Yoshio Abe

Yoshio Abe (阿部 良男)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 167 lb.

• High School Miyagi Suisan High School

• Born May 15, 1946 in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Japan
• Died June 29, 2017

BR register page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Yoshio Abe played in Nippon Professional Baseball from 1969 to 1974.

Abe was a fourth-round pick of the Nishitetsu Lions in 1968 NPB draft. He hit .253/.288/.364 for them in 1969; his 90 games were second-most among Lions outfielders, behind Carl Boles. In 1970, he slumped to .194/.214/.247. He batted .227/.303/.304 in 1971; despite still being a part-timer, he made the Pacific League leaders in hit-by-pitch (9, tied for 3rd behind Masashi Takenouchi and Takenori Ikebe) and caught stealing (9, tied for 7th). He played error-free ball in 85 outfield games that year.

He gained the most playing time in 1972, when he hit .256/.315/.375 with seven home runs, 26 RBI and 92 hits in 360 at-bats. He was plunked 15 times, leading the PL by two over Haruki Ihara and Toshio Kato. He also tied Yoshimasa Takahashi for 7th with 10 sacrifice hits. The team became the Taiheiyo Club Lions in 1973 and he hit .236/.352/.270 in 106 plate appearances over 69 games. He was then traded to the Hanshin Tigers for Eiji Fujii. He was 1 for 11 for Hanshin in 1974. He then signed with the Lotte Orions as a free agent but spent the season in the minors and retired.

Overall, he batted .236/.292/.326 with 16 home runs, 73 RBI and 275 hits in 485 games over six seasons.