Tomoaki Sato (satoto01)

Tomoaki Sato (佐藤 友昭)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 194 lb.

• School Chuo University
• High School Kyoei High School

• Born October 19, 1968 in Aichi Prefecture Japan

Biographical Information

Tomoaki Sato was an amateur outfielder. He played at times for the Japanese national team. He won Gold with them in the 1993 Asian Championship. In the 1994 Baseball World Cup, he hit .378/.439/.649 with 3 home runs, 8 runs and 11 RBI in 10 games. He tied Toshihisa Nishi for the team lead in homers. In the Bronze Medal game, he went 1 for 4 with a run and RBI as Japan's cleanup man as the team won Bronze. He joined Ermidelio Urrutia and Kyung-hwan Cho on the All-Tournament outfield. He won Gold in the 1994 Asian Games and 1995 Asian Championship.

During the 1995 Intercontinental Cup, he was 5 for 18 with a double, triple, home run and 6 RBI in 7 games as a DH/LF. In the Gold Medal game, he hit 6th and was 2 for 3 with a double and walk in a loss to Cuba. In the 1996 Olympics, he batted .364/.447/.636 with 8 runs and 7 RBI in 9 games at DH. In the Gold Medal game, he was 0 for 3 with a walk against Omar Luis and Pedro Luis Lazo in a 13-9 loss. It was the closest Japan has come to a Gold in the Olympics before their 2021 title. He took Silver in the 1997 Asian Championship.

Sources

• Defunct IBAF site
• Japanese Wikipedia entry