Tsuguhiro Hattori

Tsuguhiro Hattori (服部 受弘)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 138 lbs.

• School Nihon University
• High School Okazaki High School

• Born February 23, 1920 in Okazaki, Aichi Japan
• Died December 6, 1991 in Ome, Tokyo Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tsuguhiro Hattori played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 15 years. .

Hattori was signed by the Nagoya team in 1939, and he hit .206/.292/.291 in his rookie year. He slumped to .110/.180/.110 in 1940, and hit .194/.282/.299 with a league-leading 8 homers in 1941. After winning the title, Hattori was drafted into the military and missed the next five seasons. After the War, Hattori was turned into a pitcher from a catcher, and he played well on the mound. He used his elite cutter to collect 14 wins with a 3.75 ERA, but also gave up a league-leading 13 homers. While not pitching, Hattori played as a catcher and hit .272/.367/.389 with 2 homers.

The Aichi native still shined as a pitcher in 1947, having a 16-12 record with an outstanding 1.81 ERA. He ranked 2nd in ERA (.08 behind Giichiro Shiraki), but struggled at the plate as his batting line was .171/.187/.248. Hattori bounced back as a batter in 1947, hitting .270/.325/.352 with two homers and also pitched well as a starter. He collected 16 wins with a 2.59 ERA, and ranked 10th in strikeouts (83 behind Hiroshi Nakao). The ace of Chunichi (Nagoya changed their name) had his career year in 1949, having a 24-10 record with a 3.00 ERA. He ranked 2nd in wins (3 behind Victor Starffin), 5th in ERA (1.06 behind Hideo Fujimoto) and 3rd in complete games (11 behind Starffin]]. He also hit .313/.329/.481 with 6 homers, and had the highest batting average in his career.

Hattori was still a reliable starter in 1950, and he was 21-7 record with a 2.94 ERA. He ranked 7th in wins (18 behind Juzo Sanada), and hit .275/.310/.308 at the plate. He was transferred to third base in 1951, and he hit .272/.334/.352 while his ERA rose to 4.00 in 5 games. The 1952 season was Hattori's last productive season. He had a 2.57 ERA in 139 2/3 innings as a pitcher, and hit .276/.364/.466 as a batter. On August 2, he blasted the first pinch-hit go-ahead grand slam, off Takehiko Bessho, and also pitched 3 shutout innings to notch the win. Hattori slumped to .167/.262/.167 in 1953, and his ERA also rosed to 4.06. He lowered his ERA to 2.51 in 1954, but he only had one appearance in 1955. Hattori was a player-coach from 1955 to 1958, then announced his retirement after the 1958 season. The Dragons retired his Number 10 in the same year. He also managed Chunichi's minor league team in 1977.

Overall, Hattori had hit .239/.304/.329 with 447 hits and 33 homers in 15 seasons in NPB. He was 112-65 with a 2.81 ERA, struck out 540 and pitched 1,576 1/3 innings in 10 seasons in the NPB. He was also the first Chunichi player to collect 100 wins in his career.

Related Sites

• NPB site
• Wiki Japan