Yukio Fujinami

From BR Bullpen

Yukio Fujinami (藤波 行雄)

  • Bats Left, Throws Left
  • Height 5' 9", Weight 167 lbs.

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Yukio Fujinami played in the Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years.

Fujinami was drafted by the Chunichi Dragons in the first round of the 1973 NPB draft, and he soon became their main 4th outfielder. He hit .289/.372/.351 with a homer as a rookie, helped the Dragons win the Central League pennant and won the CL Rookie of the Year Award. He was 0-for-6 in the 1974 Nippon Series, and the Lotte Orions beat the Dragons in 6 games. He was still a backup outfielder in the next 2 seasons, recording a .241/.302/.287 batting line in 90 at-bats and a .260/.298/.333 vatting line in 150 at-bats respectively.

The Dragons traded him with Masafumi Takeda to the Taiheiyo Club Lions for Mitsuo Motoi before the 1977 season, but Fujinami refused to leave and threatened the team that he would retire, so the trade was cancelled. He took the starting centerfielder spot from Kyohei Taniki and hit .318/.365/.453 this season. He had qualified, he would have been 10th in the Central League in average (between Yoshikazu Takagi and Charlie Manuel). However, he slumped to .231/.301/.291 in 1978 and needed to share a spot with Taniki. Fujimura bounced back in 1979 as his batting line was .299/.352/.393, and he extended his solid performance and hit .291/.318/.340 in 1980. However, he struggled in 1981 and his batting line was .210/.246/.306. Fujimura never had more than 130 at-bats in a season the rest of his career, and he announced his retirement after the 1987 season. He was the first ROY position player winner who didn't reached the qualified plate appearances for winning a batting title, and there's only one other such player - Tetsuya Matsumoto - as of 2023.

Overall, Fujinami had hit .273/.319/.352 with 24 homers and 539 hits in 14 seasons in NPB.

Related Sites[edit]

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