GIANTS BAY STARS CARP DRAGONS TIGERS SWALLOWS
DEFUNCT TEAMS BUFFALOES FIGHTERS HAWKS LIONS MARINES

JAPAN'S FRANCHISE ALL-STAR TEAMS

By Jim Albright

This article will select an entire team of 25 players for each franchise.  Ideally, each team will have two players for each fielding position plus nine pitchers. Players are only eligible to play those positions they are estimated to have played 1500 or more defensive innings (400 IP) at for the franchise. The selections for players are based upon the rtg2 points system (described here), but counting only those points gained while with the franchise in question.  It is important to note that we are counting all the points got in his whole career with the franchise, thus favoring players with long tenures with a franchise.  I also selected a manager for each franchise, using the manager’s success points system (described here) , again limiting the count to those points attained while with the franchise in question.

Franchises are defined to include those teams which were merged into a franchise.  Thus, for example, players for the Robins are considered part of the Bay Stars franchise. For this reason, the Buffaloes and the Blue Wave have now been joined, as they will be in 2005. I'm not planning on doing such a team for the new Pacific League entry, the Eagles, until they've been around ten years or so. I'll retain the all-star teams for the Buffaloes and Blue Wave through the 2004 in a separate article.

Any player receiving three hundred fifty (350) or more points for a franchise and any manager receiving twenty (20) or more success points for a franchise will be listed.  If such a manager or player would not win a spot on the team, he receives an “Honorable Mention”. 

I'll do the Central League first, then a brief bit on the defunct teams, and finally do the Pacific League. Within the leagues, we will use nicknames and go in alphabetical order.

Motonobu Tanishige     c   254 points
He won 1 Best Nine Award and 1 Gold Glove and might have done better if Atsuya Furuta wasm't among the competition.

Isamu Ito     c   190 points
Ito is fairly traditional among Japanese catchers in that he's not much of a threat with a bat in his hand. For that reason, he's one of many catchers we'll see below 200 points. About the only other position where we'll see large numbers of such players is at pitcher, and that's because the usage patterns for Japanese pitchers combined with their practice philosophies for pitchers burned out so many of them. Also, modern pitchers have to deal with comparatively low IP numbers in which to accumulate points.

Makoto Matsubara     1b-3b   412 points
The second best player in franchise history. He's the only guy we'll keep whose primary spot is first, since Isamu Fujii is better than anyone else who played first for the franchise enough to qualify to play the position for these teams, even though Fujii played more in the outfield.

Bobby Rose     2b   424 points
The best player in franchise history, according to the rating system. I agree. I can see how he could go to Japan--his defense at second wasn't sterling, and many managers wouldn't use him there for that reason. I don't know if he'd have been suitable defensively at third, and it's questionable whether he would have hit well enough to be anything more than a reserve outfielder in the majors. In Japan, his bat was a powerful weapon, so even if you weren't overwhelmed with his defensive prowess, you had to love having a player of that caliber at second for you.

Yutaka Takagi     2b-ss   393 points
He led the league in steals once, and hit .300 or better 8 times, finishing with a .297 career average. However, because of the large number of contemporary middle infielders with similar qualifications, he'd have to get a leg up based on his defense, and since he didn't get any Gold Gloves, I don't think that's likely.

Takeshi Kuwata     3b-ss   375 points
The "Greatness Points" system didn't give him enough credit, basically because his competition for awards was Nagashima. Greatness Points couldn't deal with such a scenario. The new ratings consider much more data and thus gives a truer picture of the player.

Tomio Tashiro     3b   320 points
He never won any awards, but had 6 seasons with 25 or more HR. His best two seasons were 1977, when he hit .302 with 35 homers, and 1980 when he hit .297 with 36 homers.

Takuro Ishii     ss   387 points
He's still active and with the franchise. He began his career as an ineffective pitcher (his career ERA is 5.69 in 49 IP) before being moved to short. He's hit over .300 4 times and took a fair number of walks to help him to his current career OBP of .365. He could really help his JHOF chances if he has anything left, but his poor 2003 (.231 avg) at least makes one wonder if he's not just about finished, given that he was born in 1970.

Daisuke Yamashita     ss   309 points
Won 1 Best Nine Award and 8 Gold Gloves. He was a decent hitter for a middle infielder as well, with a .262 career average and 5 seasons of 10 or more homers.

Kazuhiko Kondo     of   376 points
He didn't have much power for an outfielder, with only 2 seasons of 10 or more homers and a single season high of 13 HR. He did draw walks, which is valuable, but the real key to his value is his 6 seasons over .300 and two more between .290 and .299.

Takanori Suzuki     of   329 points
He's still active and with the franchise. He's 31, so he may have some top-notch seasons left. He's won 2 batting titles, had 5 seasons over .300 to give him a current career mark of .311. He adds moderate power to the mix, with 7 seasons of 13-21 homers. To date, he's won 2 Best Nine Awards and no other awards. He's a heck of a player, but if he's got any chance at the Japanese HOF, he's either got to last a lot longer or kick it up a notch now.

Keiji Nagasaki     of   278 points
He hit .351 in 1982 and you could expect 10-13 HR a season from him, though his two best totals are 21 and 19. He won 1 Best Nine Award for the only award he ever received. Not a great player by any means, but a nice one to have on most real team rosters.

Carlos Ponce     of   261 points
Ponce played well for 4 full seasons and then poorly for his the 15 games of his fifth and last season. His rating is this low simply because of his short career. In his four full seasons, he hit 24-35 homers with 3 seasons of .292 or better for a career .296 average. He won 3 Best Nine Awards as well.

Akira Ejiri     of   252 points
Another outfielder for this franchise with good batting averages and low double digit HR power. He didn't walk much, (a high of 38 for a season), and didn't steal much either (only 1 season with more than 13 steals, and only 82 in his career). He never won any awards, either. He played 15 seasons for the franchise, which certainly counts.

Yoshikazu Takagi     of   237 points
He had a .295 average for the franchise, but in only 3247 AB. It looks as though he was used as a regular in 4 seasons, and as a platoon man against right handers thereafter. Since his full seasons in the lineup include a 1977 season with a .323 average and 20 HR amd a .326 average and 23 HR the next year, plus two other decent years at the plate, I'd suspect injuries and/or his defensive play held him back. Despite the fine seasons mentioned above, he never won any awards, which leads me to think his defense wasn't exactly a strength.

Isamu Fujii     of-1b   236 points
Had a big season for the franchise in 1950 when he hit .327 with 34 HR and 122 RBI, but the Whales were a sorry expansion squad and offensive numbers were up that year. He never won any awards. His career rates higher, because he played for other teams back to 1936. If you're wondering, I don't think that he would have had a JHOF career if WW II hadn't interfered.

Juzo Sanada     p   364 points
He played for the Robins, and is considered part of this franchise because the Robins merged into the Whales. Sanada pitched 2 no-hitters and had his final five years with the Tigers. He won 2 Best Nine Awards and a Sawamura while with the Robins.

Kazuhiro Sasaki     p   321 points
Now back with the franchise after a stint in Seattle of the majors. If he's healthy, he should solidify his case for the JHOF. Not only did he pitch well in the majors, which surely should count in his favor, he is the best pure reliever to date in Japan. He is a good bet to reclaim the career NPB saves record from Takatsu, since Shingo's now in the majors. He won a MVP and a Best Nine Award for his monster 1998 season, in which he saved 45 with a tiny ERA of 0.64 while leading the team to a Japan Series win. He had four other seasons in NPB with at least 17 saves and an ERA under 2.00, and led the Central League in saves four times.

Noburu Akiyama     p   314 points
His career ERA is 2.60 in almost 3000 career IP, so obviously he's a quality pitcher. He won 20 or more 6 times despite often working for poor teams. He had 7 seasons where he qualified for the ERA title with an ERA of 2.74 or less.

Masaji Hiramatsu     p   297 points
He was durable and frequently posted double digit win totals. He led the league with 25 wins in 1970, when his ERA was 1.95. The next year, his ERA was 2.23 in 279 IP, and in 1979 he won an ERA title with a mark of 2.39. He won Best Nine Awards for his fine 1970 and 1971 seasons.

Akio Saito     p   295 points
Saito only got to relieve between 1981 and 1987, and those are clearly his best years. He led the league 3 times in saves and added an ERA title in 1982. I can understand why he began as a starter, but I don't get why they tried to switch him back to that role in 1988 despite mediocre results, especially when he was 33 when they tried to switch him back. I guess it's just that Japanese managers have had a hard time breaking away from the old workhorse starter image.

Yasuo Hayashi     p   244 points
This right hander was a WWII experiment in how hard you can use a pitcher. He had 541.1 IP (the all-time NPB record for that category) in 1942 and another 294 in 1943. He never pitched again. I don't know if he even survived WWII, much less if he survived after some injury. His career ERA is 0.97, so it's clear he was quite good in those 2 years. The rating system allows his points for these two seasons to be tripled (the seasons certainly are part of his best 5 consecutive year stretch, and are among his three best seasons, so both bonuses apply). He also could hit a bit, so he also played everyday positions on occasion, which boosts his rating even higher.

Kazuhiko Endo     p   239 points
This right hander led the league in wins twice and three times in strikeouts. He was a tall, thin guy, going 6 foot tall and 158 pounds. Won 1 Best Nine Award.

Makoto Inagawa     p   181 points
This 5 foot 7 inch tall, 143 pound righty won 26 games in 1963 and 21 more in 1964. He only lasted for 7 seasons total and 1343.2 career IP, over half of it in the twin 20 win seasons.

Shigeyuki Takahashi     p   176 points
He had a big season in 1968, with 21 wins and a 2.40 ERA in 277.2 IP. He had nice size, especially for Japan in the 60's and 70's at 6 foot tall, 191 pounds.

Osamu Mihara     mgr   7.80 points
He leads this franchise in managers success points with a rather low total. The vast majority of those points come from his 1960 Japan Series title, as he only added two other winning seasons for this franchise. Mihara is much better known as manager of the 1950's Lion dynasty. The fact so little is necessary to be the most successful manager in franchise history speaks volumes about the franchise.

GIANTS BAY STARS CARP DRAGONS TIGERS SWALLOWS

DEFUNCT TEAMS

BUFFALOES FIGHTERS HAWKS LIONS MARINES

Mitsuo Tatsukawa     c   180 points
Catchers are usually glove men first in Japan, and Tatsukawa is no exception. His career average was .246, but he still won 3 Best Nines and 3 Gold Gloves. It's likely that this score underestimates his defensive value. It would be a bad total for someone playing any other position, but for a catcher in Japan, it's actually a decent total.

Shuji Nishiyama     c   141 points
His two best seasons were 1994 and 1996, when he hit .284 and .311 respectively to win his two Best Nines and two Gold Gloves. Though he's still active, he's was born in July 1967, and hasn't hit over .200 since 2001, you've got to think he's very near the end of his career.

Sachio Kinugasa     3b-1b   548 points
He finishes second among the all-time Carp players, behind his real-life teammate Koji Yamamoto. Besides his Gold Gloves, Kinugasa won a MVP and 3 Best Nines.

Takehiko Kobayakawa     1b   275 points
He never received any awards nor did he ever lead the league in any of the Triple Crown categories. He only had 20 or more HR in one season, which is less than spectacular for a first baseman. Jim Allen did observe he was good with the glove. The record indicates he wasn't very durable, either.

Kozo Shoda     2b   311 points
He had four consecutve seasons in which he qualified for the batting title with an average over .300, and won the batting title in two of those years. He won 2 Best Nines and 5 Gold Gloves, so he was quite valuable. If he had lasted a few more years and/or had some power, he would be a legitimate JHOF candidate.

Akira Eto     3b-1b   366 points
He won 7 Best Nines, but only 1 Gold Glove. He hit 30 or more HR 3 times for the Carp, twice more for the Giants to date. He hit at least 27 HR every season from 1993 through 2001. Also finished with an average over .300 twice.

Yoshihiko Takahashi     ss   427 points
He hit 20 or more HR four times, and his over .300 in 5 seasons. Those are excellent marks for a shortstop.

Kenjiro Nomura     ss-3b   405 points
He won 3 Best Nines and a Gold Glove at short. He hit over .300 3 times, and generally added 10-16 homers a year. However, his career high in homers was 32 in 1995 to go with a .315 average.

Toshiyuki Mimura     ss-2b-3b   305 points
Mimura won 3 Best Nines but no Gold Gloves. His career average is .255, but he did hit over .300 once. He had some power as can by seen by his normal range of doubles and homers when he played over half the games in a season. In those seasons, he'd get 11-22 doubles and 10-15 homers. His career high in homers was 27 in 1976.

Koji Yamamoto     of   630 points
The best player the Carp have ever had was called "Mr. Red Helmet" in honor of the Carp's headgear. He made 14 all-star teams, won 4 HR titles, two of them over an aging Sadaharu Oh. He added one batting title and 3 RBI crowns to his resume. He hit over .300 in 7 of his to help him finish with a .290 career mark. He hit 40 or more homers in 5 consecutive seasons and added four more seasons of 30-36 HR. He also set a Japanese record with 302 consecutive chances without an error.

Tomoaki Kanemoto     of   382 points
Still active, but no longer with the franchise. He won 3 Best Nines, hit 30 or more HR in 3 seasons, and over .300 four times. His career marks as of the end of 2003 are .287 average, .389 on-base percentage, and .513 slugging percentage. That says that while his average is quite good, he takes a good number of walks and adds significant power as well.

Kazuyoshi Yamamoto     of   367 points
Never hit more than 21 HR in a season, but was usually in the teens. He hit over .300 twice.

Koichi Ogata     of   320 points
He's still with the franchise after missing most of the 2000 and 2001 seasons and playing poorly when he was in the lineup in those seasons. He's recovered for two .300 seasons with 25 and 29 homers. He hit 36 HR in 1999 to go with a .305 average. He seems to have had trouble staying in the lineup, and given the generally high quality of his play, I suspect injuries are the reason. He hits and throws right handed. He won 5 Gold Gloves, so he gave his teams quality defensive play. Starting in 1995, he stole 47 bases, 50 bases, and 49 bases in 3 consecutive seasons, and otherwise was often in the teens in steals. He was born in the end of 1968, and thus I'd say his chances of reaching the JHOF are dim.

Tomonori Maeda     of   320 points
Still active and with the franchise. He had decent power, hitting 19-27 homers in 7 seasons, and also hit .300 or better in 8 seasons. He's won 4 Best Nines and 4 Gold Gloves. He was born in June 1971, so it's conceivable that with a good finishing kick he could get into JHOF territory. It's notable that the whole outfield of the late 1990's for this franchise made its all-franchise team.

Ryuzo Yamasaki     of-3b   309 points
He had 4 seasons in which he qualified for the batting title with an average over .300. He also had good plate discipline, often drawing 60-70 walks in a year. He didn't have great power, with a career high of 12. He won 3 Best Nines, 2 in the outfield and the other at third and added 4 Gold Gloves in the outfield.

Jitsuo Mizutani     of-1b   297 points
He won only one award, an outfield Best Nine. He won an RBI title and a batting title. He had good power, hitting 20 or more HR 6 times, with a career high of 36. He ranks so low because he really didn't find his stride as a batter until he was 28. From 1976 to 1982, he had most of those 20+ HR seasons and was over .300 5 times.

Ryohei Hasegawa     p   433 points
He was only 5 feet 6 inches tall and 123 pounds, so this right hander relied on a screwball, sinker, slider and a slow curve and pitching smarts (especially in changing speeds) for his success. He never won any awards, even in his 30-17, 1.70 ERA in 387.1 IP year of 1955. He won 20 or more 4 times despite pitching for generally sorry squads. In six of the seasons in which he qualified for the ERA title, he had an ERA of 2.20 or less. The 30 win season in 1955 gave him the most wins that year in the CL.

Yutaka Ono     p   309 points
A southpaw who started out as a reliever, then became a starter for seven years, went back to relieving for 4 years, and then went back to starting. He won 2 ERA titles and led the league in saves twice. Lasted well into his 40's, and was a power pitcher until the end of his career. He won a Sawamura Award in 1989.

Shinji Sasaoka     p   255 points
He won a MVP and a Best Nine in 1999 together with the ERA title. He was a reliever as a rookie, then started for 3 years had two years in a combined role, and then two excellent years in relief. He's still active and with the franchise, but given his poor 2003 season and that he was born in 1967, you've got to wonder if he has anything left.

Yashiro Sotokoba     p   223 points
He won 20 games to lead the league in 1975 and also led in strikeouts and won a Best Nine as a result. He had one year where he led the league in ERA as well. He pitched 3 no hitters in his career.

Manabu Kitabeppu     p   217 points
Mostly, his ERA's were over 3, which definitely has the effect of keeping his ranking down despite the fact he was durable enough to win 213 games. He won an MVP for his 18-4 1986 season which featured a league leading ERA of 2.43. That was one of his two Best Nine seasons, and the other was 1982, when he went 20-8 with a 2.42 ERA. Those two Best Nine seasons were the only ones in which his ERA was under 2.50.

Kiyoshi Oishi     p   204 points
He had almost half of his career innings pitched in 1960-1962, 1018.2 out of 2157.1. He won 26, 27 and 20 wins those 3 years for mediocre to poor clubs, posting ERAs between 2.44 and 2.69. He pitched 480 innings in 1963-1964 and it looks like he battled arm woes thereafter.

Kazuhisa Kawaguchi     p   184 points
This six foot tall lefty led the league in strikeouts 3 times, but his ranking is this low because of his 3.38 career ERA.

Yoshio Otogaki     p   174 points
He won 20 games once, but only had 3 seasons in which he qualified for the ERA title with an ERA under 3.00. Those three years were quite good, though: 2.19, 2.51 and 2.54. He had a few low IP years with those kinds of ERAs. However, that makes his career mostly either low inning or high ERA years, neither of which lead to high scores under this rating system.

Yutaka Enatsu     p   152 points
He only spent 3 seasons with the franchise, but led in saves in two of them. He averaged over a strikeout an inning while with the Carp, all of them pitched in relief.

Takeshi Koba     mgr   28.38 points
He is the clear winner as the most successful manager of the franchise. He was the skipper during the best days of the franchise, winning 4 pennants and 3 Japan Series titles between 1975 and 1984, including back to back Series wins in 1979-1980.

GIANTS BAY STARS CARP DRAGONS TIGERS SWALLOWS

DEFUNCT TEAMS BUFFALOES FIGHTERS HAWKS LIONS MARINES

Tatsuhiko Kimata     c   451 points
From 1968 through 1972. he slugged a total of 132 homers with averages each season between .268 and .289. He had at least 50 walks in each of those seasons as well. From 1974 to 1979, he hit more for average, hitting .294 in all but one season of .279. His walk totals were lower in the period 1974-1979 than in the earlier one, and his homer totals were quite respectable, but down to 14-18 per year.

Takeshi Nakamura     c   220 points
He rates rather well among Japanese catchers, but that isn't the highest praise a ballplayer could receive. He's still active, but for another franchise. He didn't capture any awards, and his career highs for a season are 20 HR and .271. His career average is .244.

Michio Nishizawa     1b-p   409 points
This franchise is hard to choose a starting lineup for because it has so many multiposition players, many of whom aren't defensive stalwarts. I've basically gone with primary positions in the listing above, but if a manager had this squad for real, he might do a serious amount of altering the listings. Nishizawa's pitching stats look better than they really are because the deadball nature of the game when he pitched. Still, he did win 20 games once and also pitched a no hitter. He hit over .300 in five seasons, good enough to snag one batting title. He also claimed an RBI crown and three Best Nines. He had seasons of 37 and 46 homers, but his next two best seasons are 20 and 22. He had 52 AB against touring major leaguers, and averaged a measly .192 in those opportunities.

Yasuaki Taihoh     1b-of   294 points
A 6 foot 1 inch tall, 209 pound lefty who played through the 2002 season. He won 1 Best Nine at first. He had an excellent 1994 campaign with a .310 average, 38 HR, and 107 RBI. The last two categories led the league, the only times he did so in the Triple Crown categories. He banged 38 HR in 1996 as well, and hit 20-26 homers in 4 other seasons. He knew how to take a walk as well, which always helps. He platooned until 1994, and his last good year playing full-time was in 1996.

Kazuyoshi Tatsunami     2b-ss-3b   449 points
He often had double digit HR totals, which is a nice contribution to get from a middle infielder. He hit over .300 five times, and since he had good plate discipline, he's had an on-base percentage over .360 in 11 seasons in his career to date. His slugging percentage has been over .400 in 11 seasons as well. The whole package he represents is excellent. He doesn't have the fielding reputation of Morimichi Takagi, but he was quite good defensively and he outperformed Takagi at the plate.

Morimichi Takagi     2b   441 points
He was 31 and a veteran of 12 season when Gold Gloves began being awarded, and yet he managed to snare three before he retired. I'd guess that the rating system doesn't give him enough credit for his defense based upon that fact and his defensive reputation. He was awarded 7 Best Nines, 5 of them before Gold Gloves were given. He led the league in steals 3 times and hit for a .290 or better average 7 times. He had a high of 24 HR in a season, but had six more years with 15-20 homers.

Noburu Inoue     2b   270 points
Other than Uno and Tatsunami, no Dragon shortstop outperformed Inoue, so he makes the squad. He won 5 Best Nines, but once the team got Morimichi Takagi, he was traded to the Hawks.

Hiromitsu Ochiai     1b-3b   402 points
He won three Triple Crowns in his career, the only NPB player to win so many. None of them came while he was with the Dragons, however. He lead the league in homers and RBI 5 times each, twice in each category for the Dragons. He led the league in walks nine times, including six of his seven seasons as a Dragon. He led the league in average five times, all for the Orions. The Orions didn't trade him because they thought he was in decline but rather because they had hired a manager to crack the whip, and moving Ochiai was done to send the message things would be different. He won 2 MVPs both for the Orions. He added 10 Best Nines, 6 for the Orions (2 at second, 1 at first, and 3 at third) and four for the Dragons (3 at first and 1 at third). Alonzo Powell says Ochiai was very knowledgeable about the pitchers, and that when he left the Dragons as a free agent, the team really missed his knowledge and experience.

Leo Gomez     3b-1b   302 points
Gomez played six years in Japan, beginning at age 30, all of them for the Dragons. He hit 153 homers in those six years, with a high of 36. He hit over .300 twice, with a high of .315. He also took a good number of walks, so his on-base percentage was at least 80 points higher than his average. His career average was .293. All these fine qualities helped him capture 2 Best Nines.

Masaru Uno     ss-3b   394 points
Uno hit 25 or more homers nine times and had a single season high average of .304, though his career mark was .262.

Shinichi Eto     of-1b   453 points
He won 6 Best Nines and two batting titles, and was a runner up to Oh for the HR title 4 times. He hit 20 or more homers 10 times and averaged over .300 five times. His best season was 1965 when he hit .336 with 81 walks and 29 homers.

Kenichi Yazawa     1b-of   439 points
He was the Rookie of the Year in 1970. Yazawa won 2 batting titles behind sensational averages of .355 and .369. He hit over .300 in 6 seasons, and slugged 21-34 homers six times. His best stretch as a hitter came in 1980-1984. He walked 256 times in those 5 years and hit 131 HR. His best year is in this period, the .369 average batting title championship, which is supported by 27 doubles and another 27 homers with 50 walks. In 4 of those 5 years, he was over .300, and even his weakest year in that time is a fine one: .280 average, 21 homers, 47 walks and a .461 slugging percentage.

Yasunori Oshima     of-1b-3b   384 points
He got his average over .300 twice in a full season. He never won any awards, but did hit 20 or more homers seven times.

Mitsuo Naka     of   374 points
He hit over .300 in 3 seasons in which he batted enough to qualify for a batting title, finishing in the top 3 in each of those seasons. He had speed, leading the league in triples 5 times, three of them with double digit totals. He won a stolen base crown as well and pilfered 20 or more bases 8 times and 10-19 bases another 8 times. His career high in HR was 18, the only time he had more than 15. More often than not, he was in the single digits in that category.

Kosuke Fukudome     of   293 points
He turned 27 in April 2004 and had 293 rtg2 points by the end of 2003. He began as a middle infielder, but prospered when he was moved full-time to the outfield. He has always known how to draw walks, so every one of his seasons so far boasts at least a .350 OBP. He won a batting title in 2002, his first of 2 seasons over .300. In 2003, he boosted his career best in HR from 19 to 34. I'd think that the majors have noticed him by now. He's won Gold Gloves and Best Nines in each of the last 2 seasons. He also has an independent streak for a Japanese player, choosing to play in the industrial leagues rather than for the Buffaloes after they selected him #1 in 1995.

Satoshi Sugiyama     of   284 points
He had one season over .300, but was usually well below that as his career .249 average would attest. Really, he was only worth much in 1949-1954, and even 1950 was subpar for such an offense oriented season (.241, 21 HR). He hit over 20 HR in four of those years, though, and won 2 Best Nines then as well. Basically, the rating system likes that high peak of performance, and that's what puts him here.

Shigeru Sugishita     p   515 points
The best Dragon ever, according to the rating system. He won 3 Sawamura Awards, a Best Nine and a MVP. He had two 32 win seasons and 6 seasons total with at least 23 wins. He led the league in wins and strikeouts twice each, and once each in ERA and winning percentage. His ERA was under 2 every season from 1954 through 1958, and he pitched one no hitter.

Tsuguhiro Hattori     p   339 points
This 5 foot 7 inch tall, 139 pound right hander won over 20 games twice. He began his career as a catcher and played a fair amount in the field even after becoming a pitcher in 1946. His career batting average was .239, not bad for someone playing a lot in a deadball era.

Genji Kaku     p   284 points
Though his best seasons were in relief, he started nearly half the games he appeared in. He's another example of how Japanese managers have loved workhorse starters and undervalued relief aces.

Tatsuo Komatsu     p   252 points
He led the league in strikeouts and ERA once each, both in 1985. He pitched his whole career for this franchise, finishing with a 122-102 record and a 3.44 ERA in 1940.2 innings.

Takamasa Suzuki     p   242 points
He began his career as a reliever, but then he was switched to a starting role. If you look at his ERAs, it seems clear the change didn't help. He won an ERA title as a reliever and led the league in saves three times.

Hiroomi Oyane     p   226 points
In his first 4 years with over 100 IP, his ERA was only over 2.00 once, at 2.29. He won 20 and 24 games in a season, and pitched a no hitter.

Senichi Hoshino     p   224 points
He led the league in saves in 1974 with 10, the first season that statistic was kept in NPB. He did a lot of relief work, and seeems to have been effective at it. Generally, the more games he started, the higher his ERAs were. He later became the most successful manager of this franchise and managed the 2003 Tigers to the pennant.

Hiroshi Gondo     p   221 points
He only lasted 5 seasons, but the first two were 35 and 30 win efforts, respectively. As a rookie, he led the league with a 1.70 ERA, and in his sophomore year, his ERA was 2.23. However, those marks came at the price of his career, since he was used 429.1 inninings as a rookie and another 362.1 the following year. He only pitched a total of 1136 innings in his career, so that and the fact his ERAs ballooned to 3.83, 4.19 and finally 10.80 (in 18 innings) pretty clearly tells us he had arm troubles. He won a Best Nine for his rookie year.

Toshitake Nakayama     p   210 points
After his first three seasons, he had pitched 701.2 innings, had a career ERA of 1.85, and was only 22. Unfortunately, he had only 903.1 innings of pitching left in his arm. It seems that the combination of 582.1 innings to win 20 games in each of the 1957 and 1958 seasons plus the Japanese training method of having pitchers throw hard even on off days was too much for his arm to take.

Senichi Hoshino     mgr   18.13 points
He won pennants for this franchise in 1988 and 1999 among the eight seasons he led them to records over .500.

GIANTS BAY STARS CARP DRAGONS TIGERS SWALLOWS

DEFUNCT TEAMS BUFFALOES FIGHTERS HAWKS LIONS MARINES

Masaaki Mori     c   202 points
His average was never over .278 in a season in which he had more than 65 AB, and he finished with a career .236 mark. He still won 8 consecutive Best Nines, one in a season in which he hit a measly .198! He didn't have much power, either, since his career season high in that category is 12, and he only had 2 seasons of 10 or more. He wasn't big on taking walks, either, so he made a rather small offensive contribution even in his best years. Those awards clearly indicate he had a top-notch defensive reputation under these circumstances.

Kazuhiro Yamakura     c   201 points
He had some decent walk totals and added a bit of power (in double figures in HR in 5 seasons), but his averages were even worse than Mori's.

Sadaharu Oh     1b   1037 points
He led the league 5 times in average, 14 times in runs scored, 15 times in HR, 18 times in walks, and 13 times in RBI. He was a dead pull hitter, and opposing teams used a Ted Williams style shift on him which left most of the third base/left field side of the diamond open. Over his 22 season career, he managed a .301 career mark with an average of 98.6 walks a year for a .445 on base percentage. He also averaged 39.5 homers a season, which led to a .634 slugging average and season averages of 89.4 runs scored and 98.6 RBI. Those would be nice career highs in NPB, but those are just run of the mill marks for Oh.

Tetsuharu Kawakami     1b   581 points
He hit over .300 in 13 seasons, winning 5 batting titles to go with 3 RBI titles and 2 HR crowns. Before his 1950 talk with Ted Williams,he hit 25, 24, and 29 HR. but had only hit over .313 once. After that talk, he never again hit more than 15 HR and usually was in single digits in that category. However, over the next six years, his lowest average was .320. This change came after he turned 30, which indicates to me he was a) intelligent, and b) he put in the large amount of hard work necessary to make such a change. Three of his batting titles came after that influential talk with Williams.

Shigeru Chiba     2b   472 points
He won 7 Best Nines consecutively. Wally Yonamine says he was a good defender. He finished in the top ten in average nine times despite hitting everything to right or center, was usually in double figures in steals, and led the league in walks 4 times. He even had a little power, managing double figures in HR 4 times.

Toshio Shinozuka     2b   365 points
Warren Cromartie says of him in Slugging It Out in Japan "he was one hell of an infielder, with a good arm, terrific range, and fast hands." Cromartie also claims Shinozuka was quite a ladies man as well. Shinozuka was in the top ten in batting eight straight years.

Shigeo Nagashima     3b   766 points
He started out with a splash, winning the HR and RBI titles as a rookie along with the second best average in the league at .305 and 37 steals. Obviously, he won the Rookie of the Year award. He hit over .300 in 11 seasons, hit 25 or more HR 12 times, two of them good enough to lead the league. He had good speed as well, leading the league in triples twice and with double figure steal totals in 8 of his first 9 seasons. He also led the league in walks twice.

Tatsunori Hara     3b-of   476 points
He won an MVP, 5 Best Nines (3 at third and 2 in the outfield) and 2 Gold Gloves for third base. The only time he won a title in one of the Triple Crown categories was his 1983 RBI title. However, he hit over .300 four times, and hit 25 or more homers 10 times.

Toshio Shiraishi     ss   304 points
He played the last third of his career for the Carp. He usually reached double figures in steals in a full year. He led the league in walks once and had 60 or more walks 8 times, though several of those seasons were with the Carp.

Tatsuro Hirooka     ss   275 points
His managing career is his real claim to fame, deservedly so. He had an excellent year as a rookie player, hitting .314 with 15 HR. He had 7 seasons of double digit HR, but only once after that rookie season did his average exceed .257, and his final career mark was .240.

Hideki Matsui     of   538 points
He's now in the major leagues. In Japan, he won 3 MVPs, 8 Best Nines, and 2 Gold Gloves. He hit .290 or better every season in NPB except his rookie year of 1993 and 1995. He had over 100 walks 5 times, and OBPs over .400 seven times. He hit 34 or more HR 7 times in Japan, including 2 seasons of 42 and 1 of 50. He had 100 or more RBI 5 times.

Isao Shibata     of   409 points
His record against touring major league teams is interesting--he was 48 for 185 (.260) with 42 walks for a .397 on base percentage. Add to that his excellent speed and centerfield defense, and you've got yourself quite a player. He won 4 Best Nines and 5 Gold Gloves in the first 6 years they were awarded--by which time he was 28 and had already played 11 seasons.

Wally Yonamine     of   374 points
His career high in HR was 13, and he had decent walk totals, but his offensive value relied very heavily on his batting average. His rookie year was short because he joined the team in mid-season. For the next 6 years, he hit over .300, 4 of those .338 or higher. The next two seasons he slipped under .300, but both times he finished third in the batting title race. In the eight year stretch detailed above, his lowest finish in the batting title race was fifth.

Warren Cromartie     of   338 points
His NPB career began at age 30, and he still was able to win a batting title and hit 28 or more HR in the four seasons before breaking his thumb during the 1988 season. He hit .280 or better when he played full-time, four times over .300 and once more at .293.

Shigeru Takada     of-3b   292 points
He had good speed, leading the league once each in triples and steals. He was in double figures in steals in 9 seasons. He won 4 Best Nines, and six Gold Gloves, 4 in the outfield and 2 at third. Robert Whiting reports he possessed a powerful arm.

Sadaaki Yoshimura     of   287 points
Generally regarded as a man who had far more considerable baseball talents than he ever made good use of. He only qualified for the batting title 3 times, but each time he did, he hit at least .312 and was in the top 5 in the league. He finished with a career .297 average. He hit 69 HR in those 3 seasons he played enough to qualify for the batting titles, seasons which came consecutively.

Victor Starffin     p   570 points
He won 2 MVPs and a Best Nine despite playing most of his career in a time when only MVPs were awarded. He was in the top 4 in ERA in both halves of the 1937 and 1938 seasons plus 1939 to 1942. He twice had 38 or more wins. If you combine both halves of 1937 and 1938, he had 28 and 33 wins respectively. He had six years (including 1937 and 1938) with 26 or more wins.

Akira Bessho     p   527 points
He won 2 Sawamuras, 6 Best Nines, and 2 MVPs. He led the league in wins three times, and once each in win percentage, ERA, and strikeouts. He was in the top six in ERA for 10 straight years. Wally Yonamine described him as having a good fastball and curve, that he threw for strikes, and challenged the hitters.

Hideo Fujimoto     p   480 points
The leader in NPB for career winning percentage and ERA. In 1943, he pitched 19 shutouts en route to a 34 win season with a record low ERA of 0.73 for someone who pitched enough to qualify for the ERA title. He led the league 3 times in ERA, and from 1943 to 1950, he was in the top 3 in ERA six of the seven seasons played (the 1945 season was suspended). He won 20 or more 4 times, led the league in wins once, winning percentage 3 times, and strikeouts twice. He also pitched 2 no hitters in his career.

Teruzo Nakao     p   372 points
He won 20 or more games 3 times. He led the league in strikeouts twice and once each in wins and ERA. He also pitched two no hitters in his career. As he aged, both his prodigious walk and prodigious strikeout totals declined.

Takumi Otomo     p   354 points
From 1951 to 1955, this submarine style hurler was always in the top six in ERA, winning that title twice. He led the league in wins and winning percentage twice each. He won a MVP and a Best Nine as well, and pitched a no hitter.

Masaki Saito     p   297 points
He has a JHOF-caliber resume despite the fact the rtg2 score is well below what I generally call JHOF territory. He won a MVP, five Best Nines and four Gold Gloves. He led the league in ERA 3 times and was in the top 6 eight times. He won 20 games twice and led the league in wins 5 times. He led in winning percentage 3 times and in strikeouts once. His career winning percentage is .652. That is the resume of a dominant pitcher of his time, and if he can't get into the JHOF, very few if any pitchers of his time can do so. This case and a few other recent pitchers led to an article examining what standards we should use to look at more modern pitchers, which can be found here.

Tsuneo Horiuchi     p   296 points
He led the league in ERA once and was in the top 4 in that category 4 times. His 26 win 1972 season gave him his one league leadership in wins, and he led in winning percentage 3 times. He won a MVP, a Sawamura, two Best Nines, and seven Gold Gloves. He added a no hitter to his resume as well.

Motoshi Fujita     p   288 points
He only pitched enough in four seasons to qualify for the ERA title, and in those four seasons, he was second twice, third once, and sixth the other time. He won 29 and 27 games in a season, the 27 win season good for the league leadership in wins. He twice led the league in winning percentage. Only pitched 1701 innings, so he got his plaque in the JHOF because of his success as a manager. He won 2 MVPs and a Best Nine. Over half of his career innings (924.2 out of 1701) came in his first three seasons.

Kunio Jonouchi     p   256 points
He never won any awards, but won 21 games in each of two seasons and had second and fourth place finishes in the ERA race. Between 1962 and 1967, he qualified for the ERA title each season with an ERA of 2.69 or less, won at least 17 games each year, and pitched a minimum of 227 innings a year. In 1968, he pitched a no hitter. While he may not quite be JHOF caliber, he certainly was a quality pitcher.

Managers
The amazing amount of talent this franchise has had at its disposal has led to an equally impressive amount of success. Five managers have achieved 20 or more success points for this franchise alone, while no other franchise has more than two such managers.

Tetsuharu Kawakami    mgr   59.66 points
He is clearly the most successful Giant manager. He led the V-9 Giants to all their titles and added two more Japan Series titles. He never lost a Japan Series, and never had a season of .500 or less.

Shigeru Mizuhara     mgr-honorable mention   46.43 points
He was the leader of the Giants in the 1950's and won eight pennants and 4 Japan Series titles. Wally Yonamine says he was very disciplined and stingy with praise. He was also one of the first Japanese managers to take advantage of righty/lefty matchups.

Shigeo Nagashima     mgr-honorable mention   30.39 points
He won 5 pennants and 2 Japan Series titles. See below comment for a comparison of Nagashima's and Fujimoto's careers.

Sadayoshi Fujimoto    mgr-honorable mention   29.42 points
The leader of the early Giants, he won 4 consecutive full season pennants and added the 1937 spring title and the 1938 fall title. His tenure with the franchise ended with him going into wartime service, so it's likely he would have been ahead of Nagashima but for WWII. Fujimoto had no playoffs in his time, so none of his six champion teams had a chance to add to their regular season accomplishments. On the other hand, there were some awfully weak teams around then, which helped Fujimoto attain high winning percentages and thus higher success point scores. While it's a close call, I think I'd subjectively place Fujimoto ahead of Nagashima in terms of success with the Giants.

Motoshi Fujita     mgr-honorable mention   23.19 points
He won 4 pennants and 2 Japan Series titles. Since all but three managers who won at least two pennants are in the JHOF, he clearly deserves the plaque he received.

GIANTS BAY STARS CARP DRAGONS TIGERS SWALLOWS

DEFUNCT TEAMS BUFFALOES FIGHTERS HAWKS LIONS MARINES

Atsuya Furuta     c   447 points
Currently the third best player in franchise history, but has a real chance at taking the #2 spot from Wakamatsu. Even though he was born in 1965, he's still going strong. You've got to wonder how long he can keep it up, especially if he keeps catching. To date, he's won 2 MVPs, 8 Best Nines and 9 Gold Gloves. He's also won a batting title and finished in the top 3 in three other seasons. Most often is in the teens in homers, but has hit 20 or more 3 times and has a career high of 30. He has hit .300 or better 7 times.

Akihiko Oya     c   195 points
He won 2 Best Nines and 5 Gold Gloves at catcher. He was not overly impressive at the plate, as evidenced by his career .245 average. As catchers have gone in NPB, though, he's been rather good.

Roberto Petagine     1b   362 points
In his four seasons with the franchise, he captured a MVP, four Best Nines, and 3 Gold Gloves. In his first four seasons, he never fell below 4th in the batting race. His low in homers is 34, and he's walked at least 77 times each season. His low OBP is a superb .432. and his low slugging percentage is similarly impressive, at .601. Lots of players dream of having marks like that once in their careers. He is now with the Giants.

Dave Roberts     1b-of   316 points
He won 2 Best Nines, both in the outfield. In his first three seasons in Japan, he hit 105 homers and was in the top 5 in average each season as well.

Katsumi Hirosawa     1b-of   315 points
He won 4 Best Nines, 3 in the outfield and one at first. He only hit over .300 once, but hit 20 or more HR 8 times. He was durable as well, playing every game from 1987 through 1995.

Katsuo Osugi     1b   276 points
He was more impressive when he was with the Flyers, primarily because his HR numbers were better. As a Swallow, he hit 20 or more HR 7 times, and hit .300 or better 5 times, finishing as high as third in the batting race.

John Sipin     2b   298 points
He hit .295 or better 7 times, finishing in the top six in the batting race 4 times. He also hit 22 or more HR 7 times, and slugged over .500 5 times. That's a formidable bat, especially for a middle infielder.

Shiro Takegami     2b   212 points
He had only six seasons as a regular. He hit 21 homers for his career high and had another season of 15, but those are his only two seasons in double figures. His rookie average of .299 was his career high on his way to a .266 career mark.

Sadayuki Tokutake     3b   247 points
His best season was 1963, when he hit an even .300 with 14 HR. He never got his average over .270 in any other season, and his career high in homers was 15. He was durable, playing in 879 straight games in his first 6 seasons.

Akinori Iwamura     3b   218 points
He actually is 1 point behind Fujio Sumi, but since Iwamura was born February 1979 and is still with the franchise, I went with him since it's almost certain Iwamura will pass him. His first season as a full time player was 2000. Iwamura had an excellent 2002 season, hitting .320 with 23 HR for a .390 OBP and .531 slugging percentage. Those numbers are all his career highs, as were his 58 walks and his fourth place finish in the batting race. Unfortunately, he only was able to play in 60 games in 2003 due to a wrist injury. He has won two Gold Gloves at third and a Best Nine there as well.

Takahiro Ikeyama     ss   416 points
He retired after the 2002 season. He hit 18 or more homers 10 times, reaching a high of 34. He had a career high of .303, but no other seasons over .279, finishing with a career average of .262. That's still fairly good for a middle infielder having a rather long career.

Shinya Miyamoto     ss   190 points
Born Novermber 1970, he is still playing for the Swallows. He has almost no home run power, with only 20 in his career in over 3500 AB. He doesn't walk a lot either, but he has a career .275 average. He once hit .300, and had double digit steals in 5 seasons, though his career high in that category is 16. His real claim to fame is his glove, as he is a 6 time Gold Glove shortstop. I chose him over Toyoda, who had 194 points for the Swallows because a) he's active and almost certain to pass Toyoda, b) when Toyoda was a Swallow, he was in the final seven years of his career and essentially was a part time first baseman shortstop for the last five years, and c) the fact Miyamoto is perceived to be an excellent defender makes it likely his score undervalues his contribution to the team.

Tsutomu Wakamatsu     of   471 points
He won a MVP, 2 Gold Gloves, and 9 Best Nines to go with 2 batting titles. He hit 20 HR on two occasions, but was in the teens another 8 times. He was over .300 12 times when batting enough to qualify for the batting title, and was among the top 3 in average 7 times.

Toru Sugiura     of-1b   360 points
He hit over .300 in 3 seasons in which he qualified for a batting title, and had a career .284 average. His career high in homers was 34 in 1985.

Takao Sato     of   268 points
Carlos Bauer's generally quite valuable book incorrectly lists him as a Lion throughout his career when in fact he played for this franchise. He hit 20 or more HR 3 times, but never had a season with an average over .280. His career average is .238, which means his power was actually rather impressive to get his slugging percentage to .401.

Yukihito Machida     of   234 points
In 1955, he hit .280 with 31 homers as a 21 year old, and then in 1956, he only played 57 games. From that point forward, he had only one season over .240, at .258, and that came in too few at bats to qualify for the batting title. He had hit 20 homers in 1954, and slugged 21 in 1957, but otherwise his high after 1955 was 10. That record makes me very suspicious of a serious injury in late 1955 or in 1956, possibly a beaning. It's unlikely that it was a leg injury, because he had 5 seasons of double digit steals after 1956, including his career high of 28. He won a Best Nine in 1955.

Masaichi Kaneda     p   653 points
He's far and away the best player the Swallows have ever had. He won three Best Nines and three Sawamuras spread over 4 different seasons. He won 30 or more twice, and 20 or more in 14 consecutive seasons, frequently for awful clubs. He led in strikeouts 10 times and has the most career strikeouts by a pitcher, 4490. He led in ERA 3 times and was in the top 10 in that category 8 times. He was a true workhorse, pitching 300 or more innings in 14 consecutive years on his way to the most innings pitched in NPB at 5526.2 innings. He also pitched two no hitters in his career. He had control problems early in his career, surrendering at least 4 walks per 9 innings pitched in each of his first 4 seasons. After that, his control was better, but not spectacular by any means, since he walked nearly 3 men per nine innings pitched for his career.

Hiromu Matsuoka     p   286 points
He won 21 games for his career high, but was in the teens in wins another 7 seasons. He won an ERA title and was in the top six in that category a total of 5 times. He was durable, as seen by the facts he pitched 18 years and 3240 innings. Won the Sawamura Award in 1978.

Shingo Takatsu     p   253 points
Now with the Chicago White Sox, and the leader in saves in NPB at the end of 2003 with 260. He will likely surrender that title back to Kazuhiro Sasaki since Sasaki has returned to Japan. Takatsu has been a reliever throughout his career, and saved 19 or more in 9 NPB seasons to date. In six seasons, his ERA was 2.61 or lower, though he never pitched enough innings to be eligible for the ERA crown.

Takeshi Yasuda     p   209 points
Led the league in ERA in each of his first two seasons with marks of 2.08 and 2.02, in that order. He remained effective through his seventh season, winning between 14 and 17 games in each of his fourth through seventh seasons. He only pitched for 3 years after that, rather ineffectively. His career total of innings pitched is a relatively low 1508.1.

Takao Obana     p   151 points
From this pitcher on, the Swallows have relatively slim pickings. The choices are between hurlers who were not very effective or those who didn't pitch much. Obana is more in the former category, with a lifetime 3.82 ERA and only 3 seasons with an ERA under 3.45.

Kazuhisa Ishii     p   139 points
Ishii is now in the majors with the Dodgers. He had over a strikeout an inning in seven of his last 9 NPB seasons, and is over that mark in his NPB career. He never showed great control while pitching in NPB, with 4.5 or more walks per 9 IP in every one of his 10 NPB seasons. Never received any awards, but did win an ERA title in 2000, and did pitch a no-hitter in NPB in 1997.

Kenichi Kajima     p   138 points
He only had 2 seasons with an ERA under 3.21, and one of those was in a mere 29.1 innings. His career ERA was 4.01, so its safe to say he wasn't especially effective.

Yoshio Kitagawa     p   137 points
He only pitched 1258.1 career innings, 385.2 of which were for the Giants. In his first and third seasons, he had some quality performances. As a rookie, he won 18 witha 2.51 ERA, which was sixth best in the league. In his third year, he won 15 and led the league in ERA at 1.90.

Keichi Asano     p   133 points
He pitched 10 seasons for this franchise, posting second and sixth place finishes in ERA in that time. He also pitched another 8 seasons for the Giants, but only recorded about 20% of his 1715.2 career IP for them.

Katsuya Nomura     mgr   20.07 points
The clear choice as the most successful manager in Swallows history is Nomura. He led them to 4 pennants, winning the Japan Series with all but one of those teams.

GIANTS BAY STARS CARP DRAGONS TIGERS SWALLOWS

DEFUNCT TEAMS BUFFALOES FIGHTERS HAWKS LIONS MARINES

Koichi Tabuchi     c   477 points
He played 10 years for the Tigers, then finished his career as a DH for the Lions. Overall, he hit 40 or more HR 3 times, once leading the league. He hit 25 or more HR 9 times, and added 3 seasons of 85 or more walks. He won a slugging percentage title and once finished third in average with a .303 mark. He slugged over .500 nine times. He had advantages and disadvantages in the power department. A clear advantage was his size, 6' 3" and 210 pounds-- which helped him overcome the disadvantage of playing in Japan's most spacious stadium, Koshien, which rivals major league dimensions.

Takeshi Doigaki     c   257 points
He played a total of 15 seasons, the first seven for the Tigers. He won 3 of his Best Nines and two of his top 3 finishes in average for the franchise. He hit .282 for his career and had some speed, as evidenced by 3 seasons of 14-16 steals and 4 seasons of 7 or more triples.

Randy Bass     1b   341 points
Played only 22 games into his sixth season before the brouhaha over his son's brain tumor started. He led the league in slugging 4 times, had a career average of .337 and a career slugging mark of .660. The last mark was made possible by his 220 career homers. His two Triple Crowns provide all the times he led the league in those three categories.

Goro Toi     1b   315 points
He had 8 seasons of double digit home run totals, but never more than 14. He only had four seasons in which he played enough to qualify for a batting title, but finished in the top five in three of those years. He played in 20 seasons and had a career .272 average.

Akinobu Okada     2b-3b   379 points
He twice had seasons of .300 or more, finishing second in the batting race in 1985. He had between 14 and 26 homers each season between 1980 to 1991, except for the 35 he hit in 1985.

Yutaka Wada     2b-ss   318 points
He retired after the 2001 season. He was in the top five in average 3 times, hitting .296 or better while qualifying for the batting title in 7 seasons. He only hit more than 5 homers in one season, when he reached 8. He won 2 Best Nines and 3 Gold Gloves at second.

Fumio Fujimura     3b-1b   551 points
He barely edges Wakabayashi for the title of the best Tiger ever. He won an MVP and 6 Best Nines, all at third. He also pitched effectively, compiling a 34-11 record. He was in the top five in average 7 times, winning the title with his career best of .362 in 1950. He hit 20 or more HR in 7 consecutive seasons after the war, leading that category twice. He led in RBI 3 times and once in slugging percentage as well. A truly superb player.

Masayuki Kakefu     3b   508 points
He led the league in HR three times, hitting 32 or more in 6 seasons and 23-27 in 3 more. He also led the league in RBI once and slugging percentage twice. He had good patience at the plate, leading the league in walks 3 times. He hit .296 or better in 8 seasons, finishing in the top 5 five times.

Hideji Miyake     3b   310 points
He is clearly better than any choice for the sixth Tiger outfielder, so he makes the team. He had mid-level power, with 11-21 in 5 seasons. He never got his average over .273 for a season, but had five consecutive years where his averages are bunched between .267 and .273. He had good speed, with 7 consecutive years of 18 or more steals. He won one Best Nine.

Taira Fujita     ss-1b   471 points
His career high in homers is 28, and other than that season, he had 10 seasons of 11-19 HR. He won a batting title and hit .290 or better in 8 seasons in which he qualified for the batting title.

Yoshio Yoshida     ss-2b   407 points
The only reason I'm not sure Fujita should beat Yoshida out at shortstop is defense. Former teammate Gene Bacque said Yoshida was "as good a double play guy as you'd want." Yoshida never got into double figures in homers, but was in the top 4 in average four times. He had 20 or more steals in 9 seasons, with a high of 51. He led the league in steals twice.

Akinobu Mayumi     of-ss   385 points
He played four seasons for the Lions without getting more than 61 AB. In 1978, the Lions made him their full-time shortstop, only to trade him after the season to the Tigers. The Tigers gave him four more years as a full-time shortstop, then spent 2 years trying him at second before moving him to the outfield. He hit 23-34 homers in six seasons, and 13-17 in 7 more. He won a batting title and hit .300 or more in 3 seasons in which he qualified for the batting title. He had good speed, with 5 seasons of 20 or more steals.

Masayasu Kaneda     of   371 points
His career best in homers was 10, but he was in double figures in triples 6 times, leading that category 4 times. He had 19 or more steals 5 times, and 10-13 in 5 more seasons. He won a batting title and finished in the top three in average 4 times. He was over .300 each of the times he finished in the top 3 in average and added one other season over .300. He led the league in walks once, but had at least one walk per two games played in nine seasons.

Kenjiro Tamiya     of   317 points
This rating is limited to his years with the Tigers, so it doesn't include his five years with the Orions. He had good speed, leading the league in triples twice and having 20 or more steals in five seasons (four of the 20+ steal seasons were for the Tigers). He never hit more than 12 homers in a year. He must have crowded the plate some, since he led the league in HBP 5 times for the Tigers and twice more for the Orions. He won a batting title and two slugging percentage crowns, and was in the top five in batting 4 times for the Tigers and twice more for the Orions. He finished with a career .297 average.

Masaru Kageura     of   262 points
He was in the top 4 in average in both halves of the 1937 season and had 95 walks in only 93 games that year. He led the league in slugging in the 1937 fall campaign, and led in RBI in both the 1937 fall and 1938 spring seasons. He was 27-9 as a pitcher, leading the league in win percentage in the 1936 fall "season" and finishing second in the 1937 spring campaign. He pitched only 274.1 innings, though.

Noriyoshi Sano     of   225 points
He hit 10-15 homers in nine consecutive seasons, and .296 or better in 3 seasons in which he qualified for the batting title. He did not capture any awards.

Tadashi Wakabayashi     p   547 points
He led the league in ERA twice and was in the top five in that category a total of 4 times. From 1939 through 1944, his ERA was never above 1.81! He won 20 or more 6 times, and led the league in wins and winning percentage in 1944.

Minoru Murayama     p   419 points
He won a MVP, 3 Sawamuras, and 3 Best Nines. The Sawamuras and Best Nines overlapped twice, which means that he was arguably the best pitcher in the league 4 times. He led the league in ERA 3 times and was second three more times. He led the league in strikeouts and wins twice each, and once in winning percentage. He won 22-25 games in 5 seasons.

Masaaki Koyama     p   360 points
He won a Sawamura as a Tiger in 1962. He had 20 or more wins in four seasons for the Tigers, and led the league once each in ERA, strikeouts and winning percentage for them. As a Tiger, he was in the top 4 in ERA 3 times. Former teammate Gene Bacque says he had great control. Then he was traded to the Orions and added many of the same distinctions to his resume while with that club.

Takao Misonoo     p   341 points
He was in the top four in ERA in the 1937 fall, 1938 spring and fall, and 1939 seasons. His 21 wins from both halves of 1938 are his career high. He led the league in winning percentage in the 1937 fall, 1938 spring, 1939 and 1947 campaigns. He had a career winning percentage of .645 (127-70). He actually played more games in the outfield than he pitched despite his less than stellar .245 career average.

Tadayoshi Kajioka     p   308 points
He won 20 or more games 3 times and led the league in ERA once. He had a career winning percentage of .606 despite only being able to exceed 100 strikeouts twice. He was only over 3.30 K/9 IP once in his career. Even so, he pitched a no hitter in 1948. His control was good, only walking more batters than he struck out in his rookie and final seasons.

Yutaka Enatsu     p   307 points
Only rates this low because we're only considering his career as a Tiger. He led the league in strikeouts each of his first six seasons. While he was a Tiger, he was a starter who also relieved, finishing a dozen of more games in relief in eight of his nine seasons with the club. His arm started to pay a price, and this fact plus the increase acceptance of closers in Japan were major reasons he became a full time closer. He led the league in ERA once, and was in the top 5 in ERA a total of five seasons. He won 20 or more 4 times, twice good enough to lead the league. He also pitched a no hitter as a Tiger. When he became a full time closer, he saved 19 or more 6 times, leading the league each time he did so. He was an MVP twice as a reliever, and was a Best Nine selection as a Tiger in 1968.

Takao Fujimura     p   293 points
He had 20 or more wins twice and led the league in winning percentage once. He finished in the top 5 in ERA once.

Kazuyuki Yamamoto     p   256 points
A lefty who worked primarily as a reliever. He once led the league in saves and saved 24 or more in two seasons. He finished third in the ERA race on one occasion.

Shozo Watanabe     p   229 points
He began his career with the Orions and came to the Tigers in 1964. He never had more than 15 wins, but he was in the top six in ERA five times, all but one for the Tigers.

Tadashi Wakabayashi    mgr   14.66 points
He was a player-manager who succeeded in both roles. In view of his success as a manager, you've got to wonder why he didn't get any other opportunities. My two favorite possible explanations are: 1) he was outspoken, and/or 2) he was born outside Japan (though to Japanese parents). My guess is that the first was the main factor.

GIANTS BAY STARS CARP DRAGONS TIGERS SWALLOWS

DEFUNCT TEAMS BUFFALOES FIGHTERS HAWKS LIONS MARINES

There were several teams which competed between 1936 and 1943 which ceased operation no later than 1944 without merging into a team which we could associate with one of the twelve franchises covered in this article. These short-lived teams were generally in the league cellar. When you combine the limited number of seasons these teams played with their generally poor quality, you'd have to do a lot of digging to come up with what would still be a lousy all-star team. For reasons which should be obvious, I chose not to do that.

Hisanori Karita made it to the Japanese Hall of Fame, but I do not believe that his NPB exploits alone justify his selection. Perhaps if you add in his accomplishments outside of NPB he deserves the honor, but that wouldn't be relevant in discussing great players from these defunct teams.

The only player to demonstrate greatness while playing for these defunct teams is Jiro Noguchi. He scored 545 points while pitching for the Senators team from 1939 through 1943. After WWII ended, he joined the Braves and was a valuable hurler for them from 1946 through 1953. In each of his five seasons as a Senator, Noguchi had 25 or more wins, leading the league with 40 in 1942. He racked up an astonishing 2096.1 IP in those five seasons, leading the league in ERA twice and strikeouts once. He was in the top six in ERA in each of those five seasons as well, with his ERAs under 1.45 in all but 1939.

GIANTS BAY STARS CARP DRAGONS TIGERS SWALLOWS

DEFUNCT TEAMS BUFFALOES FIGHTERS HAWKS LIONS MARINES

Masataka Nashida     c   191 points
He won 3 consecutive Best Nines at catcher while capturing the Gold Gloves at the position each year as well. He nabbed another Gold Glove in his career to make his total four. He had a little power, hitting 51 HR in his 3 Best Nine years (19, 15, and 17 in that order). His career average was .254.

Shuzo Arita     c   182 points
He shared the Buffaloes catching duties with Nashida from 1973 to 1985. It wasn't a platoon arrangement, since both men batted right handed. Arita won 2 Gold Gloves, but only played enough to qualify for one batting title. He hit .247 for his career, but also had power, slamming 128 career homers in only 3091 at bats, which is one homer every 24.1 at bats, or about 19 homers in a full NPB season.

Hideji Kato     1b   421 points
He was an 11 time all-star, won a MVP, 5 Best Nines, and 3 Gold Gloves. He led the league in average twice, RBI 3 times, and slugging percentage once. Kato homered 19 or more times in 11 seasons, all but one of them for the Braves. He finished in the top four in average a total of 8 times, and drew 50 or more walks in 11 seasons.

Boomer Wells     1b   366 points
He led the league in slugging percentage twice and was in the top five in average 6 times. He also won 4 RBI crowns. His career average was .317, and his career slugging percentage was .555.

Daijiro Oishi     2b   392 points
He hit over .300 once in a season he qualified for the batting title, finishing second that year. His career average was a solid .274. He twice hit 20 or more homers, but only had five other seasons in double figures. He led the league in steals four times and in triples three times, so he clearly had speed. He was in double figures in steals in 16 of his 17 seasons, 8 of them with 20 or more.

Daryl Spencer     2b   325 points
He hit .311 one year to finish second in the batting race. He led the league in walks and slugging percentage twice each. He had 30 or more homers in 3 of his first 4 seasons in NPB, and 20 in the fourth. He won 2 Best Nines at second base in his wonderful NPB career, especially given that he didn't arrive there until age 34. After his first two years, he went through a transition to first baseman. His NPB career lasted 7 years and his career average was .275 with a career .385 on base percentage and .536 career slugging percentage. Only the brevity of his NPB career kept him from having Japanese Hall of Fame caliber accomplishments.

Norihiro Nakamura     3b   394 points
With a solid 2004 campaign, he could move up to the second best all-time Buffalo. He has won 5 Best Nines and 4 Gold Gloves, all at third. I think he's already turned in a JHOF-caliber career, but a few more solid years would make his selection much more certain. He is already 30 and coming off a subpar 2003 season, though nagging injuries were said to be the cause. In 1998, he took a step forward in taking walks, and this also seemed to help his average. Thus, his on base percentages through 1997 were never over .341, while from 1998 on, they've never been under .357, even when he hit .236 in 2003. His isolated power (slugging percentage minus average) jumped in the post 1998 period a bit as well. He hit 278 homers from 1995 through 2003, never less than 11 and 4 seasons of 31 or more.

Hiromi Matsunaga     3b   395 points
He was in the top six in average 7 times. He stole 20 or more bases 7 times, led the league in triples 3 times and had 16 or more homers 7 times. He also had good walk totals. He won 5 Best Nines and 4 Gold Gloves, all at third. A very nice overall package of talents.

Akitoshi Kodama     3b-Honorable Mention   368 points
He hit .300 or better 6 times, and finished in the top 5 in average five times. He only hit 20 homers once, and 10-13 5 times. He stole 10-16 bases in eight seasons.

Fujio Ueda     ss-2b   225 points
He played almost all of his career in the deadball early days, so his .237 career average is actually decent. He walked a fair amount as well, and when you add the fact that even in the much shorter seasons of the era that he had 3 seasons of 20 or more steals, he did make a contribution to the offense. He won the only Best Nine given to a shortstop before 1947 in 1940. He had no power, with an isolated power (slugging percentage minus average) of .046.

Akiteru Kono     ss   219 points
He played 3 seasons in the middle of his career for the Dragons, which kept him from being the Blue Wave/Brave shortstop with the highest rtg2 score. He had excellent speed, stealing 85 and 56 bases in consecutive seasons, and leading the league in steals 3 times. He stole 20 or more bases in 6 seasons. Won one Best Nine at short.

Yutaka Fukumoto     of   548 points
He won a MVP and 10 Best Nines in the outfield. He led the league in steals for 13 consecutive seasons, including the time he set the single season record of 106. He wasn't winning the crown with 25 steal seasons, either, since each of the times he won the crown he stole at least 54 bases. In the season after he won his 13th consecutive stolen base crown, he stole 55, and the next 3 seasons, he stole 36, 23 and 23. He led the league in triples 8 times and had double figures in homers 11 times. He also hit .300 or better in 7 seasons

Ichiro Suzuki     of   499 points
Ichiro is clearly taking aim at overtaking Fukumoto as the best member of this franchise ever. He won 3 Pacific League MVPs, 7 Best Nines, and 7 Gold Gloves in Japan. His NPB career average is .353, which is 33 points above the career record. Unfortunately for Ichiro, one must have 4000 at bats to qualify for that record, and at present he is 381 short. If one gives him an 0 for 381 to qualify, he is just about at the record. From 1994 until he went to the majors, he had between 12 and 25 homers, an average of at least .342, an on-base percentage of at least .412, a slugging percentage of at least .504, and at least double figures in steals. Obviously, that is a very impressive run of seven seasons.

Masahiro Doi     of   459 points
He hit .296 or better 8 times, three of which were good enough to place him in the top 3 in average. He led in homers once, but not with his career high of 40 but rather with a year of 34. He had another season with 30 homers and 20-29 in twelve seasons. He once led the league in walks, and slugged .500 or better 7 times. He won 3 Best Nines, two in the outfield and once as a DH. He played his last 7 seasons for the Lions, but still did enough as a Buffalo to be their best player ever.

Tokuji Nagaike