Yoshio Anabuki

Yoshio Anabuki (穴吹 義雄)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 178 lb.

• School Chuo University
• High School Takamatsu High School

• Born May 6, 1933 in Kagawa-Cho, Kagawa Japan
• Died July 31, 2018

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yoshio Anabuki played for 13 seasons in Nippon Pro Baseball and later was a manager.

Anabuki won Tokyo Metropolitan University League batting titles twice. He debuted with the Nankai Hawks in 1956. On Opening Day, the rookie hit a sayonara homer off Eiji Shibata. He hit only .233/.283/.347 with four homers for the year. He improved to .274/.323/.462 with 15 homers in 1957, then fell to .257/.304/.419 in 1958. Anabuki batted .287/.339/.471 with 15 homers in 1959, his career season. He was 10th in the Pacific League in average. In the 1959 Japan Series, the outfielder was 2 for 14 with a triple and three walks as Nankai swept the Yomiuri Giants.

Anabuki hit .271/.327/.400 with 29 doubles and a league-leading 8 sacrifice flies in 1960 and .275/.313/.441 with 14 circuit clouts in 1961. In the 1961 Japan Series, Yoshio went 4 for 22 with two home runs but Nankai fell to Yomiuri. In 1962, he put up a .257/.277/.352 line in a part-time role, then .233/.293/.326 as a backup in 1963.

In 1964, Anabuki hit .246/.276/.344. As Nankai's #4 outfielder, he went 1 for 7 in the 1964 Japan Series as they beat the Hanshin Tigers. He was 18 for 67 with four doubles, a homer and six walks in 1965, then hit .262/.279/.431 with 6 homers in 130 at-bats in 1966. During the 1966 Japan Series, he went 3 for 8 with a homer as Nankai fell to Yomiuri in six. Anabuki hit .250/.280/.479 with six homers in 96 at-bats in 1967, then was 6 for 25 with two doubles, two homers and a walk in 1968 to end his playing career.

Overall, Anabuki's batting line in NPB was .264/.309/.416 with 89 career dingers in 1,166 games. He managed in the minors for Nankai from 1973-1982, then became the team's skipper, replacing Don Blasingame. He was 52-69-9 to finish 5th in 1983, 53-65-12 and 5th in 1984 and 44-76-10 and last place in 1985. Tadashi Sugiura replaced him as manager and Anabuki became a commentator for Mainichi Broadcasting.

Source: Japan Baseball Daily