Tomohisa Shoji

Tomohisa Shoji (庄司 智久) (Maury)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 154 lbs.

• High School Shingu High School

• Born May 30, 1953 in Higashimuro-gun, Wakayama Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tomohisa Shoji played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 12 years.

Shoji was selected by the Yomiuri Giants in the third round of the 1971 NPB draft, and he primarily spent his first seven seasons in the NPB Farm Leagues, only having 15 at-bats combined with the big club. He led the minor league in steals in 1976, and he won the triple clown there in 1977. Because of his elite speed, his teammates gave him a nickname "Maury" refer to Maury Wills. The Giants then traded him with Susumu Omata and Isao Tamura to the Lotte Orions for Masaaki Koga and Seiichi Ogawa after the 1979 season.

The Wakayama native hit .259/.311/.384 with a career-high 18 steals in 1980, and he was 7th in the Central League in steals (between Mitsuru Fujiwara and Mitsuyasu Hirano). He improved to with a career-high 10 homers .293/.337/.407 in 1981, ranking 3rd in hits (3 behind Fujiwara) and 8th in steals (between Hideo Furuya and Junichi Kashiwabara). He was also selected into the 1981 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 2-for-5 with a solo shot against Mitsuo Sumi in Game 2. However, Shoji suffered from a skin condition in 1982, so he only hit .218/.268/.276. He had a .243/.295/.369 batting line in 1983, then he hit .256/.323/.373 in 1984. Shoji slumped to .181/.242/.287 in 1985, and Masashi Yokota took his spot, so he only played 20 games in 1986. He hit .252/.313/.353 in 119 at-bats in 1987, then he announced his retirement in 1988.

Overall, Shoji hit .250/.304/.357 with 532 hits, 67 steals and 44 homers in 12 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1981 NPB All Star Game