in 1969, and he hit .233/.325/.340 in 56 games. He slumped to .178/.268/.290 in 1970, so he only got 42 appearances in 1971. Yoshida bounced back as he hit .284/.363/.457 in 1971, and played 85 games with a .267/.349/.366 batting line in 1973. He was 0-for-5 in the 1973 Nippon Series, and won the Nippon Series title as the Giants beat the Nankai Hawks in 5 games.

When Mori retired in 1974, Yoshida took the starting catcher spot and hit .205/.256/.329. Tadashi Yazawa replaced him because of his poor batting in 1975, but Yoshida bounced back soon and had a career year in 1976. He had a .260/.328/.358 batting line with 5 homers, and shined in 1976 NPB All-Star Game 3. He was 0-for-1 in first two games, then collected a clutch go-ahead 2-run triple against Choji Murata and won the MVP in Game 3. In the 1976 Nippon Series, Yoshida played all 7 games, but he only went 2-for-16 and the Giants were beaten by the Hankyu Braves.

The Kobe native extended his solid performance in 1977, and attended the 1977 NPB All-Star Games; he was 0-for-3. However, Yoshida suffered from injury in August so he only played 93 games, with a .229/.286/.313 batting line. In the 1977 Nippon Series, the veteran catcher was 2-for-11 against Hankyu, and the Braves won it all in 5 games again. Yoshida slumped to .152/.179/.228 in 1978, and he came back with a league-leading 10 intentional walks and a .283/.353/.422 batting line in 1979. The 1979 season was Yoshida's last productive season, and he only played 76 games combined after that before he announced his retirement after the 1983 season. After retiring, he was the battery coach for the Giants from 1985 to 1986 and for their minor league team from 1987 to 1995.

Overall, Yoshida had hit .235/.303/.338 with 42 homers and 476 hits in 19 seasons in NPB.

Related Sites

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan