Toshio Yanagida

Toshio Yanagida (柳田 利夫)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 158 lb.

• High School Uchigo High School

• Born August 18, 1936 in Fukushima, Fukushima Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Toshio Yanagida played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years.

Yanagida was signed by the Daimai Orions in 1958, and he spent his first two seasons primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues, only having 33 appearances with the big club. When Tadashi Hatta was injured in 1960, Yanagida was named the starting shortstop, and he hit .249/.300/.396 in 101 games. He was 2-for-11 in the 1960 Nippon Series, with a 2-run home run against Takashi Suzuki in Game 3, but the Orions were still swept by the Taiyo Whales. Yanagida then hit .251/.313/.384 in 1961, and his batting line was .268/.324/.454 with 13 homers in 1962. The Orions traded him to the Yomiuri Giants for Ritsuo Horimoto after the 1962 season.

However, Yanagida struggled with the Giants, and his batting average was never above .210 with them. He hit .179/.269/.217 in 1963, and he was 1-for-7 in the 1963 Nippon Series. His only hit was a solo shot against Kazuhisa Inao in Game 7, and he won his first Nippon Series title as the Giants beat the Nishitetsu Lions in 7 games. Yanagida recorded a .188/.235/.327 batting line in 1964, then he hit .188/.300/.268 in 1965. He was 2-for-3 with a double against Joe Stanka in the 1965 Nippon Series Game 3, then he had a 1-for-3 record in Game 4 to help the Giants beat the Nankai Hawks in 5 games. Yanagida finally surpassed the Mendoza line in 1966, and his batting line was .206/.299/.322. He shined again in the 1966 Nippon Series, having a 1-for-3 record in Game 3 with a double against Taisuke Watanabe then blasting a solo shot against Masanori Murakami in Game 4. He was 2-for-9 in the rest of the series, and the Giants beat the Hawks again in 6 games.

Yanagida only played 8 more games for the Giants before he was traded to the Hawks, and he hit .210/.292/.323 in 65 games for them in 1967. He then had his career year in 1968, hitting .275/.329/.410 with a career-high 15 homers. He ranked 8th in the Pacific League in RBI (between Art López and Kiyoshi Yano) and 9th in hits (between Yasuhiro Kunisada and Takenori Ikebe). Yanagida was also selected into the 1968 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 1-for-4 with a single against Kentaro Ogawa in Game 1. However, he slumped to .142/.224/.216 in 1969, and he announced his retirement after batting .248/.311/.330 in 1970.

Overall, Yanagida hit .234/.300/.361 with 630 hits and 68 homers in 12 seasons in the NPB.

Sources

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan
• 1968 NPB All Star Game