Yoshito Fujino

Yoshito Fujino (藤野 良人)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 162 lb.
• High School Iizuka Shogyo High School

• Born October 25, 1926 in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Japan

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Yoshito Fujino played briefly in the Japanese Baseball League between 1944 and 1952, his career being largely defined by World War II.

He made his debut as a 17-year-old for the Sangyo team in 1944, as the war had taken many players away from Japan's top league, and much like was the case in the United States at the time, teams had to scramble to find bodies to fill out a competitive team, including some like him who were still too young for military service. In spite of his young age, he made Japanese baseball history by hitting his first career homer on the first pitch of a game. That feat would not be repeated until Shun Takayama pulled the trick on March 31, 2016, playing for the Hanshin Tigers. Notwithstanding that homer, the teenager could not really hold his own against much older competition, hitting only .141 in 28 games, with no other long ball, before the season was interrupted by the war.

Professional baseball did not return to Japan until 1946, by which time many of the regular were able to return. Fujino was one of the players pushed out, and he appeared in only one game for Chubu Nihon that year, going 0 for 1 as a pinch-hitter. He was still only 19 and was a more normal 25 when he played his final few games for the Nankai Hawks in 1952. He played three games as a catcher and walked in his only plate appearance in what turned out to be his final season. Overall, he played 17 games in the outfield, 8 at catcher, and 5 at first base during his short career.