Toshio Haru

Toshio Haru (波留 敏夫)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 167 lbs.

• High School Otani High School

• Born May 25, 1970 in Kyoto, Kyoto Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Toshio Haru played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 9 years.

Haru was drafted by the Yokohama BayStars in the second round of the 1993 NPB draft, but he spent most of his first season in the NPB Farm Leagues, and only played 53 games with the big club. Haru secured the starting center fielder spot in 1995, hitting .310/.384/.397 with 5 homers. He ranked 5th in batting, .045 behind Alonzo Powell. Haru slumped to .265/.324/.337 in 1996, and he wasn't qualified for the batting title because he needed to share the spot with Takanori Suzuki and Takahiro Saeki.

The Kyoto native bounced back soon in 1997 and he was selected into the 1997 NPB All-Star Game. Haru pinch-run Bobby Rose in Game 2, and went 1-for-3 with a single against Kip Gross and two runs scored. He ended up hitting .295/.355/.398 with a league-leading 13 hit-by-pitches, and ranked 9th in hits (22 behind Luis Lopez). He suffered a tax evasion scandal, and he was banned for 6 weeks in 1998. Haru still hit .273/.338/.346 in 1998, and helped the BayStars won the Central League pennant. He shined in Game 1 of the 1998 Nippon Series, collected 3 hits and a RBI triple off Shinji Mori. He only went 2-for-19 in the rest of the series, and won his first Nippon Series title as the BayStars beat the Seibu Lions in 6 games. He also gained 7 points in the 1998 CL MVP Voting.

Haru extended his solid performance in 1999, hitting .298/.328/.449 with 21 steals, He ranked 3rd in swipes (18 behind Takuro Ishii) and 4th in hits (23 behind Rose). However, the 1999 season was his last productive season. Haru suffered a foot injury in 2000, so he only played 60 games. The BayStars then traded him to the Chunichi Dragons for Hiroshi Yamada and Hitoshi Taneda. Haru hit .240/.277/.280 in 2001, but he slumped to .218/.244/.276 in 2002. The Dragons traded him to the Chiba Lotte Marines for Tadaharu Sakai, but Haru struggled again as his batting line was .198/.321/.234 in 2003. He only played 29 games in 2004, then announced his retirement. He was the fielding coach for the BayStars in 2006, 2008 and 2009, and he was also the batting coach in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2013; he coached their minor league from 2011 to 2012. He then coached the Dragons from 2014 to 2022, and became a coach for the Orix Buffaloes in 2023.

Overall, Haru had hit .278/.335/.377 with 872 hits and 44 homers in 11 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1997 NPB All Star Game