Gary
Garland /
the
japanese insider
TRIVIA TIME ANSWERS
June
19, 2002 - Seibu Lions shortstop
Kazuo Matsui was the first man ever in Japanese history to start a game in
the top of the first with a leadoff inside the park homer, which he did against
the Daiei Hawks on June 28th, 1998.
Only one other man
in history has done it since, that being Tomochika Tsuboi of the Hanshin
Tigers on July 4, 1998 against the Hiroshima Carp. What's remarkable is how
closely the Tsuboi and Matsui feats occurred.
Five others have
leadoff the BOTTOM of the first inning with inside the park homers, the first
of that set being Hanshin's Hidefumi Miyake on June 25, 1958. The last man
to do it was Kazuhiko Miyaji of the Seibu Lions on September 2, 2000.
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