Tomoaki Kanemoto
Tomoaki Kanemoto | |
---|---|
Left fielder / Manager | |
Born: Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan | April 3, 1968|
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
NPB debut | |
June 2, 1992, for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp | |
Last appearance | |
October 9, 2012, for the Hanshin Tigers | |
NPB statistics | |
Batting average | .285 |
Hits | 2539 |
Home runs | 476 |
RBI | 1521 |
Teams | |
As player
As manager | |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Member of the Japanese | |
Baseball Hall of Fame | |
Induction | 2018 |
Last updated on: January 16, 2018 |
Tomoaki Kanemoto (金本 知憲, Kanemoto Tomoaki, born April 3, 1968) is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder and manager. In his career as a player he spent 11 years with the Hiroshima Carp before moving to the Hanshin Tigers in 2003, where he spent another 10 years. He holds the world record for consecutive games played without missing an inning (1492, ending on April 18, 2010) and consecutive innings (13686, ending on 9th inning on April 17).
The Tigers' former
Early life and high school career
Kanemoto was born in
College career
Kanemoto earned a spot in the
Following the tournament, Kanemoto was chosen to play in the 20th U.S.–Japan Collegiate All-Star Baseball Games, sharing a room with then-Toyo University outfielder Shinjiro Hiyama, whom he would also later become teammates with upon joining the Tigers, during the series. Kanemoto was picked in the fourth round of the 1991 NPB draft by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.[4]
Professional career
Early years: 1992–1995
Kanemoto showed little promise in his first two seasons in the pros, falling behind as younger hitters like
Frustrated by his shortcomings and realizing that he would be soon released from the team if he did not improve dramatically, Kanemoto began a rigorous
1996–2002
Kanemoto hit over .300 for the first time in his career in 1996 as the Carp's
In 2000, Kanemoto was made the team's cleanup hitter by default after Etoh's departure for the Yomiuri Giants via free agency, and he responded by hitting .315 with 30 home runs and a career-high 30 stolen bases, becoming just the seventh player in NPB history to have a .300–30–30 (batting average, home runs, stolen bases) season.[5] The following season (2001), he set a new Japanese professional baseball record by going 1002 consecutive plate appearances without grounding into a double play and drew 128 walks, the fifth-highest single-season total in NPB history and the most by any player other than Sadaharu Oh.
Kanemoto declared for free agency in the 2002 off-season. Despite recognizing that Kanemoto was an invaluable asset to the team, the low-budget Carp upheld their longtime policy of not pursuing any player of their own that opts to declare for free agency (an attempt by the Carp to hold down their payroll). After weeks of negotiations, Kanemoto eventually signed with the Central League rival Hanshin Tigers.[6]
2003
For the
2004
In
2005
Kanemoto began the
Kanemoto reached several notable milestones this year, playing in 1000 consecutive games on August 11 against the Dragons, recording his 1000th run scored on August 25 and his 1000th RBI on September 9 (both against the Carp). He also hit his 40th home run of the season on October 4, becoming the first Tigers player since Randy Bass in 1986 to hit 40 home runs in a season and the first since the "Lucky Zone", the short porch in right field, was removed from Koshien Stadium. Kanemoto finished the year with career highs in every Triple Crown category, hitting .327 with 40 homers and 125 RBIs and leading the league in runs scored (120), total bases (344), slugging percentage (.615) and OPS (1.044) at the age of 37. He led the Tigers to another league titles and was voted the Central League Most Valuable Player for the first time in his career.[14][15]
2006
Kanemoto broke the world record held by
2007
Kanemoto had somewhat of a down year in
2008
Kanemoto recorded his 1999th career hit on April 6 2008, but did not get his 2000th hit (the 37th player to accomplish the feat in Japanese professional baseball history) until April 12 in a game against the BayStars.[20][21] His hitless stretch of three games and 15 at-bats between his 1999th and 2000th career hit was an NPB record. (Incidentally, teammate Takahiro Arai, who played with Kanemoto on both the Carp and the Tigers, got his 1000th career hit in the same game.) He won his third monthly MVP award that June, hitting .413 with six home runs and 20 RBI. Though the Tigers narrowly lost the pennant race to the rival Giants, Kanemoto finished the season with a .307 average, 27 home runs and 108 RBI, bouncing back from a disappointing 2007 campaign.[22][23] He underwent surgery on his knee for the second straight year during the off-season.
2009
Despite having to sit out virtually all of Spring training due to rehab of his left knee, Kanemoto went on a torrid streak to begin the 2009 season,[24] hitting .521 with eight home runs and 25 RBIs and slugging 1.146 through the first twelve games of the season. He homered in the Tigers' season opener against the Swallows on April 3, his 41st birthday, and hit three home runs in a game for the first time in his career on April 8 against the Carp,[25] making history when he repeated the feat on April 10 against the Giants and became the first player in NPB history to homer in three consecutive plate appearances twice in the same month.[26] Though he cooled down after his initial streak, he hit .379 with eight homers and 30 RBIs in April, setting a career high for RBIs in a single month, leading the Central League in all three Triple Crown categories and winning his fourth monthly MVP award. He also had three walk-off hits early in the season, a two-run double off Carp closer Katsuhiro Nagakawa on April 7, an RBI single off BayStars reliever Yuya Ishii on April 30, and a walk-off home run off Carp reliever Ryuji Yokoyama on May 12, the Tigers' 7000th franchise home run.[27]
Career statistics
Nippon Professional Baseball | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Age | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | TB | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
1992 | 24 | Hiroshima | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .250 | .000 | .250 |
1993 | 25 | 42 | 89 | 9 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 32 | 9 | 0 | .191 | .242 | .360 | .602 | |
1994 | 26 | 90 | 257 | 41 | 69 | 14 | 2 | 17 | 138 | 43 | 2 | .268 | .345 | .537 | .882 | |
1995 | 27 | 104 | 369 | 72 | 101 | 15 | 1 | 24 | 190 | 67 | 14 | .274 | .381 | .512 | .896 | |
1996 | 28 | 126 | 423 | 84 | 127 | 18 | 2 | 27 | 230 | 72 | 18 | .300 | .407 | .544 | .951 | |
1997 | 29 | 133 | 465 | 77 | 140 | 17 | 2 | 33 | 260 | 82 | 13 | .301 | .404 | .559 | .963 | |
1998 | 30 | 133 | 499 | 77 | 126 | 33 | 3 | 21 | 228 | 74 | 9 | .253 | .347 | .457 | .804 | |
1999 | 31 | 135 | 502 | 84 | 147 | 21 | 2 | 34 | 274 | 94 | 10 | .293 | .382 | .546 | .928 | |
2000 | 32 | 136 | 496 | 96 | 156 | 20 | 2 | 30 | 270 | 90 | 30 | .315 | .415 | .544 | .959 | |
2001 | 33 | 140 | 472 | 101 | 148 | 28 | 1 | 25 | 253 | 93 | 19 | .314 | .463 | .536 | .999 | |
2002 | 34 | 140 | 540 | 80 | 148 | 30 | 2 | 29 | 269 | 84 | 8 | .274 | .348 | .498 | .846 | |
2003 | 35 | Hanshin | 140 | 532 | 94 | 154 | 24 | 2 | 19 | 239 | 77 | 18 | .289 | .399 | .449 | .848 |
2004 | 36 | 138 | 521 | 92 | 165 | 32 | 4 | 34 | 307 | 113 | 5 | .317 | .406 | .589 | .995 | |
2005 | 37 | 146 | 559 | 120 | 183 | 35 | 3 | 40 | 344 | 125 | 3 | .327 | .429 | .615 | 1,044 | |
2006 | 38 | 146 | 545 | 85 | 165 | 24 | 4 | 26 | 275 | 98 | 2 | .303 | .393 | .505 | .897 | |
2007 | 39 | 144 | 533 | 74 | 141 | 17 | 3 | 31 | 257 | 95 | 1 | .265 | .361 | .482 | .843 | |
2008 | 40 | 144 | 535 | 87 | 164 | 33 | 2 | 27 | 282 | 108 | 2 | .307 | .392 | .527 | .919 | |
2009 | 41 | 144 | 518 | 66 | 135 | 37 | 0 | 21 | 235 | 91 | 8 | .261 | .368 | .454 | .822 | |
2010 | 42 | 144 | 353 | 39 | 85 | 12 | 0 | 16 | 145 | 45 | 1 | .241 | .321 | .411 | .732 | |
2011 | 43 | 122 | 348 | 27 | 76 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 125 | 31 | 1 | .218 | .269 | .359 | .628 | |
2012 | 44 | 126 | 356 | 24 | 92 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 128 | 30 | 3 | .258 | .347 | .360 | .707 | |
Career | 2578 | 8915 | 1430 | 2539 | 440 | 37 | 476 | 4481 | 1521 | 167 | .285 | .382 | .503 | .884 |
Bold indicates league leader
References
- ^ 金本、今季限りで引退=「限界、時代の流れ」-プロ野球・阪神. Jiji Press Ltd. (in Japanese). September 12, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
- ^ "阪神金本監督が誕生 要請を受諾、近日就任会見" [Hanshin Kanemoto Manager is born, accepts the request, press conference within days] (in Japanese). October 17, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
- ^ "Koryo humbles Yokohama in Koshien final" The Japan Times
- ^ "Tigers ink Kanemoto to deal" The Japan Times
- ^ "Baseball Preview 2001: The outlook for each team" The Japan Times
- ^ "Posting, free agents and the always-busy rumor mill" The Japan Times.
- ^ "Hanshin Tigers Prowling for the Pennant" Sake-Drenched Postcards.
- ^ "Tigers send fans into frenzy" The Japan Times
- ^ "Hawks trying to hold off Tigers" The Japan Times
- ^ "Tigers tie Series as Kanemoto hits pair" The Japan Times
- ^ "Komiyama pulls Marines out of five-game slump" The Japan Times
- ^ "Hawks grab 'sayonara' victory over Fighters" The Japan Times
- ^ "Kanemoto clubs Tigers to victory" The Japan Times
- ^ "Yakult looking to get back on top of CL" The Japan Times
- ^ "Career Home Run Leaders #15 – Tomoaki Kanemoto" Japanese Baseball Cards
- ^ "Kanemoto breaks record for consecutive games" The Japan Times
- ^ "Beyond the Box Score" MLB.com.
- ^ "Kanemoto re-signs for three years" The Japan Times
- ^ "Kanemoto faces knee surgery"The Japan Times
- ^ "Kanemoto joins 'Meikyukai'" The Japan Times
- ^ "Hanshin Tigers' outfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto is all smiles" USA Today
- ^ "Giants aiming for third straight Central League title" The Japan Times
- ^ "Hanshin slugger Kanemoto re-signs" The Japan Times
- ^ "Kanemoto, Rhodes aging like fine wines" The Japan Times
- ^ "Kanemoto goes deep three times" The Japan Times
- ^ "NPB: Terrific trio's towering tater-fest" The Asahi Shimbun
- ^ "Kanemoto slugs 'sayonara' homer for Tigers" The Japan Times
External links
- Nippon Professional Baseball career statistics from JapaneseBaseball.com
- Tomoaki Kanemoto Official Blog Archived January 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (Japanese)
- THE GOLDEN PLAYERS CLUB (Japanese)