Takumi Shiigi

Takumi Shiigi (椎木 匠)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 187 lb.
• High School Nanyo Kogyo High School

• Born July 25, 1971 in Tokuyama, Yamaguchi Japan

BR register page

Biographical information

Takumi Shiigi spent over a decade as a backup catcher in Nippon Pro Baseball. He only had 267 AB in his career.

Shiigi was a star pitcher in junior high and an infielder his first three years of high school before he became a catcher. He signed with the Chunichi Dragons outside the draft in 1989 and spent the next half-decade in ni-gun. In 1995, Shiigi played 27 games for Chunichi and hit .217/.288/.383 for his best season. His 13 hits, 2 home runs and 6 RBI were all high-water marks in his career. He went 1 for 16 for the Dragons over the next two years.

He was traded to the Chiba Lotte Marines and in 1998, the 26/27-year-old batted .164/.250/.213 in 61 AB spread out over 53 games with a career-high six runs and seven walks. He went 0 for 4 the next year for the Marines, followed by a 3-for-23 season. In 2001, Takumi produced at a .175/.250/.225 rate in 19 games; in 40 games in 2002, the veteran backup batted .194/.231/.258 and struck out 23 times in 62 AB.

Dealt to the Seibu Lions, Shiigi went 0 for 1 in two games for the Lions over the next four years. In spring training of 2003, though, he was the catcher during a homeplate collision which knocked out Hiroki Kokubo for the year.

Takumi retired after the 2006 season with a .172/.235/.251 batting line in 161 games.

Source: Japanbaseballdaily.com by Gary Garland