Takayuki Kono

Takayuki Kono (河埜 敬幸)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 165 lbs.

• High School Yawatahama Kogyo High School

• Born April 18, 1955 in Yawatahama, Ehime Japan

BR register page, Other BR register page

Biographical Information

Takayuki Kono was a 4-time All-Star in Nippon Pro Baseball. His brother was NPB infielder Kazumasa Kono.

Kono was selected by the Nankai Hawks in the third round of the 1973 NPB draft, and he primarily spent his first three seasons in the NPB Farm Leagues, only having 71 at-bats combined with the big club. Kono was an infield utility man in 1977, and he hit .267/.291/.321 in 110 games. He then recorded a .246/.298/.339 batting line in 1978, and he led the Pacific League in sacrifice bunts with 23. Kono was selected into the 1979 NPB All-Star Game, but he didn't get any at-bats; his brother Kazumasa Kono also attended this game. Takayuki Kono ended up hitting .300/.331/.450 with a career-high 25 steals in 1979, ranking 4th in the Pacific League in steals (between Koji Minoda and Masaru Tomita) and 5th in hits (14 behind Hideji Kato).

The Ehime native slumped to .231/.296/.356 in 1980, then he bounced back and hit .272/.326/.329 in 1981. Kono was selected into the 1981 NPB All-Star Game, but he was 0-for-4. He played all 130 games as a second baseman in 1982, and his batting line was .277/.339/.358. Kono ranked 3rd in hits (tied with Yutaka Fukumoto) and 7th in doubles (24, tied with Tommy Cruz). He attended the All-Star Game again, and he was 2-for-4 this time. Kono had a 15-game on-base streak in 1983, and he was one game away from breaking the NPB record. He also set the NPB record as he got a leadoff hit in 9 consecutive games. He ended up hitting .258/.314/.371 with 16 stolen bases in 1983, and he was 10th in steals (between Hiromasa Arai and Yuji Kubodera).

When Jeff Doyle joined the team, Kono was turned into an outfielder in 1984, and he hit .296/.341/.439 with 17 steals and a career-high 14 dingers. He was 10th in batting (between Koji Yamamoto and Arai), 8th in steals (between Tsutomu Ito and Chris Nyman) and 3rd in hits (8 behind Greg Wells). Kono was selected into the 1984 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 0-for-1. He slumped to .237/.297/.337 in 1985 in Japanese Baseball, then he had a .263/.313/.366 batting line in 1986. After hitting .312/.409/.395 in 1987, he was turned into a first baseman as Hiroshi Yugamidani shined in 1988. When Willie Upshaw joined the team in 1989, Kono's spot was taken and he announced his retirement from NPB.

He then coached the Hawks from 1990 to 1993, in 1997 and from 2004 to 2006. From 1990-1992, he also was player-coach of the Salinas Spurs; he primarily coached, getting 50 plate appearances over three seasons (hitting .163/.213/.233).

Overall, Kono hit .268/.325/.368 with 1,384 hits, 141 steals and 85 homers in 15 seasons in NPB. He and his brother Kazumasa were the only pair of Japanese brothers to both have 1,000 career hits in NPB,

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1984 NPB All Star Game