Yukihiko Machida

Yukihiko Machida (町田 行彦)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 160 lb.

• High School Nagano High School

• Born March 8, 1934 in Nagano, Nagano Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yukihiko Machida played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Machida was signed by the Kokutetsu Swallows in 1952. He spent most of his rookie year in the NPB Farm Leagues, only playing 42 games with the big club as a third baseman. He was turned into an outfielder in 1953, and hit .225/.284/.337 with 5 homers. Machida became an everyday outfielder in 1954, and batted .250/.302/.425 with 20 homers.

Machida was selected into the 1955 NPB All-Star Game, but went 0-for-3 in that event. He ended up hitting .280/.344/.534 in 1955 with a career-high 31 homers, and won the Best Nine award as an outfielder. He led the league in homers and strikeouts, becoming the youngest home run leader ever in the league history. Machida was injured and only played 57 games in 1956. The Nagano native came back with a .227/.309/.449 batting line and 20 homers the next year). He was 4th in homers (1 behind Takao Sato) and 7th in RBI (26 behind Toshio Miyamoto). He also attended 1957 NPB All-Star Game 1, and Atsushi Aramaki struck him out and ended the game in the 9th inning.

Machida slumped and recorded a .206/.299/.327 batting line in 1958. He came back and hit .258/.328/.457 with 10 homers in 1959. On July 26, he hit for a cycle against the Chunichi Dragons. The slugger still batted .238/.336/.364 and .240/.314/.340 respectively in the next two years, and participated in the 1961 NPB All-Star Game. However, he suffered a waist injury in the 1960, which influenced his performance. His batting line fell to .194/.256/.282 in 1962, and the Swallows moved him from the starting lineup. Machida hit .230/.273/.356 in 1963, then the Swallows released him after batting .219/.324/.320 in 1964. The Yomiuri Giants picked him up, and he announced his retirement after he recorded a 2-for-21 in the 1964 season. Machida then became a coach, serving as the batting coach for the Giants' minor team from 1967 to 1975 and from 1983 to 1989. He was also the defense coach for the Giants from 1976 to 1979, and their minor team manager from 1990 to 1991. In 1980, Machida transferred to the Swallows and worked as hitting coach until 1982. Machida then joined the Uni-President Lions and became their hitting coach from 1995 to 1997.

Overall, Machida had hit .233/.307/.388 in 14 seasons in NPB.