Yoshiyuki Sakakibara

Yoshiyuki Sakakibara (榊原 良行)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 160 lb.

• School Chuo University
• High School Hamamatsu Shogyo High School

• Born June 13, 1949 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Japan
• Died November 26, 2023 in Nagoya, Aichi Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yoshiyuki Sakakibara has played in Nippon Pro Baseball and the Japanese national team.

Sakakibara was on the Japanese national team in the 1972 Amateur World Series, 1973 Intercontinental Cup and 1973 Asian Championship. The Hanshin Tigers drafted him in the fourth round of the 1974 NPB draft. Sakakibara was a backup infielder in the first two years of his career, only playing 111 games combined. He became the Tigers' main utility man in 1977, split between shortstop and 2nd base and hit .221/.298/.374 with 7 homers. He improved to .288/.367/.369 in 1978, and tied the Central League record for most runs scored in a game with 5 on September 3. The Shizuoka native extended his stable performance, hit .252/.313/.324 and .255/.333/.312 respectively in the next two years. However, when the Tigers drafted future superstar Akinobu Okada in 1979 NPB draft, Sakakibara lost his spot, and he only played 41 games with a .200/.288/.215 batting line in 1981. The Tigers then traded him to the Nippon Ham Fighters for Toshoku Uda after the 1981 season.

Sakakibara hit .284/.333/.411 in the first year with the Fighters, but he slumped to .229/.328/.297 in 1983. He announced his retirement after going 1-for-9 in 1984, and became a coach. He was the ni-gun fielding coach for the Fighters in 1985, then came back to the Tigers and worked as the same position from 1986 to 1987 and from 1992 to 1996. He was the base running coach for the Chunichi Dragons in 1989, and their fielding coach in 1990. In 1999, Sakakibara joined the Brother Elephants of the CPBL, and worked as their fielding coach until 2005. He was also their hitting coach from 2002 to 2005 and from 2011 to 2012.

Overall, Sakakibara had hit .249/.325/.332 in 10 seasons in NPB.